ALL ENGLISH 4U · B1 VOCABULARY PRACTICE
100% Original Practice TestUnit 12: Friends and Relations“Topic vocabulary · phrasal verbs · prepositions · word formation” – 81 interactive questions
📖 Vocabulary Reference – Friends and Relations
Study the notes, then work through the exercises for this unit.
How to Form It
Use word-family clues to choose the form that fits the grammar of the sentence.
Choose the right kind of word
The words before and after a gap help show if you need a noun, adjective, adverb or person.
- Positive
- subject + be + adjectiveOur new neighbour is confident when she speaks.
- Negative
- subject + be + not + adjectiveThe organiser is not careless with borrowed tools.
- Question
- be + subject + adjective?Is the new volunteer confident about speaking?
Unit 12 families: able -> ability; admire -> admiration; care -> careful / careless; forgive -> forgiveness; introduce -> introduction.
Look for a change in meaning
One root can name a quality, a person, an action or a connection. The ending often changes its job.
- Quality
- honest -> honestyHer honesty helped the family trust her.
- Person
- lie -> liarA liar is a person who tells lies.
- Connection
- relate -> relation / relationshipTheir relationship grew stronger.
Also practise: confident -> confidence; care -> careful / careless; forgive -> forgiveness; introduce -> introduction; admire -> admiration.
Clue Words & Patterns
Learn phrasal verbs and prepositions as complete expressions, then use context to choose among them.
Growing up and family life
After her parents split up, Aunt May helped bring up the children. They grew up in a small neighbourhood.
Split up means end a relationship; bring up means care for a child; grow up means pass from childhood to adulthood.Friends and support
Jo and Lee get on well. Lee can look after Jo’s dog, but would never let her down. An adult might go out with someone they are dating.
Get on means have a good relationship; look after means take care of; let down means disappoint; go out with means date. Fall out with someone means quarrel and become unfriendly.People and relationships
A relation or relative is a family member. A couple is two people together; a boyfriend or girlfriend is a romantic partner. A stranger is not known to you; a guest is invited. Single can mean not married; it can also describe someone who is not currently in a romantic relationship. Read the context. Divorced describes people whose marriage has legally ended.
Close, loving and loyal describe relationships. Independent means able to manage for yourself. A mood is how someone feels at a particular time.
Topic words in context
Rent means pay to use a home or room. A flat is a home in a larger building. A neighbourhood is the local area where people live. Decorate means make a place look attractive; introduce means make two people known to each other.
Defend means protect someone or support them against criticism. Recognise means know who someone is because you have seen them before. Respect means treat someone or their needs with care. Trust means believe that someone is honest or dependable. Apologise means say you are sorry for something you did.
Describe a person clearly
A confident person feels sure of their ability; a patient person waits calmly. A generous person gives willingly; a grateful person feels thankful. Cool can informally mean fashionable or admired. Something ordinary is usual; something private is intended only for a particular person or group.
A neighbour can be generous with their time, and you can feel grateful for their help. These words describe different people in the same situation.
Fixed phrases and word partners
By yourself and on your own can both mean alone or without help. On purpose means deliberately. Keep in contact with means continue communicating; have something in common means share it. In love with expresses romantic feelings.
Adjective + preposition
The resident is proud of her daughter’s effort and kind to the other children.
Of links proud to the achievement; to links kind to the people receiving kindness.Verb and noun partners
The hosts chatted with us about our old town. Later we admired them for including every visitor.
To or with introduces a conversation partner; about introduces the topic; for explains the reason for admiration.Similar words and phrases, different meanings
The cousins get on well.
Get on describes how people relate to each other.Can you look after my nephew?
Look after means take care of a person or thing.Please do not let your friend down.
Let someone down means fail to do what they expected.My aunt goes out with a teacher from her town.
Go out with means have a romantic relationship with someone.Say apologise to someone for something, introduce one person to another, trust someone with a responsibility, and rent a flat from its owner. A time or topic clue helps, but the full meaning decides.
Word-family spelling notes
Care becomes careful or careless; confident becomes the noun confidence; forgive becomes forgiveness; honest becomes honesty or dishonest; admire becomes admiration.
Watch Out & Common Mistakes
Check the full phrase and the grammatical form around it.
Using the wrong particle
WrongWe get up well with the people upstairs.
BetterWe get on well with the people upstairs.
Get on well means have a friendly relationship.Putting a pronoun after a separable particle
WrongYou must not let down her after promising to help.
BetterYou must not let her down after promising to help.
Let someone down is separable. A pronoun such as her goes between let and down.Using the wrong preposition with apologise
WrongI apologised my neighbour for the noise.
BetterI apologised to my neighbour for the noise.
Apologise to a person for an action or problem.Choosing a noun where an adjective is needed
WrongShe is very confidence when she speaks.
BetterShe is very confident when she speaks.
After is very, use the adjective confident; confidence is a noun.Choosing a quality noun after a possessive
WrongTheir honest helped the group trust them.
BetterTheir honesty helped the group trust them.
Their needs a noun here; honesty names the quality of being honest.Confusing a person with a connection
WrongHer relative with Sam is friendly.
BetterHer relationship with Sam is friendly.
A relative is a family member; relationship means the connection between people.Quick check: choose before opening
Choose the word or phrase that fits, then read the reason.
1. They have a lot in / on common.Check explanation
in completes have a lot in common, which means share qualities or interests.
2. My aunt has brought / grown up three children.Check explanation
brought completes bring up, meaning care for and raise children.
3. Her admire / admiration for her sister is easy to see.Check explanation
admiration is a noun after her; admire is the verb.
Check your whole test
Submit to grade your whole test, OR use 👁 Show Answer per part / per question.
Review your learning
Explain each correction: did you need a relationship word, a phrasal verb, a preposition or a different word form? Read the full sentence again to check both meaning and grammar.
Show Answer displays a model and explanation while leaving your response unchanged. After editing an answer, check again. Write a short welcome message using three new phrases from this unit.