About Selecting Words
A selecting words question gives a sentence with one word missing and four words to choose from. What makes the answer certain rather than a matter of taste is that the missing word usually has a grammatical job to do, and the words around the blank decide which form that job requires.
What you need to understand
- The word before the blank decides the form of a verb: has, have and had take the past participle, a modal takes the base form, and to takes the base form.
- The doer decides the number of the verb. A plural doer takes the base form in the simple present; a singular doer takes the form ending in s.
- A question in the simple present opens with do or does, never with is or are, and the auxiliary agrees with the doer.
- For takes a length of time and since takes a point in time. Ten years takes for; 2015 takes since.
- An article depends on the sound that follows it, and a plural noun takes the rather than a or an.
- A preposition is often fixed by the noun it goes with, so the noun is what decides it.
How to work through these questions
- Read the whole sentence before looking at the options. The blank is a gap in a structure, and the structure is what tells you what belongs in it.
- Look at the word immediately before the blank. If it is has, have or had, the blank needs a past participle.
- If the word before the blank is a modal such as can, must or should, the blank needs the base form of the verb.
- If the blank comes after to, it needs the base form.
- Find the doer and decide whether it is singular or plural. In the simple present that decides between the base form and the form ending in s.
- If the blank is a preposition before a time word, decide whether the time is a length or a point, and choose for or since accordingly.
- Check your choice against the whole sentence one more time. A form that is right in itself can still be wrong for the position.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Choosing the word that sounds best rather than the form the position requires.
- Using the simple past where a past participle is needed, so has wrote appears in place of has written.
- Giving a modal a form ending in s, as in can goes.
- Ignoring the number of the doer, so that a plural doer is given a singular verb.
- Using since with a length of time, as in since ten years.
- Reading past the blank and choosing a word that fits the meaning but not the grammar of the sentence.
Worked example
The children have ___ the letter. Choose the word that fills the blank: wrote, written, write, writes.
- The word before the blank is have, which is a helper verb.
- A helper verb is followed by the past participle of the main verb, never by the past form or the base form.
- The verb here is write, whose principal parts are write, writes, wrote, written.
- The base form is write, the third person singular is writes, the past form is wrote, and the past participle is written.
- The position calls for the past participle, so the answer is written.
Answer: written
Practice questions with answers
A few Selecting Words questions with the full solution shown, so you can see
how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.
Question 1
Choose the word that correctly fills the blank: He has lived in this village ___ three weeks.
-
A
from
-
B
for
-
C
since
-
D
during
Answer: Option B — with explanation
In this position 'for' takes a length of time, so the form that belongs there is 'for'.\nThe other options are the other forms of the same verb, and none of them is allowed in this position.
Common mistakes
- 'during' is not the form this position allows: during
- 'from' is not the form this position allows: from
- 'since' is not the form this position allows: since
Question 2
One word belongs in the blank. Choose it: the villagers ___ a box every day.
-
A
cleaning
-
B
cleaned
-
C
clean
-
D
cleans
Answer: Option C — with explanation
In this position a plural doer takes the base form in the present, so the form that belongs there is 'clean'.\nThe other options are the other forms of the same verb, and none of them is allowed in this position.
Common mistakes
- 'cleaning' is not the form this position allows: cleaning
- 'cleaned' is not the form this position allows: cleaned
- 'cleans' is not the form this position allows: cleans
Question 3
Fill in the blank with the correct form: He has lived in this village ___ two months.
-
A
for
-
B
from
-
C
during
-
D
since
Answer: Option A — with explanation
In this position 'for' takes a length of time, so the form that belongs there is 'for'.\nThe other options are the other forms of the same verb, and none of them is allowed in this position.
Common mistakes
- 'from' is not the form this position allows: from
- 'during' is not the form this position allows: during
- 'since' is not the form this position allows: since
Question 4
Choose the word that correctly fills the blank: He has lived in this village ___ last April.
-
A
during
-
B
for
-
C
from
-
D
since
Answer: Option D — with explanation
In this position 'since' takes a point in time, so the form that belongs there is 'since'.\nThe other options are the other forms of the same verb, and none of them is allowed in this position.
Common mistakes
- 'from' is not the form this position allows: from
- 'for' is not the form this position allows: for
- 'during' is not the form this position allows: during
Question 5
Choose the word that correctly fills the blank: He has lived in this village ___ he was a boy.
-
A
since
-
B
during
-
C
for
-
D
from
Answer: Option A — with explanation
In this position 'since' takes a point in time, so the form that belongs there is 'since'.\nThe other options are the other forms of the same verb, and none of them is allowed in this position.
Common mistakes
- 'from' is not the form this position allows: from
- 'for' is not the form this position allows: for
- 'during' is not the form this position allows: during
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the past form and the past participle?
The past form stands alone and carries the tense: she wrote. The past participle follows a helper verb: she has written. For regular verbs the two look the same, which is why irregular ones are where the marks are lost.
Why can the answer be settled without understanding the sentence?
Because the missing word has a grammatical position, and the words around that position fix the form. The meaning tells you which verb it is; the grammar tells you which form of it.
How do I decide between for and since?
Ask whether the time word names a length or a moment. Two hours and ten years are lengths and take for; 2015 and Monday are moments and take since.
What if two options are the same word in different forms?
That is the usual shape of the question. Work out which form the position requires, and the others are wrong for that position however good they look.
