Have a go — no notes, and don't worry about getting it perfect.
Complete this from memory:
"My uncle five years ago — he feels so much healthier now." (smoke)
Say one thing you've stopped doing this year, and one thing you still need to do this week.
Anna: Did you get milk on your way home?
Sam: Yes — I stopped to get some at the corner shop. Good timing too, I nearly forgot completely.
Anna: Wait, didn't you stop drinking milk?
Sam: I stopped drinking it in tea, but I still need it for cooking.
Look at Sam's two sentences with "stopped." Do they mean the same thing? Say your idea out loud before you check.
Same verb, two very different meanings.
Two of these mean the habit ended. One means someone paused to do something else. Which one, and why?
Complete each sentence with the verb given.
1. Two years ago, you gave up sugar in your tea completely.
"I sugar to my tea two years ago." (add)
2. Halfway through a long drive, you paused just to check the map.
"Halfway through the trip, we the map." (check)
Say two sentences about habits you've stopped (stop + -ing), and one sentence about a time you stopped to do something on the way somewhere (stop + to + verb).
These verbs point in two different directions in time.
In sentence 1 and 3, does the memory come before the action, or after it? What about sentence 2?
1. Your flatmate wants to know if you did an important task before you left.
"Did you your medicine this morning?" (take)
2. You're picturing a childhood memory of your grandmother's house.
"I still my grandmother's house as a child — I can still smell the bread." (visit)
3. There's no milk this morning — explain why.
"We have no milk because I some yesterday." (buy)
Say one duty you always remember to do, one thing you sometimes forget to do, and one clear memory you still remember from years ago.
Three more verbs that shift meaning depending on what follows them.
Two of these are quick experiments — "let's see if this works." One is a real effort at something difficult. Which one?
In two sentences, the same activity just keeps going. In one, the person finishes one thing and starts something new. Which one?
Two of these are about something being done to a thing (nobody says who). One is about a person actively doing something. Which one?
1. The key won't turn. It's not a hard fix — just experiment.
"The key won't turn — it the other way and see if that helps." (turn)
2. The phone rang in the middle of her explanation, but she didn't stop — she carried on with the same explanation.
"Even after the phone rang, she the plan." (explain)
3. The garden's been neglected for months.
"The grass — it's nearly up to my knees." (cut)
Look around the room you're in. Say one thing that needs doing (needs cleaning, needs fixing...), one thing you're going to try doing about it, and one thing you'll go on doing exactly as before.
Time to mix today's verbs into one real story. You do the talking.
Think of a habit you've changed, or a job around your home that's been sitting unfinished. (If nothing comes to mind, invent one.)
Tell the story out loud for one minute. Try to include:
Write a short message (3–5 sentences) to a friend about the same situation. Use at least three of today's five verbs — stop, remember/forget, try, go on, need — and the checker will tell you which ones it finds.
Real life doesn't tell you which verb to use. Here everything is mixed — you decide.
Each sentence has one grammar mistake. Rewrite the whole sentence correctly.
1. "He stopped to eat junk food after his diagnosis." (he gave up eating junk food completely)
2. "I always forget switching off the lights before I leave the house." (it's a duty he keeps failing to do)
3. "I tried to opening the door, but it was stuck."
4. "After the break, she went on explain the new safety rules." (a new step, not the same activity)
5. This bike hasn't been used in years. "The tyres ___ before we can ride it."
6. "I can still ___ my grandmother's kitchen — the smell of fresh bread everywhere."
7. "It's a stressful interview, so just ___ calm and answer clearly."
One-minute challenge: tell me about a piece of technology that's given you trouble recently. What did you try? What needs doing about it? Did you forget to do anything about it? Use the timer above if you like the pressure.
1. A basic one from before today — complete it: "She turned on the radio the news." (listen)
2. Say it out loud: after a preposition (in, at, for, about...), do we use -ing or to + verb? Give one example.
3. Your doctor told you to cut caffeine, and you did it, starting last month.
"My doctor told me to cut caffeine, so I coffee last month." (drink)
4. Nobody knew about the party because of a mistake you made.
"I the invitations, so nobody knew about the party." (send)
5. You're trying to sell an old bike, but it's not ready yet.
"This old bike before we can sell it." (fix)
Which of today's five verbs did you find trickiest — stop, remember/forget, try, go on, or need? Say why you think that one was harder.
At the start we said: five verbs that change meaning, so you can talk about habits, memory, effort, and jobs that still need doing. Tick what's true: