GRAMMAR TIPS FOR PTE READING

Fill in the blanks

Main areas of Focus

• Collocations
• Word Choice
• Linking Words

Collocations are words that appear together to form a natural combination of word
phrases.

How collocations are made

Formation Examples
adverb + adjective clearly visible (not completely visible)
currently (un)available
easily accessible
readily accessible
adjective + noun brief introduction (not little introduction)
Scientific research/ evidence
strategic decision/importance
ongoing debate/process
noun + noun thought process (not thought procedure)
Career opportunities(y)/goals
research topic/finding/method
verb + noun give priority (not provide priority)
Create problems/awareness/opportunities
make payments/suggestions/arrangements
verb + expression with take up the role, assume the role (not assume role or
preposition or article take role)
make a payment in advance
carry out research
became a source
became the focus
verb + adverb think differently (not imagine differently)
Perform/communicate effectively
probably come
contribute significantly/strongly
develop rapidly
Word Choice
Understanding the word that goes into your blank:
• Verb
• Noun
• Adjective
• Adverb
• Preposition

1) Verbs in Fill-in the blanks

• 1st Form – Simple Present
create(s), earn(s), give(s), write(s)
• 2 Form – Past
nd

created, earned, gave, wrote

• 3 Form – Past Participle (ed) (en) / Present Participle (ing)
rd

created, earned, given, written

creating, earning, giving, writing
• Active Voice & Passive Voice.
She is writing an article.
An article is being written by her.
• Passive voice always takes the 3rd form of the verb.

Applying Verbs in blanks

1) For a blank that appears after ‘to’ ______ apply the 1st form of verb.
o The board members decided to evaluate the annual budget.

2) For a blank that appears after ‘for / while / by’ ________ apply the 1st form of verb +
ing. (Present continuous)
o The extra time given for submitting final assignments is now over.
o Always remember to pay attention to the timer while answering your questions.
o Until now scientists managed to gather data only by studying the behavior of
animals in captivity.

3) For a blank that appears after ‘it/ which/ that’ ________ apply the 1st form of verb
according to the noun combination.
o We need an alternative that works as well as the main ingredient.
o It plays a major role in providing a great consistency.
o Only the ingredients which goes best with the recipe will be included.

4) For a blank that appears after ‘is/ am/ are’ _______ apply the 1st form of verb + ing.
(Present continuous)
o She is insisting that we take the long route home.
 5) For a blank that contains passive voice always apply the 3rd form of verb.
o The movie was being made at the same time as the book getting published

6) For a blank that appears after ‘has/ have/ had’ ________ apply the 3rd form of verb.
o The New York Times reports that Mexico has completed its journey toward
democracy.
o Please ensure that you have studied its protocols and functionality before
applying any changes.
o The path which he had chosen was different and extremely challenging.

7) For a blank that appears after (or with) ‘be/ been’ _____ apply either the 3rd form of
verb or the 1st form of verb + ing.
o More than 400 different types of anemia have been identified.
o The postal system established in 1984, has been gradually extended.
o This module can be taken over the semester or divided between two semesters.
o He would be expecting my call on Saturday.
o He would have been expecting my call on Saturday.

8) For a blank that appears after ‘can/ could/ will/ would/ shall/ should/ may’ _______
apply the 1st form of verb.
*Please note the above word(s) with the verb ’be’ and ’have’ discussed in section 7
o You may use templates to answer the writing section.
o In this ride you would walk through the structure.
o At that moment she knew she could only take the emergency exit to escape the
burning building.
First you must determine that the blank requires a verb, because there can always be exceptions.
The theory can also be applied for negative sentences.

2) Nouns in Fill-in the blanks

• Proper Nouns – names of people, things, institutions, and nations. Proper nouns are
always capitalized.
Sri Lanka, London, New York, Lisa, Jack
• Common Nouns – refer to categories of things in general, never to specific examples.
temple, university, post office. (University of Colombo)
• Pronouns – refer to people or things.
He, She, It, Them, We
• Abstract Nouns – refer to concepts, ideas, and emotions. Abstract nouns are nouns
that you cannot touch, are not made of materials.
success, love, power, hate, depression
• Collective Nouns – refer to groups of various types. Used with groups of animals or
for names of institutions and groups within institutions.
herd, pack, bunch, party, group, staff, team
 • Uncountable Nouns/Mass Nouns – abstract nouns are always used in the singular
form because they cannot be counted.
rice, sugar, salt, time, weather, furniture

Applying Nouns in blanks

1) For a blank that appears after ‘a/ an/ the’ ______ apply a suitable noun within the
context.
o She was informed that there was a guest waiting for her at the lobby.

2) Apply a suitable noun within the context, for a blank that appears after an
adjective________ followed by a word that is not a noun. (adjective _______ not a
noun)
o It was a beautiful day to spend outdoors doing some gardening.
o Only the richest people can afford luxuries such as private jets and personal
yachts.

3) Adjectives in Fill-in the blanks

• Positive, Comparative and Superlative adjectives
Tall – Taller (than) – (the) Tallest
Smart – Smarter – (the) Smartest
Beautiful – more beautiful – (the) most beautiful
Good – better – (the) best
• Compound adjectives – adjectives that are formed from multiple words. These are
usually connected by hyphens.
never-ending, double-standards, double-crossing, better-off
• Proper adjectives – adjectives formed from proper nouns.
Sri Lankan, Russian, Victorian
• Descriptive adjectives – adjectives that describe the characteristics, traits, or qualities
of a noun or pronoun.
unruly children, scary weather, interesting book
• Participle adjectives – adjectives that are based on participles, which are words that
usually end in -ed or -ing and derive from verbs.
bored children, swimming lessons, reading practice
• Distributive adjectives – these are used to refer to members of a group individually.
either, each, neither, every
• Possessive adjectives – these are often used to express possession or ownership.
my, their, our, your
Applying Adjectives in blanks

1) For a blank that appears as follows: ‘a/ an/ the’ _________ ‘noun’, apply a suitable
adjective within the context.
o Although he was a generous man, everyone perceived him otherwise because
he didn’t spend a lot of money.

2) For a blank that appears after ‘am/ is/ are/ was/ were/ be’ _________ followed by a
word that is not a noun, apply a suitable adjective within the context.
o The scientists were successful very early in the study that they overlooked
some of the hidden threats.
o She is hungry for knowledge and spends most of her time in the library,
reading.
o It’s hard to sound interesting if you don’t know how to have a good
conversation.

3) For a blank that appears after a possessive pronoun ‘my/ your/ their/ our’
_________ followed by a noun, apply a suitable adjective within the context.
o Their financial problems were mostly due to the rising inflation.

4) For a blank that appears after ‘much/ very/ most’ _________ followed by a noun,
apply a suitable adjective within the context.
o Sri Lanka witnessed the most incompetent government the country has ever
had.

5) For a blank that appears after an adverb _________ followed by a noun, apply a
suitable adjective within the context.
o Those who were directly responsible for the new project were gathered for an
emergency meeting.
o Daily exercise is equally important as a balanced diet.

4) Adverbs in Fill-in the blanks

• Adverbs of frequency - describe the frequency of an event.
constantly, frequently, occasionally, sometimes, usually, never, always, rarely,
daily, weekly, monthly
• Adverbs of time - refer to specific times and more general time periods.
today, yesterday, tomorrow, tonight, soon, later, now, eventually, forever, still,
yet, early, late, recently
• Adverbs of manner – describe how something happens.
angrily, cautiously, hungrily, nicely, slowly, deftly, precisely, unknowingly,
loudly
 • Adverbs of degree - describe the intensity of an action or quality.
very, really, extremely, incredibly, too, quite, barely, deeply, fairly, greatly,
hardly, highly
• Adverbs of place – describe where something happens.
here, there, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere, anywhere, in, out, inside,
outside, wherever

Applying Adverbs in blanks

1) For a blank that appears after a subject _________ followed by a verb, apply a
suitable adverb within the context.
o She carefully drove her car down the narrow road.
o Our aim was to provide users easy access to the improved version of the
program.

2) Apply a suitable adverb within the context, for a blank that appears after a verb
_______ followed by a word that is not a verb.
o Krypto currency usage will expand rapidly in upcoming years.

3) For a blank that appears after ‘am/ is/ are/ was/ were/ be’ _________ followed by a
verb that is in the past participle, apply a suitable adjective within the context.
o She was clearly mistaken about the requirements.
o All applications should be duly filled before submission.