Use of English – English Grammar Exercises for B2
You are writing a text message to your best friend to express your frustration about some recent issues. However, as you read your first drafts, you realize they sound way too aggressive and accusatory. To save your friendship, you decide to rewrite them using more diplomatic, B2-level grammatical structures (Noun phrases, passive voice, and softer collocations). Choose the correct option (A, B, C, or D) to complete the softer rewrites naturally.
1 Angry Draft: You are always late, and it ruins our plans!
Soft Rewrite: Your constant lateness ______ our plans.
(A) has a negative impact on
(B) makes a negative impact to
(C) gives a negative impact on
(D) does a negative impact to
2 Angry Draft: You ignored my advice completely.
Soft Rewrite: Unfortunately, you paid ______ my advice.
(A) little attention to
(B) small attention to
(C) few attention to
(D) slight attention to
3 Angry Draft: You made a terrible mistake booking this cheap hotel.
Soft Rewrite: Booking this hotel ______ a mistake.
(A) turned up being
(B) turned out to be
(C) turned into being
(D) turned down to be
4 Angry Draft: You obviously don’t care about my feelings.
Soft Rewrite: There seems to be ______ my feelings recently.
(A) lacking care to
(B) a lack of care for
(C) a lack to care for
(D) lacking of care to
5 Angry Draft: You broke your promise to help me move.
Soft Rewrite: I was a bit hurt when you ______ your promise to help me move.
(A) failed in keeping
(B) failed to keep
(C) failed keeping
(D) failed for keeping
6 Angry Draft: You only ever think about yourself!
Soft Rewrite: You sometimes ______ your own needs first.
(A) have a tendency to put
(B) have the tendency putting
(C) are a tendency to put
(D) have a tendency of putting
7 Angry Draft: You ruined my birthday party.
Soft Rewrite: It was a shame that things didn’t go ______ at my birthday party.
(A) according to plan
(B) according to the plan
(C) accordingly to plan
(D) in accordance to plan
8 Angry Draft: You never listen to me.
Soft Rewrite: I sometimes get ______ you are not listening to me.
(A) the impression which
(B) an impression of
(C) the impression that
(D) the impression for
9 Angry Draft: You left my kitchen in a disgusting mess!
Soft Rewrite: When I got home, the kitchen was left in ______.
(A) a bit of a mess
(B) a bit of mess
(C) bit of a mess
(D) a bit of the mess
10 Angry Draft: You forgot we were supposed to meet today.
Soft Rewrite: It seems our meeting today completely ______.
(A) slipped your brain
(B) slipped your mind
(C) slipped out of your mind
(D) slipped from your memory
11 Angry Draft: You are too busy to hang out with me anymore.
Soft Rewrite: You seem to be a bit ______ free time lately.
(A) short in
(B) short with
(C) short for
(D) short of
12 Angry Draft: You always cancel our plans at the last minute.
Soft Rewrite: You seem to have developed ______ our plans at the last minute.
(A) a habit to cancel
(B) the habit to cancel
(C) a habit of cancelling
(D) the habit in cancelling
13 Angry Draft: It’s your fault we missed the flight!
Soft Rewrite: I feel like you are partly ______ for us missing the flight.
(A) to blame
(B) for blaming
(C) the blame
(D) on blame
14 Angry Draft: Your joke was really offensive and mean.
Soft Rewrite: I actually ______ your joke last night.
(A) made offence of
(B) took offence at
(C) had offence from
(D) gave offence to
15 Angry Draft: You didn’t help me at all when I was sick.
Soft Rewrite: I felt like you were of ______ when I was sick.
(A) little assistance
(B) small assistance
(C) short assistance
(D) few assistance
16 Angry Draft: Stop interrupting me when I speak!
Soft Rewrite: Would ______ me when I am speaking?
(A) you mind not to interrupt
(B) your mind not interrupting
(C) you mind to not interrupt
(D) you mind not interrupting
17 Angry Draft: You completely overreacted to my innocent text message.
Soft Rewrite: I feel your reaction to my text was slightly ______.
(A) out of proportion
(B) off proportion
(C) beyond proportion
(D) over proportion
18 Angry Draft: You are hiding something from me.
Soft Rewrite: I feel like you are not being ______ me.
(A) entirely honest to
(B) entirely honest with
(C) entirely honest for
(D) entirely honest about
19 Angry Draft: You never even apologized to me.
Soft Rewrite: I am still waiting, as you haven’t ______ an apology yet.
(A) made me
(B) given to me
(C) offered me
(D) said me
20 Angry Draft: If you don’t change your attitude, we can’t be friends.
Soft Rewrite: Our friendship will be fine ______ we talk openly about this.
(A) as long as
(B) so long than
(C) as long that
(D) so long to
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (A) has a negative impact on
Explanation: To turn the aggressive verb “ruins” into a softer noun phrase, we use the collocation “have an impact on something”. Options B, C, and D use incorrect verbs/prepositions.
2 (A) little attention to
Explanation: The B2 collocation is “pay attention to”. By using “little” (without ‘a’, meaning ‘almost zero’), we politely express a negative idea without sounding as harsh as “you completely ignored”. “Few” is for countable nouns, and “small/slight” do not naturally collocate with attention here.
3 (B) turned out to be
Explanation: “Turn out to be” is a classic B2 phrasal verb meaning “to be discovered to be in the end”. It softens the blame by making the hotel the subject of the mistake, rather than directly pointing the finger at the friend.
4 (B) a lack of care for
Explanation: Transforming the verb “don’t care” into the noun phrase “a lack of care” creates psychological distance, making the complaint sound more objective and less like a personal attack. The correct structure is “a lack of + noun”.
5 (B) failed to keep
Explanation: “Fail to do something” is a formal/polite way of saying someone didn’t do what was expected. The collocation for promises is “keep a promise”.
6 (A) have a tendency to put
Explanation: “Have a tendency to + V” is an excellent FCE structure to describe someone’s annoying habits gently. It sounds much more diplomatic than saying “You always do this!”.
7 (A) according to plan
Explanation: The idiom “go according to plan” means to happen as intended. Saying “things didn’t go according to plan” is a fantastic passive-style way to avoid saying “you ruined it”. Notice there is no “the” before plan in this fixed phrase.
8 (C) the impression that
Explanation: “Get the impression that + clause” is a polite way to state your feelings or assumptions without stating them as absolute facts. It shifts the focus to your perception rather than their bad action.
9 (A) a bit of a mess
Explanation: Adding “a bit of a” before a negative noun (mess, problem, disaster) is a quintessential British English softening technique. It minimizes the severity of the complaint.
10 (B) slipped your mind
Explanation: “Slip your mind” is a B2 idiom meaning to forget something. Using this idiom makes the forgetting sound like an accidental, harmless brain glitch rather than an intentional insult.
11 (D) short of
Explanation: “Be short of something” (e.g., time, money, breath) means to not have enough of it. It sounds much more sympathetic than accusing someone of being “too busy for me”.
12 (C) a habit of cancelling
Explanation: The correct grammatical structure is “have a habit of + V-ing”. Similar to “tendency”, this focuses on the repetitive behavior rather than actively attacking the person.
13 (A) to blame
Explanation: “Be to blame (for something)” is a standard B2 structure meaning to be responsible for something bad. While still a complaint, “I feel like you are partly to blame” is significantly softer than “It’s your fault!”
14 (B) took offence at
Explanation: “Take offence at something” means to feel upset or insulted by it. This structure shifts the sentence from “Your joke was mean” (attacking the joke) to “I took offence” (focusing on your internal feelings).
15 (A) little assistance
Explanation: “Be of assistance” is a formal alternative to “help”. Using the negative quantifier “little” (meaning ‘almost no’) allows you to complain about their lack of help in a highly sophisticated way.
16 (D) you mind not interrupting
Explanation: The structure is “Would you mind + (not) + V-ing?”. This is the standard, polite way to ask someone to stop doing an annoying action. Options A and C use the infinitive “to”, which is grammatically incorrect after “mind”.
17 (A) out of proportion
Explanation: The idiom “blow something out of proportion” or “be out of proportion” means to react more strongly than necessary. It is a mature, diplomatic way to say “you overreacted”.
18 (B) entirely honest with
Explanation: The adjective “honest” takes the preposition “with” when referring to people. Saying “you are not being entirely honest” is a brilliant diplomatic substitute for calling someone a liar or secretive.
19 (C) offered me
Explanation: The strongest collocation for “apology” is “offer an apology” or “make an apology” (though “offer” sounds more sincere and formal). We do not say “give me an apology” or “say me an apology”.
20 (A) as long as
Explanation: “As long as” is a B2 conditional phrase meaning “provided that” or “on the condition that”. It creates a positive, constructive end to the message, offering a solution rather than an ultimatum.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
When you take the FCE (B2 First) exam, a major part of the Use of English section tests your ability to manipulate sentence structures to change the tone or focus. Here is how you do it:
1 Shift from Verbs to Noun Phrases (Nominalization):
Verbs sound direct and active, which can be perceived as aggressive. Nouns sound objective and detached.
- Aggressive: You don’t care.
- Diplomatic: There is a lack of care.
- Aggressive: Your lateness ruins things.
- Diplomatic: Your lateness has a negative impact on things.
2 Focus on “Your Perception” rather than “Their Action”:
Instead of stating what they did wrong as a fact, state how you felt or perceived it.
- Aggressive: You never listen.
- Diplomatic: I get the impression you aren’t listening.
- Aggressive: Your joke was mean.
- Diplomatic: I took offence at your joke.
3 Use Softening Modifiers and Idioms:
Little words make a huge difference in English.
- Use “a bit of a” (It was a bit of a mess).
- Use “little” to express a negative politely (You were of little assistance).
- Use “tendency to” or “habit of” instead of “always”.