Hard Facts

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 common phrasal verbs fit into sentences
  • Develop a natural feel for correct English structure
  • Improve both listening and grammar simultaneously
1
0
/13
escape are to they live dying in the and slums now Lakshmi Pratiba
Lakshmi and Pratiba are dying to escape the slums they live in now
Listen
2
0
/12
They in want improve they way can on situation their any to
They want to improve on their situation in any way they can
Listen
3
0
/9
shopkeeper a even some stole Once money from they
Once they even stole some money from a shopkeeper
Listen
4
0
/17
get had didn't They it hand money however and the to over the to away with police
They didn't get away with it however and had to hand over the money to the police
Listen
5
0
/32
they in to face leaving if go that Now have a to they very shanty will town fact school time live they to hard up trying the they difficult cannot are the
Now they are trying to face up to the hard fact that if they cannot go to school they will have a very difficult time leaving the shanty town they live in
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 common phrasal verbs 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