How the task looks
You get a text with 5 gaps. For each gap there are four options, usually words from one family:
Last year our school (1) ______ a new science club. — a) creation b) creative c) creator d) created
All four words have the same root and a similar meaning. The difference is grammar: part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb), person or thing, singular or plural, tense. So you do not need to translate the options — you need to understand what the sentence needs in this place.
Step-by-step method
- Read the whole sentence and, if necessary, the sentence before it.
- Find the job of the gap. Is it the subject? the verb? something that describes a noun? something that describes an action? (The clues are in the table below.)
- Choose the part of speech, then find the options with that ending.
- If two options are the same part of speech, check the meaning: a person or an idea (creator / creation)? positive or negative (careful / careless)? -ed or -ing (bored / boring)?
- For a noun — singular or plural? For a verb — which tense and does it agree with the subject?
- Read the sentence again with your answer.
What the position tells you
| Position of the gap | What you usually need | Example |
|---|---|---|
| after a / an / the / my / his / this | noun (or adjective + noun) | their success; a decision |
| after an adjective | noun | a great achievement |
| before a noun | adjective | a successful project |
| after be, seem, become, look, feel | adjective (describes the subject) | The plan seems reasonable. |
| after a verb, describes how | adverb | She answered politely. |
| before an adjective or participle | adverb | extremely cold; widely used |
| at the start of a sentence + comma | adverb | Unfortunately, we were late. |
| after a subject, the main verb is missing | verb in the right tense | The king ruled the country. |
| after to / can / must / will | verb V1 | to strengthen; can improve |
| after a preposition (of, in, for, by…) | noun or V-ing | the importance of education; by working |
| after the + adjective + of | noun | the development of science |
These clues work almost always, but check the whole sentence. A + gap + noun means an adjective: a careful driver. A + gap + nothing means a noun: a driver.
Typical noun endings
| Ending | Examples |
|---|---|
| -tion / -sion / -ation | education, decision, information, explanation |
| -ment | development, achievement, government, agreement |
| -ness | happiness, kindness, darkness, awareness |
| -ity / -ty | ability, possibility, safety, curiosity |
| -ance / -ence | importance, difference, appearance, independence |
| -ship / -hood / -dom | friendship, childhood, freedom, wisdom |
| -th / -ure / -al | growth, strength, failure, arrival, refusal |
Nouns for people: -er / -or (teacher, conqueror, visitor), -ist (scientist, artist), -ian (musician, historian), -ant / -ent (assistant, student), -ee (employee — the person who is employed).
employ → employer (the person who gives work), employee (the person who works), employment (the fact of having work), unemployment.
Typical adjective endings
| Ending | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ful | with, full of | useful, careful, successful, powerful |
| -less | without | useless, careless, homeless, endless |
| -ous | having the quality | dangerous, famous, various, mysterious |
| -ive | doing, tending to | active, creative, effective, attractive |
| -able / -ible | can be done | readable, comfortable, possible, visible |
| -al / -ial / -ic | connected with | national, industrial, historic, economic |
| -y | having a lot of | rainy, healthy, wealthy, sunny |
| -ent / -ant | having the quality | different, important, independent |
| -ed / -ing | participles used as adjectives | interested / interesting |
Typical verb and adverb endings
Verbs: -ize / -ise (realize, modernize), -en (strengthen, widen, shorten), -ify (simplify, beautify, classify), -ate (create, celebrate), prefixes en- / em- (enable, enlarge, endanger, empower).
Adverbs: adjective + -ly (quick → quickly, careful → carefully). Spelling: happy → happily, possible → possibly, basic → basically, true → truly, full → fully.
Not every -ly word is an adverb: friendly, lovely, lonely, lively, elderly, costly, likely are adjectives. Fast, hard, late, early are both adjectives and adverbs.
Word families to learn
| Noun (thing) | Noun (person) | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| success | — | succeed | successful | successfully |
| decision | — | decide | decisive | decisively |
| conquest | conqueror | conquer | — | — |
| creation, creativity | creator | create | creative | creatively |
| production, product | producer | produce | productive | productively |
| difference | — | differ | different | differently |
| strength | — | strengthen | strong | strongly |
| width | — | widen | wide | widely |
| danger | — | endanger | dangerous | dangerously |
| beauty | — | beautify | beautiful | beautifully |
| invention | inventor | invent | inventive | — |
| responsibility | — | — | responsible | responsibly |
| knowledge | — | know | knowledgeable | knowingly |
| achievement | achiever | achieve | achievable | — |
| development | developer | develop | developed, developing | — |
Negative prefixes
| Prefix | Usually with | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| un- | many adjectives and verbs | unhappy, unusual, unable, unlock |
| in- | many Latin words | incorrect, independent, invisible |
| im- | before p, m, b | impossible, impatient, immature |
| il- | before l | illegal, illogical |
| ir- | before r | irregular, irresponsible |
| dis- | verbs, nouns, some adjectives | disagree, dishonest, disappear |
| mis- | “wrongly” | misunderstand, misuse |
| -less | suffix: “without” | careless, hopeless |
Choose the negative form only if the context is negative. Look for words like but, however, unfortunately, failed, not and the general tone of the text.
The instructions were so unclear that nobody knew what to do. — the second half shows a problem, so the meaning is negative.
-ed or -ing?
- -ing — describes the thing or person that causes the feeling: a boring lesson, an exciting match, a tiring journey.
- -ed — describes the person who has the feeling: bored students, excited fans, tired travellers.
✗ I am very interesting in history. → ✓ I am very interested in history.
✗ The film was bored. → ✓ The film was boring.
Similar words with different meanings
| Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| economic | connected with the economy | economical | saving money |
| historic | very important in history | historical | connected with the past |
| sensible | reasonable, practical | sensitive | easily hurt; reacts quickly |
| successful | achieving a goal | successive | following one after another |
| industrial | connected with industry | industrious | hard-working |
| considerable | large | considerate | thinking of others |
| respectable | deserving respect | respectful | showing respect |
| imaginary | not real | imaginative | creative |
Nouns: singular or plural, countable or not
After many, several, a number of, few, these, those, two, three — plural: several difficulties.
After a / an, each, every, one, this, that — singular: each difficulty.
Uncountable nouns have no plural: information, advice, knowledge, progress, equipment, research. ✗ informations, advices.
Read the verb after the noun too: Their achievements were … (plural verb → plural noun).
Verbs in the gap
If the gap is the main verb of the sentence, choose the tense as in Section 2: Last year our school created a new science club — a finished past event, so Past Simple. Check also the subject: The government encourages … (singular → -s).
The most common mistakes
| ✗ Wrong | ✓ Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| a success project | a successful project | before a noun → adjective |
| She sings beautiful. | She sings beautifully. | describes the verb → adverb |
| The food tastes deliciously. | The food tastes delicious. | taste is a linking verb → adjective |
| the develop of science | the development of science | after the → noun |
| He is a famous invention. | He is a famous inventor. | a person, not a thing |
| many informations | much information | information is uncountable |
| I was very boring at the lesson. | I was very bored at the lesson. | the feeling of a person → -ed |
| an unpossible task | an impossible task | im- before p |
Worked example
“The (1) ______ of the internet changed the way people communicate. Today most young people find it (2) ______ to live without a smartphone. Some experts, however, warn that the (3) ______ use of gadgets can be harmful. They advise parents to act (4) ______ and set clear rules. Many families have already (5) ______ their screen time.”
(1) a) invent b) inventor c) invention d) inventive
After the, before of → noun. It is a thing (the internet was invented), not a person → invention.
(2) a) possible b) impossible c) possibility d) possibly
find it + adjective. The meaning “without a smartphone — hard” is negative → impossible.
(3) a) excessive b) excess c) exceed d) excessively
between the and the noun use → adjective.
(4) a) responsible b) responsibility c) responsibly d) irresponsible
describes the verb act (how should they act?) → adverb.
(5) a) reduced b) reduction c) reducing d) reduce
have already + V3 → Present Perfect.
Final checklist
- What is the job of the gap: subject, verb, noun description, action description?
- Which part of speech fits — and which options have that ending?
- Person or thing? Positive or negative? -ed or -ing?
- Singular or plural? Countable or uncountable?
- For a verb: the right tense and agreement?
- Is the spelling of the form correct (happily, possibility, decision)?