Use of English (PEIC B1)
What this paper tests
PEIC B1 Use of English tests grammar and vocabulary inside short sentences rather than long texts. Expect multiple-choice cloze, word formation (changing a root word so it fits a gap), and matching or gap-fill items on collocations, prepositions and phrasal verbs. It is quick, so precision matters more than speed.
Core rules
- Read the whole sentence before answering. The words immediately before and after the gap decide the form you need.
- Name the grammar being tested: tense, article, preposition, pronoun, comparative or modal.
- For word formation, decide the word class first (noun, adjective, adverb, verb), then check the spelling change: happy → happiness, decide → decision, difficult → difficulty.
- Learn collocations as whole chunks: make a decision, do homework, take a photo, pay attention to, depend on.
- Watch for negative prefixes: un-, im-, in-, dis-.
Worked example
"She has lived in Bristol ______ 2019." Options: for / since / from / during.
Answer: since. "2019" is a point in time, and "since" works with the present perfect to mark a starting point. "For" needs a length of time ("for six years"); "during" needs a period or event ("during the summer"); "from" would need a second date ("from 2019 to 2021").
Second example: "The ______ (DARK) made it hard to see." The gap follows "The" and is the subject of the sentence, so a noun is required: darkness - not dark or darkly.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing the option that sounds familiar instead of the one that fits grammatically.
- Forgetting plural endings or doubling letters: happiness, not happyness.
- Confusing -ed and -ing adjectives: "I'm bored" but "the film is boring".
- Missing a negative prefix when the meaning demands one: "it's impossible", not "possible".
- Guessing a preposition instead of recalling the whole collocation.