English Practice & Support

Theory:

Common expressions are widely tested in sentence completion exercises becuae they nearly always use structural words. Examples of these are:

in fact,

instead of, part of,

made aware of

due to,

the first to

by definition,

go by bus,

around the world, named after, not only but also,

more likely than not,

for good measure,

fall out with,

cover up,

no matter what

What is even more important is the fact that as you move into CAE and CPE sentences completion exercises, common expressions and idioms become more and more important. So, this is an area the student should pay a lot of attention to.

The easiest way to understand how to use these expressions is to look at them in context:

in fact,

He is, in fact, a policeman.

instead of,

I would like beer instead of water.

part of,

This is part of the engine assembly.

made aware of

I was made aware of his behaviour yesterday.

due to,

He left due to the problems with his health.

the first to

I will be the first to welcome you home.

by definition,

A dictatorship means, by definition, one centre of power.

go by bus,

I prefer to go by bus.

around the world,

The news went around the world.

named after,

I was named after my grandfather.

not only but also,

Not only is he hungry, but he is also thirsty.

more likely than not,

The flight will more likely than not be on time.

for good measure,

Can you add another sugar for good measure.

fall out with,

I don't want to fall out with you again.

cover up,

It isn't the crime but the cover up that causes problems.

no matter what

We will meet again no matter what happens.