Don't take a chance when doing advanced sentence transformations: develop a strategy to help you do them more effectively.
Here are some tips for tackling advanced sentence transformations:
- Remember there are two things you have to do. (There are two marks.)
- Use the word given and do not change the word.
- Find the part in the first sentence you have to rewrite.
- Count the number of words in your answer. (For the Cambridge C1 exam or CAE you have to use between three and six words, so if you have seven words this tells you that your answer is not completely correct.)
- Check that both sentences have similar meanings.
- Check the tense you have used in your answer.
- Practice makes perfect! Students often remark that this part of the exam is the most difficult but practice does really help with this type of exercise as it will get you used to the skill of paraphrasing (putting something in a different way). What's more, the more questions you come across, the more you will familiarise yourself with the kind of vocabulary and grammar required in these questions.
Have a look at this example:
1. Lots of new boutique shops have appeared because this area is becoming more upmarket.
UP
Lots of boutique shops have ......................................that this area is beomcing more upmarket.
I've underlined the part in the first sentence that you need to change. Here I'll explain the two changes:
appear - Do you know a phrasal verb for 'appear' using the word 'up?
because - Can you suggest an alternative linker for 'because', which can be followed by 'that'?
Have a look at another example:
2. Tom offered to help me move house this weekend.
HAND
Tom said he ....................................................... move house this weekend.
What do you need to change in the first sentence and which two things do you need to do? Clue: think of an idiomatic expression containing 'hand', which means 'help'.
Here's another one:
3. Amy finds tolerating her friend's nasty commments difficult.
STRUGGLES
Amy ....................................with her friend's nasty comments.
Can you think of a phrasal verb with 'with' that would fit in the answer?
And one more example:
4. Fiona said she wasn't very envious when she saw my new car.
GREEN
Fiona denied......................................when she say my new car.
What's the idiomatic expression with 'green'? You also need to change the adjective 'envious' into a noun.
Answers:
- sprung/ popped up due to the fact
- would give/lend me a hand to
- struggles to put up
- being green with envy
As you do sentence transformation questions you will pick up new vocabulary. Make a note of any new vocabulary you have picked up from these questions and ask your private teacher for more examples using these phrasal verbs and expressions.
Here is the vocabulary from these questions:
be green with envy (be very envious)
give/ lend a hand (help)
put up with (tolerate)
spring up / pop up (appear)
struggle (find something difficult)
For these questions you also need grammatical knowledge. For example in these questions, you need to know that the verb 'struggle' is followed by an infinitive and the verb 'deny' is followed by a gerund (an 'ing' verb). Here are some more examples:
Gareth struggles to wake up early.
Jackie denied ignoring my phone calls.
Let's look at two more example sentence transformation questions that require knowledge of these structures:
1. Sam really hates it when she has to do homework at the weekends.
STAND
Sam ........................................................................... do homework at the weekends.
2. Kenneth started his career as a banker and then he became a teacher.
Kenneth started out as a banker ..................................................a teacher.
Do you know which verb is followed by an infinitive and which one is followed by a gerund?
Answers:
1. cannot/ can't stand having to (can't stand + gerund)
2. before going on to become (go on + infinitive)
You may know that most phrasal verbs are actually followed by a gerund, so the phrasal verb 'go on' here is unnusual as it is one of the few phrasal verbs that are followed by an infinitive. Do you know any other phrasal verbs that are followed by an infinitive?
Good luck with your advanced exam!
