C1 Key Word Transformations Practice (Free)

Model completion: wish I had checked / wish that I had checked / wish I'd checked / wish that I'd checked

The first sentence states a past omission and present regret. “I wish I had checked the timetable before leaving” expresses that unreal past with wish + past perfect. Wish I had checked has four words; wish that I had checked has five. WISH is unchanged in both. Wish I checked would refer to a present habit, while wish I would check would change the time and meaning. The contracted forms with I’d are also accepted; I’d counts as I had for the word limit.

Model completion: unless its cost is reduced / unless the cost is reduced

“The board will not approve the plan unless its cost is reduced.” Unless means if not: no reduction means no approval. Both completions have five words and keep UNLESS unchanged. Do not add not after unless, which reverses the condition. Neither sentence guarantees approval once the cost falls; reduction is a necessary condition.

Model completion: finally managed to solve / at last managed to solve

“The team finally managed to solve the problem” preserves both actual success and its eventual arrival. Finally managed to solve has four words; at last managed to solve has five. MANAGED takes to + infinitive, whereas succeeded takes in + -ing. Managed solving is the wrong verb pattern, and tried to solve would not establish success.

Model completion: must have sent / has to have sent

“Priya must have sent this message” makes a confident deduction about a completed action. Must have sent has three words; has to have sent is an accepted four-word alternative expressing the same certainty. HAVE remains unchanged. Might have sent would express possibility, not certainty; must send would concern a present or future necessity, not a conclusion about the past.

Model completion: were unable to reach

“We were unable to reach the village because of the heavy snow.” Were unable to reach has four words and keeps UNABLE unchanged. The original says the snow stopped the journey, so the completion must express inability in the past. Are unable changes the tense; unable reaching uses the wrong complement after unable.

Model completion: made an apology for cancelling / made an apology for canceling / offered an apology for cancelling / offered an apology for canceling / issued an apology for cancelling / issued an apology for canceling

“The organiser made an apology for cancelling the workshop at such short notice.” The inserted completion has five words. Offered or issued an apology is also accepted, and both cancelling and the American spelling canceling are valid. APOLOGY stays singular and unchanged. The noun takes for + -ing to identify the action regretted; to would instead introduce the person receiving the apology.