C2 Proficiency Key Word Transformations Practice

C2 Proficiency (CPE) · Reading & Use of English Part 4 · 67 free exercises

Rewrite a sentence so it means the same as the original, using a given key word without changing it — in three to six words. Key word transformations test grammar and vocabulary together: passives, conditionals, reported speech, comparatives, phrasal verbs and fixed phrases.

Key Word Transformations: Same meaning, different grammar.

6 — items
2 marks — each — 1 per half
3–6 words — incl. the keyword
Keyword — must not change

Grammar transformations — turning one structure into another with the same meaning. The keyword is not a hint; it points to the structure Cambridge wants. Every piece of the original meaning must survive.

What real learners get wrong: Across 1,704 real C2 answers, 70% are wrong — the hardest task in any Cambridge exam we track. Reported speech (85%) and comparison (83%) cause most of it.

The method

Say the full meaning of the first sentence to yourself — including small words like "really" or "at first".
Let the keyword choose the structure: NO → inversion, WISH → unreal past, LACK → "lack understanding of".
Write your answer, then read the whole second sentence — it must connect before and after the gap.
Count the words, and remember contractions count as two. The keyword must appear, unchanged.
Check the meaning is 100% the same, and the tense matches the original.

The traps

Losing a small meaning word: Suddenly, really, great, first — each carries meaning, and each costs a mark when it disappears.
Tense drift: Answers slide into the present because the gapped sentence "sounds fine". Check the original.
Negative openers need inversion: After "under no circumstances", "no sooner", "only then", the verb moves before the subject.
Changing the keyword’s form: The keyword must appear exactly as given — TAKEN cannot become take.
Right idea, wrong pattern: English patterns are exact: "the subject of a debate", not "subject to".

C2 Proficiency Key Word Transformations Practice

Key Word Transformations: Same meaning, different grammar.

The method

The traps

All Key Word Transformations exercises

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Expert Proficiency Resource Book, Pearson Education

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Objective Proficiency 2nd Edition Workbook, Cambridge University Press

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Proficiency Testbuilder, 4th Edition, Mark Harrison, Macmillan

Ready for C2 Proficiency Student's Book, Macmillan

Ready for C2 Proficiency Workbook, Macmillan

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