🔄 B2 Activity: Complex Sentence Transformations
Welcome to this B2 consolidation activity! The difference between good English and great English is often in the sentence structure1. In this challenge, we will practice the skill of transformation2—taking simple ideas and expressing them in more sophisticated3 ways using the grammar you've learned.
Your B2 Grammar Toolkit (A Quick Review)
To transform simple sentences, you have a powerful set of tools. Remember these key structures:
- Participle Clauses: To connect ideas concisely (e.g., Feeling tired, he went home.).
- Non-Defining Relative Clauses: To add extra information (e.g., My friend, who lives in Battambang,...).
- Advanced Linking Words: To show logical connections (e.g., however, consequently, furthermore).
- Advanced Passives: To change the focus of a sentence (e.g., The report will have been finished.).
- Conditionals & Wishes: To discuss hypotheticals (e.g., If I had known..., I wish I were...).
The Transformation Challenge
Let's practice. For each set of simple ideas, combine them into one sentence using the target structure.
1. Using a Participle Clause
Simple Ideas: He was shocked by the loud noise. He dropped his coffee.
Target Transformation: Shocked by the loud noise, he dropped his coffee.
2. Using a Non-Defining Relative Clause
Simple Ideas: My sister will visit me next week. She works as a doctor in Phnom Penh.
Target Transformation: My sister, who works as a doctor in Phnom Penh, will visit me next week.
3. Using the Third Conditional
Simple Ideas: I did not save enough money. I could not buy the new phone.
Target Transformation: If I had saved enough money, I would have been able to buy the new phone.
4. Using the Modal Passive
Simple Idea: Someone must clean this room.
Target Transformation: This room must be cleaned.
🧠 Practice Quiz: Transform It!
Choose the best transformation for each set of simple sentences.
- Simple: She finished her project. She felt very proud.
Transformation using a participle clause: _______, she felt very proud.
Answer: Having finished her project - Simple: The company hired a new manager. The manager is from Australia.
Transformation using a relative clause: The company hired a new manager _______.
Answer: who is from Australia - Simple: He woke up late. He missed the bus.
Transformation using a linking word: He woke up late; _______, he missed the bus.
Answer: consequently / therefore - Simple: They will cancel the event because of the rain.
Transformation using the passive voice: The event _______ because of the rain.
Answer: will be cancelled
📝 Homework: The Final Challenge
Take the following simple ideas and combine them into one or two complex, fluent sentences. Try to use at least two different B2 structures (e.g., a participle clause and a non-defining relative clause).
Simple Ideas: The weather was beautiful yesterday. I went for a walk along the river. The river is near my house. I felt very relaxed.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example Answer: "Yesterday, the weather was beautiful, so I went for a walk along the river, which is near my house. Feeling very relaxed, I sat on a bench and watched the boats go by."
Vocabulary Glossary
- Transformation: (Noun) - ការបំប្លែង (kaa bâm'bleng) - A complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone. ↩
- Sophisticated: (Adjective) - ល្អិតល្អន់ (lâ'ĭt'lâ'ân) - Having a great deal of worldly experience and knowledge of fashion and culture; advanced and complex. ↩
- Fluent: (Adjective) - ស្ទាត់ជំនាញ (stuat'chŭm'néanh) - Able to express oneself easily and articulately. ↩
- Consolidation: (Noun) - ការបង្រួបបង្រួម (kaa bâng'ruəp'bâng'ruəm) - The action or process of combining several things into a single more effective or coherent whole. ↩
- Structure: (Noun) - រចនាសម្ព័ន្ធ (rô'châ'na'sâm'poan) - The arrangement of and relations between the parts of something complex. ↩