Original BandLadder material
It teaches a 4-step method: look left, look right, check the verb and match the ending. Along the way you get worked examples with the key words marked, before-and-after fixes that show why the first version loses marks, a one-page visual summary, word cards with meanings and examples (-tion · -ment · -ity · -ness, -ise · -en · -ify, -al · -ive · -ful · -able and -ly), a quick check to test yourself and a recap of the rules to remember. Each card holds one idea, so you can read it on a phone between practice sessions.
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The first 3 of 9 cards
you know the word, so what went wrong?
Right idea, wrong part of speech. In a gap, that's a wrong answer.
The economyneeds an adjective growth in Pellowmere surprised experts. Few predicted a strong recover,needs a noun and most were very pessimism.needs an adjective
Fixes: economic growth, a strong recovery, very pessimistic.
a word family shares one root
| Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| growth | grow | growing | — |
| care | care | careful | carefully |
| strength | strengthen | strong | strongly |
| decision | decide | decisive | decisively |
| reliability | rely | reliable | reliably |
| width | widen | wide | widely |
Care is both a noun and a verb: the gap decides. Grow has no everyday adverb, so never invent one.
read the gap before the words
Card 4 of 9 onwards
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Read the full Word families: pick the right form free
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The PDF download comes with any BandLadder plan. Free accounts read the lesson online in the study reader, on the web and in the app.
The BandLadder team wrote and checked it. It is original BandLadder material, not copied from books or other websites, and its exam facts are checked against the official IELTS and PTE pages.
Both. The lesson is in the IELTS and the PTE study library, so it opens whichever exam you prepare for.
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