Poor as a Churchmouse

Word Order Practice

Listen to each sentence and arrange the words in the correct order. Click on words to move them to your answer area.

Green checkmark (✓) means your current word order is correct so far. Red X (✗) means there's an error in the order.

Why Word Order Matters in English

Word order is crucial in English because it affects meaning. Unlike some languages that use case endings or particles to show word relationships, English relies heavily on word order to convey meaning.

This exercise helps you:

  • Internalize English sentence patterns
  • Recognize how idiomatic expressions fit into sentences
  • Develop a natural feel for correct English structure
  • Improve both listening and grammar simultaneously
1
0
/8
Heart dining a like king is tonight Gerald
Gerald Heart is dining like a king tonight
Listen
2
0
/24
it one as he this dust and as can to as is much to enjoy A he big as meal gold like wants him
A meal as big as this one is like gold dust to him and he wants to enjoy it as much as he can
Listen
3
0
/20
close however has going to He he because to the is eating a soon in get is on move cafe
He has to get a move on however because the cafe he is eating in is going to close soon
Listen
4
0
/20
as as piece a church drop poor but Gerald paper today he man wealthy is a saw a mouse of
Gerald is as poor as a church mouse but today he saw a wealthy man drop a piece of paper
Listen
5
0
/15
and it Gerald man Like it there picking a to was the up shot giving
Like a shot Gerald was there picking it up and giving it to the man
Listen
6
0
/21
a it was bill very since important it fit know of the didn't That piece he and paper dropped the man
That fit the bill since it was a very important piece of paper and the man didn't know he dropped it
Listen
7
0
/13
help and for a was gave wealthy The tip man his very Gerald
The man was very wealthy and gave Gerald a tip for his help
Listen
8
0
/20
tonight buy in enough tip he celebrating to is cafe was food and for big a this That week Gerald
That tip was big enough to buy Gerald food for a week and tonight he is celebrating in this cafe
Listen

Tips for Effective Practice

  1. Always listen to the audio first before attempting to order the words
  2. Pay attention to common patterns like subject-verb-object
  3. Notice how idiomatic expressions are positioned in sentences
  4. If you make a mistake, use it as a learning opportunity - try to understand why the correct order is different
  5. After completing each sentence, listen to the audio again while reading your correctly ordered sentence