📝 English Skills Trainer

Master vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and figurative language — everything you need for the 11+ English exam!

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📖 Vocabulary & Meanings

Building a strong vocabulary helps you understand texts and express yourself clearly. For the 11+, you need to know what words mean and how to use them.

Reluctant — unwilling or hesitant to do something. "She was reluctant to leave."
Traverse — to travel across or through. "They traversed the mountain."
Parched — extremely dry or very thirsty. "The parched ground cracked."
Cunning — clever in a sneaky way. "The cunning fox tricked the crow."

💡 Tip: When you see an unknown word, look at the words around it (the context) to work out its meaning.

🔤 Homophones & Spelling

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.

there (a place) / their (belonging to them) / they're (they are)
your (belonging to you) / you're (you are)
its (belonging to it) / it's (it is)
through (passing in one side and out the other) / threw (past tense of throw) / though (however)

⚠️ Common mistake: Mixing up through and though. "Through" means going from one side to the other. "Though" means "however" or "even if".

💡 Tip: If you can replace the word with "they are", use they're. If it means "belonging to them", use their. Otherwise, use there.

🔧 Prefixes & Suffixes

A prefix goes at the start of a word to change its meaning. A suffix goes at the end.

Common prefixes:

un- = not (unhappy, unkind, unfair)
re- = again (redo, replay, rewrite)
dis- = not / opposite (disagree, disappear, dishonest)
im-/in- = not (impossible, invisible, incorrect)
pre- = before (preview, prehistoric, predict)
mis- = wrongly (misspell, misunderstand, mislead)

Common suffixes:

-ful = full of (beautiful, careful, hopeful)
-less = without (careless, hopeless, fearless)
-ness = state of being (kindness, darkness, happiness)
-ly = in that way (quickly, slowly, happily)
-ment = result of (enjoyment, movement, agreement)
-able = can be done (readable, enjoyable, comfortable)

💡 Tip: Use im- before words starting with m or p (impossible, immature). Use in- before most other letters (invisible, incorrect).

🏷️ Word Classes

Every word in a sentence has a job. Knowing word classes helps you understand how sentences work.

Nouns: naming words — dog, London, happiness
Verbs: doing or being words — run, is, think
Adjectives: describing words for nouns — big, red, happy
Adverbs: describe HOW a verb is done — quickly, carefully, loudly (usually end in -ly!)
Conjunctions: joining words — and, but, because, although
Prepositions: position/direction words — in, on, under, between, through

⚠️ Common mistake: "Quickly" is NOT a verb! It describes HOW you do something — it's an adverb. The verb is the action word (like "run"). The adverb tells you HOW the action is done.

💡 Tip: To find the verb, ask "What is happening?" To find the adverb, ask "HOW is it happening?"

🌈 Figurative Language

Figurative language makes writing more interesting by creating pictures in the reader's mind.

Simile: compares two things using like or as — "He ran like the wind"
Metaphor: says something IS something else — "The classroom was a zoo"
Personification: gives human qualities to non-human things — "The wind howled"
Alliteration: words close together start with the same sound — "Peter Piper picked"
Onomatopoeia: words that sound like what they describe — "buzz, crash, splash"

💡 Tip: If it uses "like" or "as" to compare, it's a simile. If it says something IS something else (without like/as), it's a metaphor.

📋 Sentence Types

There are four types of sentence:

Statement: tells you something. Ends with a full stop. "The cat sat on the mat."
Question: asks something. Ends with a question mark. "Where is the cat?"
Command: tells someone to DO something. Often starts with a verb. "Close the door."
Exclamation: shows strong feeling. Ends with an exclamation mark. "What a beautiful day!"

⚠️ Common mistake: "Close the door." looks like a statement because it has a full stop, but it is a command because it tells someone to DO something. Commands often start with a verb!

💡 Tip: Ask yourself: Is it telling you a fact? (Statement) Asking? (Question) Ordering? (Command) Expressing strong emotion? (Exclamation)

✏️ Punctuation

Good punctuation makes your writing clear and easy to read.

Full stops (.): end a statement
Commas (,): separate items in a list, or add a pause — "I bought apples, bananas, and grapes."
Apostrophes ('): show missing letters (contraction) or ownership (possession)
Speech marks (" "): go around the exact words someone says

Apostrophe rules:

Contraction: don't = do not, it's = it is, can't = cannot
Possession: the dog's bone = the bone belonging to the dog

Speech marks:

The speech marks go around the spoken words: "I am going home," said Tom.
Punctuation goes INSIDE the speech marks
Start a new line for each new speaker

💡 Tip: For apostrophes, ask: "Am I shortening two words into one?" (contraction) or "Does something belong to someone?" (possession).

📚 Comprehension Skills

Comprehension is about understanding what you read. There are different types of questions:

Retrieval: find the answer directly in the text
Inference: work out something that isn't directly stated
Word meaning: what does a particular word mean in context?
Main idea: what is the passage mostly about?

💡 Tip: For inference questions, look for clues. If a character "slammed the door and stomped upstairs", you can infer they are angry even though the text doesn't say so.

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