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C2 Proficiency key word transformations practice

C2Reading & Use of English40 questionsUpdated

Key word transformations ask you to rewrite a sentence so it keeps its meaning, uses a given key word unchanged, and stays within a strict word limit. At C2 the structures tested are inversion, nominalisation, passive reporting and idiomatic fixed phrases rather than simple tense swaps. Each item is marked in two halves, so a half-right answer still scores.

What this task tests

  • Control of advanced structures: inversion, cleft sentences, unreal past, passive reporting.
  • Nominalisation: turning a clause into a noun phrase without losing meaning.
  • Fixed phrases built around the key word, which cannot be altered in any way.
  • Precision within a word limit, including contractions counting as two words.
  • Keeping every element of the original meaning, including hedging and time reference.
  • Dependent prepositions in the phrase the key word belongs to.
  • Verb patterns: which complement the new verb requires once the structure changes.
  • Modal paraphrase, including deduction, obligation and regret about the past.
  • Causative and passive alternatives where the agent has to disappear or reappear.
  • Spelling and article accuracy inside a short answer, where one slip costs half the marks.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Underline what must survive

    Before writing, mark the parts of the first sentence that carry meaning: the time reference, the modality, the degree. These must all appear in your answer, and it is the hedge or the modal that candidates silently drop.

  2. Step 2:

    Let the key word choose the structure

    The key word is not decoration. If it is a noun, you are nominalising; if it is an auxiliary, you are probably inverting; if it is a preposition, you are building a fixed phrase. Identify the structure before you write a word.

  3. Step 3:

    Write the chunk around the key word first

    Build outwards from the key word rather than starting at the left-hand end of the gap. That way you never discover at the end that the phrase will not fit in the words available.

  4. Step 4:

    Read the words printed on both sides of the gap

    The frame is half the answer. If the frame already supplies a subject, an impersonal structure is impossible however good the English; if it ends with a preposition, your phrase must stop before one.

  5. Step 5:

    Count the words, then count again

    Contractions count as two. Hyphenated words usually count as one. Going one word over scores zero even when the English is perfect, so counting is not optional.

  6. Step 6:

    Check the verb form after the structural change

    Inversion forces a bare infinitive after the moved auxiliary; a gerund follows a preposition; a perfect infinitive follows a modal of past deduction. Most half-marks are lost on the verb, not the structure.

  7. Step 7:

    Reread both sentences side by side

    Check the two mean the same thing to someone who has not seen the original. If your version is stronger, weaker or more certain than the first sentence, it is wrong however elegant it is.

  8. Step 8:

    Never write two alternatives

    An incorrect option cancels a correct one. If you genuinely cannot choose, commit to the version that uses the key word most naturally and leave the other in your head.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisNot until she had left did she realised what had happened.

    ThisNot until she had left did she realise what had happened.

    After the inverted auxiliary did, the verb returns to its base form. Candidates get the inversion right and the verb form wrong.

  • Not thisI wish I would have listened to her advice.

    ThisI wish I had listened to her advice.

    Regret about the past takes the past perfect after wish. Would have is imported from the third conditional.

  • Not thisIt's said that he was the finest teacher of his generation.

    ThisHe is said to have been the finest teacher of his generation.

    When the key word is SAID and the frame supplies the subject, you need the personal passive with a perfect infinitive. Both structures are English; only one fits the frame.

  • Not thisThere is no point to complain now.

    ThisThere is no point in complaining now.

    Point takes in plus a gerund. A dependent preposition error wastes half the marks on an otherwise correct transformation.

  • Not thisHad not it been for her, the case would have collapsed.

    ThisHad it not been for her, the case would have collapsed.

    In inverted conditionals the negative stays with the main verb and follows the subject. Had not it is the order candidates produce by analogy with questions.

  • Not thisShe denied to have taken the file.

    ThisShe denied having taken the file.

    Deny takes a gerund. Changing the structure changes the pattern the verb requires, and the new verb’s pattern has to be checked every time.

  • Not thisHe is thought that he left the country in June.

    ThisHe is thought to have left the country in June.

    You can write It is thought that he left or He is thought to have left, but not a hybrid. Mixing the impersonal and personal passives is a classic zero-mark answer.

Language this task keeps reusing

no sooner had
inverted structure for one event immediately following another
is said to have
personal passive reporting about the past
on no account
under no circumstances; triggers inversion
there is no point in
it is not worth doing; followed by a gerund
it was not until
cleft structure emphasising a late point in time
take issue with
disagree with, formally
had it not been for
inverted third conditional with a noun phrase
come to terms with
accept something difficult
bear in mind
remember and take into account
make allowances for
take mitigating factors into account
account for
explain or be the cause of
at short notice
with very little warning
on the verge of
about to do something or have something happen
take it for granted
assume without checking
go so far as to
do something surprisingly extreme
have a bearing on
be relevant to

Practice: key word transformations

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.

1Complete the second sentence so it means the same as the first. Use the key word given.

He regrets not accepting the post. WISHES — He the post.
'She only understood the risk after signing.' Which version uses UNTIL correctly?

3Complete the second sentence so it means the same as the first. Use the key word given.

People say he was the finest essayist of his generation. SAID — He the finest essayist of his generation.

4Complete the second sentence so it means the same as the first. Use the key word given.

It is not worth complaining at this stage. POINT — There is no at this stage.
Decide whether each statement about key word transformations is true.
  • The key word may be changed in form if the grammar requires it.
  • Contractions count as two words towards the limit.
  • Marks are awarded in two halves, so a partly correct answer can score.
3 to go
'The staff must not leave the laboratory unlocked.' Which version uses ACCOUNT correctly?

7Complete the second sentence so it means the same as the first. Use the key word given.

Her insistence saved the case from being dropped. NOT — Had it her insistence, the case would have been dropped.
'She disagreed with the way the figures were presented.' Which version uses ISSUE correctly?

9Complete the second sentence so it means the same as the first. Use the key word given.

As soon as the results were published, the criticism began. SOONER — No sooner than the criticism began.

10Explain why 'It's said that he was a great teacher' scores nothing when the frame is 'He ___ a great teacher' with the key word SAID.

Keep going

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Frequently asked questions

How many words am I allowed?

Each item states its own limit, typically a narrow band of between three and eight words including the key word. Going over the stated limit scores zero, so read the instruction on the paper rather than relying on memory.

Can I change the key word?

Never. Not the tense, not the number, not the part of speech. If your sentence needs a changed form of the key word, your structure is wrong, not the key word.

What if two answers seem possible?

Choose the one that uses the key word most naturally and keeps closest to the original meaning. If both do, either is likely to be accepted, but do not write two answers: an incorrect alternative cancels a correct one.

How do I get faster at this task?

Practise by structure rather than at random. Do twenty inversions, then twenty nominalisations, then twenty passive reporting items. Recognising the structure is what takes the time, and grouping practice makes recognition automatic.

Is it worth writing something if I am unsure?

Yes, because the marking is in halves. A candidate who produces the correct chunk around the key word and gets the rest slightly wrong still banks a mark, whereas a blank banks nothing.

Do I have to keep the original word order?

No, only the original meaning. The whole point of the task is that the second sentence reorganises the first, so a completely different word order is expected as long as nothing is added or lost.