At A2 Key, spelling and punctuation are marked in both writing tasks, and they are the easiest marks to lose and the easiest to protect. Most errors come from about forty common words and four punctuation rules. This page drills the words examiners see misspelled every session and the capital letters candidates forget.
Write down every word you spell wrongly in class. Most students repeat the same eight or ten words, and learning those ten fixes most of the problem.
Days, months, countries, languages, people’s names and the word I always take a capital. Scan for those before you check anything else; they are fast to find.
Read your answer looking only for where one idea ends and the next begins. Put a full stop there and a capital letter after it.
Be-cau-se, beau-ti-ful, in-te-res-ting. Saying a word slowly in parts usually produces the right letters.
Stop becomes stopped, plan becomes planned, travel becomes travelled. One short vowel plus one consonant doubles the consonant.
Study becomes studied and carry becomes carried, but play becomes played because there is a vowel before the y.
Short forms — don’t, can’t, I’m — and possession — my sister’s bag. Never use one to make a plural.
Do a separate pass where you look at words, not meaning. Mixed checking catches almost nothing.
Not thisbecouse / becuase
Thisbecause
It is the most common misspelling at this level. Learn it as be-cau-se and write it ten times.
Not thisI speak english and I live in italy.
ThisI speak English and I live in Italy.
Languages, countries, nationalities, days and months always take a capital letter in English, even in the middle of a sentence.
Not thisMy freind bought some bread’s.
ThisMy friend bought some bread.
Friend is i before e here, and an apostrophe never makes a plural.
Not thisWe stoped at the shop and traveled home.
ThisWe stopped at the shop and travelled home.
Short vowel plus single consonant doubles before -ed, and British English doubles the l in travelled.
Not thisshe is my sister she is twelve
ThisShe is my sister. She is twelve.
Two ideas need two sentences, each with a capital letter and a full stop.
Not thisIts a lovely day and the dog ate it’s food.
ThisIt’s a lovely day and the dog ate its food.
It’s means it is; its means belonging to it. This pair is worth learning on its own.
Not thisI study english at the weekend’s.
ThisI study English at the weekends.
Two errors in five words — a missing capital and an apostrophe used for a plural — and both are quick to check.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
2Complete the sentence.
4Complete the sentence.
7Complete the sentence.
9Complete the sentence.
10Write one sentence explaining when you use a capital letter in the middle of a sentence.
One good answer
For names of people and places, days, months, countries, languages and nationalities, and for the word I.
11Complete the sentence.
13Complete the sentence.
15Complete the sentence.
18Complete the sentence.
19Complete the sentence.
20Explain in one or two sentences why you should check spelling in a separate pass.
One good answer
When I read for meaning I see the word I meant to write, so I do one pass looking only at the letters in each word, which is the only way I catch my usual mistakes.
22Complete the sentence.
24Complete the sentence.
27Complete the sentence.
28Complete the sentence.
30Complete the sentence.
31Write one sentence that contains a day, a country and a person’s name, all with correct capital letters.
One good answer
On Friday Marta is flying to Portugal to visit her cousins.
33Complete the sentence.
34Complete the sentence.
37Complete the sentence.
39Complete the sentence.
40Explain in one or two sentences how a personal error list helps your spelling.
One good answer
I write down every word I get wrong, and because I repeat the same eight or ten words, learning that short list removes most of my spelling mistakes.
Note
Pick Two Activity is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, the British Council, IDP, ETS, Duolingo or any other exam board. Exam names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to describe the exam you are preparing for. Every question on this page is original practice written by us: we do not provide, copy or reproduce official exam papers.
A few small errors do not stop a good answer from passing, but repeated errors in common words pull your language mark down in both writing tasks.
Either is normally accepted, but be consistent. If you learn British spelling, use colour and travelled throughout rather than mixing the two.
Write the word in a sentence about your own life, say it in syllables, and write it again the next day. Isolated lists are much less effective.
Yes, in the sense that an examiner must be able to read it. If your letters are unclear, write a little more slowly and a little larger.
Use a simpler word you can spell. A clear, correct sentence is worth more than an ambitious word written wrongly.