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How do I practise complex sentences without sounding memorised?

Nov 4, 2026
Short answer

Attach each structure to a purpose rather than to a topic, then rehearse it on three or four unrelated questions. A conditional rehearsed only on a prepared hobby script will appear in the test as a script, and the descriptor judges whether the structure fits the question.

Attach each structure to a purpose rather than to a topic, then rehearse it on three or four unrelated questions. A conditional rehearsed only on a prepared hobby script will appear in the test as a script, and the descriptor judges whether the structure fits the question. Practise out loud and record, because the useful signal is whether the structure arrives while you are still thinking about the content. Two or three structures used deliberately across a whole practice session will do more for range than one long, difficult sentence copied from a sample answer.

Attach each structure to a job rather than to a topic, and rehearse it on three unrelated questions so the wording cannot become a script. Week one, only relative clauses that add a reason; week two, only second conditionals; week three, only participle clauses at the start of a sentence. Record the last two minutes of the third session and check that the structure arrives while you are thinking about the content, not before it. If a structure only works on one prepared topic, it has become a script and will not transfer to the test.

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