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Thinking Words: Decide, Decision Or Decisive?

Eight words you already know, like decide, believe and remember, and the three-second check that tells you which form a sentence needs.

10 micro-lessons

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Eight Sentences, Eight Wrong Words

No spelling mistakes. No grammar mistakes. Every sentence is still wrong.

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Each one uses the wrong FORM of a word the writer knew. Find it, then tick.

The Slot Decides the Form

Read the gap in the sentence before you choose the word. Three seconds, three questions.

You already know these words

You know decide. You know understand. You know believe.

So why does the examiner mark them wrong?

Because a word is not one word. It is a family, and each member of the family fits a different place in a sentence.

decide      decision      decisive
(the action) (the thing)   (the description)

Write the government must make a decide and you have used the action word in a place that needs a thing word. The reader understands you. The examiner marks a word-formation error.

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Four Shapes, Four Slots

A sentence is a row of holes. Only one shape fits each one.

Four panels, each a carved board with one differently shaped hole and the single block that fits it, labelled DECISION, DECIDE, DECISIVE and DECISIVELY.

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The slot chooses the form. You only have to read the slot.

Match Form to Slot

Eight gaps. Say what kind of word each one needs — no word choice yet.

NoteRead only the words either side of the gap. Match each sentence to the reason its gap needs the form it needs. Do not choose a word yet — that comes next.

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Terms

Definitions

Read the Slot First

Three decisions, made in the right order: name the slot, then pick the word.

Each chain gives you a sentence and two candidate words. Fill the SLOT step first — say what kind of word the gap needs — then fill the word. Answer the slot step in your own words, no more than eight words.

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Chain 1

Sentence: Her ______ was correct.

Candidates: decide / decision

The slot needs:

So the answer is:

Chain 2

Sentence: His anger was completely ______ after what happened.

Candidates: understanding / understandable

The slot needs:

So the answer is:

Chain 3

Sentence: Fleming's ______ of penicillin changed medicine.

Candidates: discover / discovery

The slot needs:

So the answer is:

Choose the Right Form

Eight sentences, one family each. The family is given — the form is yours.

Write ONE word in each gap, using the family given in brackets. Read the words on either side of the gap before you decide. Two of these need the adverb.

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My ______ of the question was completely wrong. (understand)
It was the most ______ evening of the whole trip. (remember)
The committee must reach a ______ before Friday. (decide)
His story was simply not ______. (believe)
The ______ that she had misread the timetable came too late. (realise)
She is an unusually ______ designer. (imagine)
______, most students said they wanted more feedback. (understand)
The government acted ______ once the figures were published. (decide)

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