Out loud, before anything else — don't worry about mistakes, just talk.
Think of something in your home that's broken, or stopped working properly, at some point in the last year. Say one sentence about it — what was wrong with it?
Customer: Hi — I brought my laptop in last week. It's been overheating and shutting down without warning.
Assistant: Let's see... yes, here it is. It's being checked over today, actually.
Customer: Oh, good. Do you know roughly when it'll be ready?
Assistant: I can't promise a time, but I'll call you the second it's done.
Look at what's happening in this short exchange. Three completely different jobs, done by three different structures. Can you spot all three? Say them before you check.
The tense for telling the story of a problem — when it started, and whether it's still going on.
What's the shared machinery, and when would you reach for it? Say it, then check.
1. Your headphones have had a crackling sound in the left ear for about ten days, and it's not stopping. Use the continuous form of crackle:
"My headphones in the left ear for about ten days."
2. The boiler has cut out every evening since the cold snap started, and it's still doing it. Use the continuous form of cut out:
"The boiler every evening since the cold snap started."
3. The dishwasher's door catch has jammed shut on and off for the last fortnight, and it's not getting any better. Use the continuous form of jam:
"The dishwasher's door catch for the last fortnight."
Tell me about three things that have been going wrong lately — a household item, something you own personally, and something in your neighbourhood. Use have been + -ing every time:
Once you've explained the problem, this is how you explain what's happened to it — without saying who did what.
Three different flavours of the same idea. What do they share, and what's different? Say it, then check.
1. Right now, someone's actually repairing your printer downstairs — it's in pieces on the desk. Use the continuous passive of repair:
"It downstairs at the moment — try not to worry."
2. Your jacket zip jammed halfway up yesterday, right when you were rushing out the door. Tell a friend what happened, using get + stick:
"The zip halfway up yesterday, of all days."
3. Your bike's back light won't turn on any more, and the shop says the battery inside is corroded beyond saving. Explain it to a friend, using need + change:
"Apparently the battery — it's beyond saving."
Give me three pieces of news about something broken, lost, or being fixed — real or invented. Use at least one of each:
Turning a direct question into a polite, indirect one — useful the moment you need something from someone.
Each one wraps a real question inside a softer frame. What happens to the word order inside the frame? Say it, then check.
1. The shop hasn't said anything about timing, and you want to know when the phone will be ready. Ask politely, starting with "Could you tell me":
"Could you tell me ?"
2. You want to know if this kind of screen damage is covered by the warranty, but you don't want to sound too direct. Start with "Do you know":
"Do you know ?"
3. Ask, as gently as possible, whether the shop could look at your bike gears today. Start with "I was wondering":
"I was wondering ?"
Turn these three blunt questions into polite, indirect ones, out loud:
Everything together, out loud, from both sides of the conversation.
Something of yours has stopped working properly — pick anything: a phone, a washing machine, a laptop, a boiler, headphones, a jacket zip. Real or invented.
Talk for two full minutes. Cover all three:
Now swap. I'll describe something broken. You're the person behind the counter — ask me at least three diagnostic questions, all in indirect form:
One more time, a completely different object this time. You describe it; I'll ask the polite questions back to you.
Write the 3–5 sentence message you'd actually send — a text to a landlord, an email to a shop, a note to a repair service. Explain the problem's history, what's been done about it, and ask politely what happens next. The checker will tell you which forms it finds.
Real conversation never tells you which structure to use. Here everything's shuffled.
1. Your colleague looks exhausted. "Rough few days?" — "Yeah, the building's fire alarm ___ randomly all week — nobody's sleeping properly."
2. You walk past the old library and notice scaffolding covering the windows. "Ah — it ___ at last."
3. Which is the polite, correctly-ordered question?
Each one has a single grammar slip. Say the correct version out loud first, then type the whole sentence.
4. "Could you tell me when will it be ready?"
5. "It makes a noise since last week."
6. "It's being worked."
7. "It needs replace."
Each sentence below is correct but flat. Say a more natural version out loud using today's grammar, then compare:
8. "Somebody fixed my phone screen yesterday." (you didn't do it yourself — but who cares who did?)
9. "It started on Monday. It hasn't stopped. Today is Thursday."
1. The plain simple past, for one finished moment — no story, just what happened. Fill the gap with subject + verb:
Yesterday, working completely. (the kettle / stop)
2. The plain passive, without any of today's extra flavours — just finished, in the past:
My car (fix) last week.
3. Your tablet has been running painfully slowly since the last software update, and it isn't improving. Use the continuous form of slow down:
"My tablet since the last update."
4. You dropped your heater last month and now the switch doesn't click properly. Explain what happened, using get + damage:
"The switch when I dropped it."
5. Ask politely whether the wifi router is still covered by its guarantee. Start with "I was wondering":
"I was wondering ?"
Close the loop: in about a minute, tell me — which of today's three tools felt most natural already, which one still needs thinking time, and what have you noticed about how you've been using them while we talked?
We said: tell the story, explain what's happened, and ask politely what happens next. Tick what's true: