Poor as a Churchmouse

Word Order Practice

Listen to each sentence and arrange the words in the correct order. Click on words to move them to your answer area.

Green checkmark (✓) means your current word order is correct so far. Red X (✗) means there's an error in the order.

Why Word Order Matters in English

Word order is crucial in English because it affects meaning. Unlike some languages that use case endings or particles to show word relationships, English relies heavily on word order to convey meaning.

This exercise helps you:

  • Internalize English sentence patterns
  • Recognize how idiomatic expressions fit into sentences
  • Develop a natural feel for correct English structure
  • Improve both listening and grammar simultaneously
1
0
/8
is Heart king like Gerald tonight a dining
Gerald Heart is dining like a king tonight
Listen
2
0
/24
dust as big like he is this to as and meal A one he as to gold it him can as much wants enjoy
A meal as big as this one is like gold dust to him and he wants to enjoy it as much as he can
Listen
3
0
/20
is to he on get has the He close move eating because a going cafe soon to is in however
He has to get a move on however because the cafe he is eating in is going to close soon
Listen
4
0
/20
is but of piece drop he a poor today paper a wealthy as as mouse church saw Gerald man a
Gerald is as poor as a church mouse but today he saw a wealthy man drop a piece of paper
Listen
5
0
/15
there the it picking giving was and man up shot to Like it a Gerald
Like a shot Gerald was there picking it up and giving it to the man
Listen
6
0
/21
was the he since man and dropped bill very know didn't a the it piece That it fit of important paper
That fit the bill since it was a very important piece of paper and the man didn't know he dropped it
Listen
7
0
/13
his gave man very wealthy The a was tip for Gerald and help
The man was very wealthy and gave Gerald a tip for his help
Listen
8
0
/20
and enough to cafe this That for Gerald tonight in is big celebrating week he tip buy food was a
That tip was big enough to buy Gerald food for a week and tonight he is celebrating in this cafe
Listen

Tips for Effective Practice

  1. Always listen to the audio first before attempting to order the words
  2. Pay attention to common patterns like subject-verb-object
  3. Notice how idiomatic expressions are positioned in sentences
  4. If you make a mistake, use it as a learning opportunity - try to understand why the correct order is different
  5. After completing each sentence, listen to the audio again while reading your correctly ordered sentence