What does a child have to do to classify a word in context in the 11+?

Identify the grammatical function of one highlighted word in its sentence. It is one of 41 named English skills in the 11+, in the grammar strand, and this page carries 2 interactive exercises that practise it.

What is the trap in an 11+ classify a word in context question?

Every option is a real word and every option belongs to the same family, so none of them looks wrong on its own. Only one of them can do the job this gap does. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.

What does classify a word in context lead on to?

Once it is secure, the skill map opens match subject and verb. Agreement requires locating the grammatical subject.

What is not part of classify a word in context in the 11+?

The skill map draws the line here: Classify contextual function, not a word in isolation. A question past that line is testing a different named English skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.

Which other 11+ skills should we practise alongside classify a word in context?

The grammar strand holds 9 skills that are placed together on the skill map, and the pages next to classify a word in context are complete a finite clause, distinguish contraction and possession and distinguish a phrase and clause. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.

How can my child practise classify a word in context for free?

Use Mind the Gap and Sentence Surgery, embedded on this page. They are the exercises the skill map attaches to classify a word in context, they run in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. Each also has its own link, so you can send one to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

English · Grammar

Classify a word in context

Identify the grammatical function of one highlighted word in its sentence.

Watch the worked example

What Job Is This Word Doing?

This video shows how to identify a word’s job in a sentence, including nouns, verbs and other word classes. Watch an 11+ English question solved step by step.

Open video page and transcript

Keep practising with Smart Cub Learning. Find topics to practise next

Quick quiz: Classify a word in context

10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.

Read the questions in this quiz

Question 1
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 2
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 3
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 4
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 5
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 6
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 7
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 8
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 9
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.
Question 10
Choose the form of the word that does the job this gap needs doing.

Practise it now

Choose the word that best completes this sentence. Keep it and reject the other cards.

This exercise practises classify a word in context alongside its own main skill, Cloze Sentences.

Loading the interactive exercise. Nothing you do here is saved or scored.

A worked example

One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.

Working out what the gap has to do

Worked example: read what the gap has to do, then see why only one form of the word can do it.

Every choice comes from one word family. Decide what job the gap does before you choose.

A … plank is exactly what the job needed.

Choices for the gap: roughly, roughness, rough.

Answer: rough

How you get there

The gap describes the kind of plank the job needed, and "rough" is the only form of this word that can do that job. "roughness" names the quality itself, which is not what this gap needs; "roughly" tells you how something is done, which is not what this gap needs.

Why the other answers tempt

Every option is a real word and every option belongs to the same family, so none of them looks wrong on its own. Only one of them can do the job this gap does.

If they are stuck, say this

Decide what job the gap has before you look at the words on offer: is it describing something, telling you how something was done, or naming the quality itself?

Now do it live in Mind the Gap

Kitchen-table script for parents

Try this together

A friendly mini script for the breakfast table, school run or a quiet two minutes. Read it aloud as written, or make it your own.

Ready? Let's have a go at Classify a word in context together. The choices are roughly, roughness, rough. Here comes the question: Worked example: read what the gap has to do, then see why only one form of the word can do it. Before we race ahead, let us choose one good first step. Here is a helpful clue: Decide what job the gap has before you look at the words on offer: is it describing something, telling you how something was done, or naming the quality itself? Nice work. Now let us follow the thinking: "roughness" names the quality itself, which is not what this gap needs; "roughly" tells you how something is done, which is not what this gap needs. So our answer is: rough. There is one sneaky trap to watch for: Only one of them can do the job this gap does. Can you show me that first move again in your own words? Brilliant. No rush; we are practising a method you can reuse, not trying to win a speed contest.

How each of these 2 exercises teaches it

Mind the Gap

Choose the word that best completes this sentence. Keep it and reject the other cards.

This engine’s own main skill is Cloze Sentences. It practises classify a word in context alongside it.

Check grammar and meaning together. In this sentence, was so needs an adjective in its base form. Steeply is an adverb and steepness is a noun. Steeper is a comparative adjective; was so steeper does not fit this sentence. Steep and gentle both fit the grammar, but steep best explains why the climb required rests. A gentle slope does not supply that explanation. These clues make steep the best option. Read the completed sentence to check it makes sense.

What to say if they get stuck

Read the whole sentence with each word in the gap. Check both the grammar and the meaning.
In this sentence, the gap follows "was so". Look for an adjective in the right form to describe the path.
Steep and gentle both fit the sentence’s grammar. Which one better explains needing to rest on the climb?

Open Mind the Gap on its own page to share it

Sentence Surgery

Lift the extra phrase out of the sentence, then fit the right verb into the gap.

This engine’s own main skill is Subject-Verb Agreement. It practises classify a word in context alongside it.

The subject of this sentence is "box", not "pencils". "Of coloured pencils" is a prepositional phrase that only describes the box, and a subject never lives inside one. One box is singular, so it takes the singular verb "was". Lift the phrase out and the sentence tells you the answer itself.

What to say if they get stuck

Grab the little handle on "of coloured pencils" and drag the whole phrase upwards.
Read what is left behind: "The box ___ on the art room shelf." What is the sentence actually about?
The subject can never hide inside a phrase beginning with "of". One box, so: "was".

Open Sentence Surgery on its own page to share it

Where classify a word in context sits in the 11+

The 11+ does not test these skills in isolation, and practising one in the wrong order wastes the practice. These are the skills the curriculum map connects this one to.

This opens up: Match subject and verb
Agreement requires locating the grammatical subject.

How classify a word in context differs from the skills beside it

The same exercise practises several skills, and telling them apart is often the difficulty rather than the exercise itself. On this page the skill is: identify the grammatical function of one highlighted word in its sentence, and it stops where classify contextual function, not a word in isolation.

Complete a finite clause
Complete one clause with an explicit subject and a finite verb. Excludes ordering a whole sentence and selecting only a connector.
Maintain consistent tense
Choose a verb form that preserves the intended tense sequence. Excludes subject-verb agreement as the primary demand.
Match subject and verb
Choose a verb form that agrees with its true subject. Excludes tense selection when agreement is already fixed.
Select a pronoun form
Choose the pronoun form that fits its grammatical role. One pronoun case or reference decision.
Interpret a word in context
Infer the meaning of one word from its sentence and passage context. Excludes recalling a definition without context.

Related english skills

Distinguish contraction and possessionChoose between a possessive form and a contraction in one sentence.
Distinguish a phrase and clauseDecide whether a group of words contains a clause and identify its role.
Order sentence elementsArrange supplied words into one grammatical sentence.
Select a clause connectorChoose a conjunction or connective matching the stated relationship.

All english 11+ skills

Questions parents ask about classify a word in context

What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.

: Identify the grammatical function of one highlighted word in its sentence. It is one of 41 named English skills in the 11+, in the grammar strand, and this page carries 2 interactive exercises that practise it.
: Every option is a real word and every option belongs to the same family, so none of them looks wrong on its own. Only one of them can do the job this gap does. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
: Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Decide what job the gap has before you look at the words on offer: is it describing something, telling you how something was done, or naming the quality itself?
: Once it is secure, the skill map opens match subject and verb. Agreement requires locating the grammatical subject.
: The skill map draws the line here: Classify contextual function, not a word in isolation. A question past that line is testing a different named English skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
: The grammar strand holds 9 skills that are placed together on the skill map, and the pages next to classify a word in context are complete a finite clause, distinguish contraction and possession and distinguish a phrase and clause. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
: Use Mind the Gap and Sentence Surgery, embedded on this page. They are the exercises the skill map attaches to classify a word in context, they run in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. Each also has its own link, so you can send one to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Classify a word in context is the step before match subject and verb

A free diagnostic maps the whole run of skills either side of this one, so practice follows the order the paper actually needs.