English · free 11+ practice
English 11+ skills
41 named English skills, grouped by topic. Choose a scored topic quiz or an interactive exercise. Quizzes check your answers; exercises help you explore an idea. No account needed.
- named English skills
- 41
- playable exercises
- 28
- strands in this paper
- 7
- and no sign-up
- £0
An English exercise, playable on this page
One of the 28 English exercises below, running here in your browser. Nothing is scored and nothing is saved.
Homophone Highway loads here in your browser. Nothing you do is saved or scored.
English · Homophones
Homophone Highway
Their, there and they’re sound identical, so the ear is no help. Drive each gate anyway.
Drive each sentence through the gate that fills the gap.
Open Homophone Highway on its own pageEvery English skill, strand by strand
Search the list, or read down it. A linked skill has a scored topic quiz or an interactive exercise.
Search English skills
All 41 skills, listed below.
Grammar (9)
- Classify a word in contextIdentify the grammatical function of one highlighted word in its sentence.2 exercises
- Complete a finite clauseComplete one clause with an explicit subject and a finite verb.1 exercise
- Distinguish contraction and possessionChoose between a possessive form and a contraction in one sentence.1 exercise
- Distinguish a phrase and clauseDecide whether a group of words contains a clause and identify its role.1 exercise
- Maintain consistent tenseChoose a verb form that preserves the intended tense sequence.1 exercise
- Match subject and verbChoose a verb form that agrees with its true subject.1 exercise
- Order sentence elementsArrange supplied words into one grammatical sentence.1 exercise
- Select a clause connectorChoose a conjunction or connective matching the stated relationship.1 exercise
- Select a pronoun formChoose the pronoun form that fits its grammatical role.1 exercise
Language (3)
- Expand a common abbreviationReplace one common abbreviation with its conventional full form in context.1 exercise
- Identify figurative languageDistinguish a simile, metaphor, or personification from literal language.1 exercise
- Identify a sound deviceIdentify alliteration or sound imitation in a short phrase.1 exercise
Punctuation (9)
- Mark possessionPlace an apostrophe for singular or plural possession.2 exercises
- Mark a sentence boundaryChoose punctuation that correctly ends or joins complete clauses.1 exercise
- Use a colonPlace a colon between a complete lead-in and its explanation or list.1 exercise
- Punctuate direct addressPlace the commas that separate a named addressee from the rest of the sentence.1 exercise
- Punctuate direct speechPlace the required punctuation around one direct-speech construction.1 exercise
- Punctuate a fronted adverbialPlace the comma that separates a fronted adverbial from its main clause.1 exercise
- Punctuate a listUse commas or a colon correctly for one list construction.1 exercise
- Punctuate parenthesisMark one parenthetical interruption with a consistent punctuation pair.1 exercise
- Use capital lettersApply capital letters to sentence starts and proper nouns.1 exercise
Reading (11)
- Distinguish fact and opinionClassify one statement as presented fact or opinion.1 exercise
- Identify a main ideaSelect the main idea of a passage or section.1 exercise
- Identify textual moodIdentify the mood created by a short passage or poem.1 exercise
- Identify writer purposeIdentify why a text or section was written.1 exercise
- Identify a themeIdentify the broader idea developed across a passage.1 exercise
- Identify writer viewpointIdentify the writer viewpoint from language choices.1 exercise
- Infer a character stateInfer one character feeling, motive, or attitude from textual evidence.1 exercise
- Infer implicit meaningDraw one supported conclusion that is not directly stated.4 exercises
- Interpret a word in contextInfer the meaning of one word from its sentence and passage context.4 exercises
- Retrieve an explicit detailFind a detail stated directly in a passage.4 exercises
- Sequence passage eventsPut explicitly described events in passage order.2 exercises
Spelling (3)
- Apply a prefix or suffixForm a word by adding one prefix or suffix with the required spelling change.2 exercises
- Form a pluralApply the spelling change needed to form one plural noun.1 exercise
- Resolve an irregular spellingChoose the conventional spelling where a simple sound rule is insufficient.1 exercise
Vocabulary (4)
- Classify a word relationshipClassify one pair or group by its semantic relationship.2 exercises
- Resolve a homophoneChoose the correctly spelled homophone for a sentence.2 exercises
- Select an antonymSelect a word with the opposite meaning in the stated context.1 exercise
- Select a synonymSelect a word with the closest meaning in the stated context.1 exercise
Writing (2)
English exercises you can share
Each one has its own page and its own permanent link. Send a single activity to a child without sending them anywhere else first.
- Abbreviation Match
- Affix Slot Machine
- Apostrophe Lens
- Between the Lines
- Bracket Inserter
- Capital Toggle
- Clause Builder
- Comprehension X-Ray
- Connector Choice
- Error Zapper
- Homophone Highway
- Inference Iceberg
- Plural Forge
- Punctuation Pilot
- Punctuation Pinball
- Purpose Press
- Question Forge
- Redacted Files
- Sentence Surgery
- Simile Matcher
- Sound Spotter
- Spelling Surgeon
- Story Sequencer
- Story Untangler
- Synonym Spectrum
- Theme Lift
- Unreliable Witness
- Word Morpher
English 11+ questions parents ask
The questions that come up most about this paper, answered plainly. Everything here is on the page and nothing needs an account.
Comprehension of a passage a child has never seen, and the technical English underneath it: grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary. Both halves are marked, and the technical half is the more teachable of the two. There are 41 named English skills here across 7 strands, with 28 interactive exercises.
Reading widely helps over years but will not move a score in a term. The paper tests a small set of specific moves: retrieve a detail that is stated, infer one that is not, identify the writer's purpose, viewpoint or theme, and work out a word from its context. Naming which move a question is asking for is often the whole fix, and each move is a separate skill page here.
Because reading for pleasure and answering a comprehension question are different jobs. A confident reader answers from the gist and from what they already assume, and the paper is built to catch that: the tempting wrong answer is usually true of the world but not supported by the passage. The habit worth building is pointing at the line that proves the answer, every time.
Yes, because they are tested directly rather than only marked. Apostrophes for possession against contractions, commas around a parenthesis or a fronted adverbial, punctuating direct speech, plurals and irregular spellings all appear as questions in their own right. They are also the fastest marks in the paper, because each one is a rule and a rule can be learned in an evening.
Not with a list of a thousand words. The paper asks for the closest meaning, the opposite, the odd one out and the word that fits a sentence, so what pays is handling relationships between words and reading meaning from context. Prefixes, suffixes and roots do more work than any list, because they unlock words a child has never seen before.
28 interactive English exercises are linked from this page, from rebuilding a broken sentence to placing an apostrophe and choosing between two words that sound identical. No account, nothing scored, nothing recorded, and every exercise has its own link to share with a child or a class.
Which English skills should your child work on?
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