Nervous Times

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
/18
going their until plans Anna through The rich and were confident be to they twins fell were May
The twins Anna and May were confident they were going to be rich until their plans fell through
Listen
2
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/21
not They and on they poison insurance the them coming the planned during to their and day collect husbands counted home
They counted on their husbands not coming home during the day and they planned to poison them and collect the insurance
Listen
3
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/18
did husbands the husbands and day one left early that their They possibility work might out their finish
They left out the possibility that their husbands might finish work early and one day their husbands did
Listen
4
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/15
to they running run Now out places away of are and are running to they
Now they are running away and they are running out of places to run to
Listen
5
0
/11
while jobs They they in are tough physical are hiding doing
They are doing tough physical jobs while they are in hiding
Listen
6
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/18
wait out some them but while relatives they will help not They it hoping fun that are is
They are hoping that some relatives will help them out but it is not fun while they wait
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