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Help the clumsy ghost write his diary entry about his midnight stroll. Drag the correct words to complete the sentences.

First, I walked up the stairs to reach the attic. Then, I tried to glide through the solid brick wall, but I forgot how and bumped my head! Finally, I tripped and fell over a sleeping cat.

First, I walked up the stairs to reach the attic.

We use up to talk about movement to a higher position, like going from the bottom of the stairs to the top.

Then, I tried to glide through the solid brick wall...

We use through for movement from one side of a three-dimensional space (or solid object, if you're a ghost!) to the other.

Finally, I tripped and fell over a sleeping cat.

We use over to describe movement across an obstacle that is in your path.

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Preposition

  • interested in — ❌ interested on
  • good at football — ❌ good in football
  • depend on — ❌ depend of
  • arrive at the station — ❌ arrive to the station

Prepositions link nouns to the rest of the sentence: time (at 5pm), place (in London), manner (with care), abstract (afraid of). Most are idiomatic — the "correct" preposition must be memorised with each verb/adjective combination.

Rule: there is no universal rule. English prepositions are learned by combination: interested IN, good AT, depend ON, afraid OF. Your native language's equivalent will often mislead.

Past tense

  • I walked home. — simple past (completed action)
  • I was walking when it rained. — past progressive (in progress)
  • I had already left when she arrived. — past perfect (earlier past)
  • I had been waiting for an hour. — past perfect progressive (duration up to a past point)

Four past tense forms: simple past (done), past progressive (was happening), past perfect (had already happened), past perfect progressive (had been happening). Each encodes different timing relative to other past events.

Pattern: simple past = the story's main timeline. Past progressive = background action. Past perfect = flashback to something even earlier.

Simple tense

  • I go to work every day. — present simple (habit)
  • She went home yesterday. — past simple (completed action)
  • I will call you later. — future simple (promise/decision)
  • Water boils at 100°C. — present simple (general truth)

The simple aspect is the default, unmarked verb form. Present simple = habits, facts, schedules. Past simple = completed actions. Future simple = predictions, promises, decisions. No auxiliary needed (except will for future and do for questions/negatives).

Rule: if the action is a fact, habit, completed event, or scheduled future — and you don't need to emphasise it being in-progress or connected to now → simple tense.

A1 | Elementary | Beginners

  • My name is Anna. — present simple of be
  • Where is the station? — basic *wh-*question
  • I have two brothers. — possession with have
  • She likes coffee. — third-person -s

These are A1 sentences — the starting level of the CEFR framework. At A1 you can introduce yourself, ask and answer simple personal questions, and handle basic everyday transactions using present tense, be/have/do, and core vocabulary.

If you can say these but freeze at normal speaking speed, you're solidly A1 — and that's exactly where to start.

Easy

  • She is a teacher. — one verb form, one rule
  • I have two cats. — basic possession, short sentence
  • He doesn't like coffee. — simple negation with do-support
  • Only one answer is clearly correct; distractors are obviously wrong.

Easy marks beginner-level challenges: A1–early A2, one rule at a time, everyday vocabulary, no trick questions.

Use "Easy" when you want to build confidence on a specific rule without interference from other grammar or tricky contexts.