Why this list matters
Trinity publishes the language functions, grammar, lexis and phonology for each grade, and the examiner's grammar and lexis marks depend on hearing them. You can speak fluently for 15 minutes and still get a C for grammar if none of the Grade 7 items appear. The list below is Trinity's, with examples that fit the subjects you will actually be asked about. Items from Grades 1 to 6 are assumed: the examiner also expects accurate present perfect, past simple, future with will and going to, comparatives and first conditional.
Language functions
| Function | Sounds like |
|---|---|
| Giving advice and highlighting advantages and disadvantages | You should talk to the teacher first. The advantage is… the disadvantage is… |
| Making suggestions | Why don't you…? You could try… How about…? |
| Describing past habits | We used to… Every summer my father would… |
| Expressing possibility and uncertainty | It might work. I'm not sure. Perhaps. It may depend on… |
| Eliciting further information and expansion of ideas and opinions | What do you mean by…? Could you tell me more? Why do you think that? |
| Expressing agreement and disagreement | I agree, up to a point. I see what you mean, but… I'm not sure that's right. |
Grammar
Second conditional
If + past simple, would + verb. For imagined or unlikely situations now.
- "If I could choose, I'd live by the sea."
- "If buses were cheaper, I wouldn't need the car."
- "What would you do if your neighbours were that noisy?"
Common error: "If I will have money, I will buy a house." The B2 version: "If I had the money, I'd buy a house."
Simple passive
be + past participle. For what is done to things, when the doer does not matter.
- "Exams are taken at sixteen." "Rice is grown in the north." "The bride is brought in by her brothers." "A lot of plastic is sent abroad."
Common error: "Rice grows in the north" is fine; "the rice is grow" is not. Learn the participles of your subject vocabulary: grown, made, built, taught, sent, collected, celebrated.
used to
For past habits and states that are finished.
- "We used to live above the shop." "I didn't use to like fish." "Did you use to walk to school?"
Common errors: "I use to" for the past (must be used to); "I am used to" (that means accustomed to, a different thing).
Relative clauses
who, which, that, where, whose.
- "The teacher who taught me English…" "The village where I grew up…" "The dish that my grandmother made…" "A friend whose son is at the same school…"
Common error: adding a pronoun after the clause: "the house where I lived in it". Drop the in it.
Modals for advice and suggestions
should, ought to, could, you'd better.
- "You should ask the council." "You ought to see a doctor." "You could try the market." "You'd better not leave it too long."
Modals for possibility and uncertainty
may, might, I'm not sure, perhaps.
- "It might rain." "The shops may close." "I'm not sure whether that's true." "Perhaps he's forgotten."
Discourse connectors
because of, due to, plus although, however, on the other hand, whereas.
- "People leave because of the lack of work." "Due to the cost, weddings are smaller." "I like the city, although it's noisy."
Common error: "because of they are expensive". Because of takes a noun: "because of the price".
Lexis
- Vocabulary for your own topic and for the six subject areas. Make a list of twenty words for each subject and check you can pronounce them.
- Words that show you are listening: Really? Oh dear! Did you? That's interesting. I know what you mean.
- Fillers that hold the turn while you think: well…, um…, let me think…, that's a good question. Silence is marked down; a filler is not.
- Phrases for the functions above, learned as chunks.
Phonology
- Clear pronunciation of your topic and subject vocabulary. The examiner can only credit a word they understood.
- Rising intonation for interest and surprise ("Really?"), falling to end a turn so the examiner knows to speak.
- Connected speech: "What do you think" sounds like whaddya think; "used to" is yoosta.
- Stress on the words that carry meaning, not on every word.
How to get them into your mouth
Grammar you can explain but never say does not count. For each item above, write three sentences about your own life, say them aloud until they are automatic, and then practise answering questions where the item is the natural answer: "What did you use to do…?", "What would you do if…?", "What should…?". The free practice on this site is built around those questions, and the report lists which Grade 7 items you produced and which you were offered and missed.