View a Sample Test
Primary
What does Primary test?
- About 400 words (the First Step and Junior words plus 200 more) in familiar categories like jobs, feelings, weather
- How to make questions and answers
- How to say you can and can’t do things
- How to say you’ve got things, like things, haven’t got things and don’t like things
- How to say the time and describe when things happen
- Understanding messages
What does the candidate have to do in their Primary exam?
- Read and choose answers
- Match words
- Fill in gaps
- Write some words and phrases
The student
- has a basic active vocabulary of about 300 words
- can tell the time
- can describe present actions, give personal and family information, describe habits, routines, and everyday activities
- can communicate when and how often an action or event takes place
- can form questions and negatives
Grammar and Structures List
| Grammar and Structures | What are they used for? | Some examples |
|---|---|---|
| VERBS | ||
| There is/ there are | Identifying something/someone | There is a book on the table.
There are four girls in the kitchen. |
| Present simple | Talking about habits, routines, facts (such as where a person lives), the actions of everyday life | My uncle lives in a small house.
She is thirteen years old. I always take the bus to school. |
| The present simple with the verb 'like' + 'ing' in the third person singular and plural | Describing what people or animals like doing | My cat likes sleeping in the garden.
My brothers like playing football in the park. |
| Present continuous | Talking about present actions | My brothers are playing football in the park at the moment. |
| Interrogative forms of the above two tenses | Asking and answering questions about the above | Do they often go to the cinema?
Do you have/ Have you got a computer? Are the children doing their homework? Is she eating her breakfast at the moment? |
| Negative forms of the above two tenses | Making the above negative | Sue doesn't like dogs.
John isn't studying now, he is talking on the phone. |
| The modal 'can' | Describing an ability or skill | He can play the guitar.
They can cook. |
| PRONOUNS | ||
| All personal pronouns as subject or object - I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, you, him, her, it, us, them | Describing and identifying people, animals and objects | Do you want my father?
He is in the garden. John is with him. |
| Demonstrative pronouns - this, these, that, those | Asking for, and giving information | These are tables.
That family is rich. Is this a kettle? |
| CONJUNCTIONS | ||
| because, and, or, but | Linking sentence parts and ideas | John and Mary are in the garden because it is sunny. |
| INTERROGATIVE WORDS | ||
| What, Who, Where, When, Why, How many | Asking questions about people, animals and objects | What is this?
Who is that girl? Where are Peter and Paul? |
| ADVERBS | ||
| Adverbs of time - today, now, at the moment
Adverbs of frequency - always, never, sometimes, often, usually, every day, every week, every month |
Describing when and how often someone does something or something happens.Discriminating between the present continuous and the present simple | I usually eat an egg for breakfast.
At the moment, John is playing in the park. |
| PREPOSITIONS | ||
| In, on, at, to | Talking about time, place, position | The examination finishes at 4 pm.
My brother is 10 years old in August. I am going to Disney World on 1st August. |
| TIME EXPRESSIONS | ||
| 10.15 = ten fifteen or (a) quarter past ten | Telling the time | ten fifteen, twenty past one, half past ten, a quarter to two, eleven forty-five, etc. |
| NOUNS | ||
| Singular/plural
simple nouns, including some common irregular ones Countable and uncountable nouns The names of common shapes |
Talking about numbers of things
Talking about amounts and quantities Describing the shape of something |
e.g. book-books, box-boxes, man-men, woman-women, child-children,
party-parties
Can I have the butter? Can I have two sweets? This is a square. That is a circle. |
| SALUTATIONS (WRITING) | ||
| The formulaic salutations of informal writing in messages such as emails, postcards | Written communication | Dear
love from |
Wordlist
| Nouns: | sets of lexical items |
|---|---|
| Clothes | dress, shirt, T-shirt, trousers, skirt, boots, socks, shoes, trainers, hat, watch jeans, jacket, tie, coat |
| Food, meals and drink | cake, ice-cream, biscuits, pizza, hamburger, hot-dog, omelette, steak, fish, salad, breakfast, lunch, dinner, party, milk, juice bread, tea, coffee, water, lemonade, egg, chicken, sandwich, sugar, ketchup, chips, cheese, sweets, butter |
| Birds | penguin, parrot, duck hen, chicken |
| Jobs | teacher, doctor, farmer, secretary, businessman/woman, policeman/woman, shop assistant, in the army, student |
| School | pen, pencil, rubber, ruler, book, desk, computer, blackboard, classroom, bag, friend teacher, homework, work, test, exam, student, lesson |
| Transport | helicopter, boat, bus, bicycle, car, train, aeroplane taxi, bike, motor bicycle, motorbike, tractor, lorry (Brit), truck (Amer) |
| Animals | monkey, lion, bear, elephant, crocodile, cat, dog, snake, tiger, zebra, rabbit, mouse fox, frog, spider, hippo, giraffe, horse, sheep, cow, pets |
| Household | television, video, chair, table, house, cassette-player, bed, bath, clock, picture, vase, photo, radio, door, mat, window, floor, cupboard mirror, sofa, armchair, shower, wardrobe |
| Kitchen | glass, plate, bowl, cup, knife, fork spoon |
| Vegetables | potato, tomato, carrot cabbage |
| Fruit | pear, peach, apple, banana, orange, lemon cherry, strawberry, melon |
| Fish | dolphin, octopus, shark, whale, starfish, fish goldfish |
| Garden | flower, tree, grass |
| Days of the week | day, week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
weekend |
| Months of the year | January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December |
| Sport | football, tennis, swimming, basketball, volleyball baseball, fishing, football match, tennis racket, running |
| Places | park, garden, home, school, shop, house, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room zoo, farm, supermarket, office, cinema, cafe, restaurant, car park, flat, swimming pool, town centre, beach, sea, mountains, town, city, village, fields, country (e.g. England etc.), countryside |
| Musical Instruments | guitar, piano, drum |
| Toys | ball, kite, castle, soldiers, paint, paintbrush, puppet, drum, gun |
| Weather | sun, rain, wind, snow, hot, cold |
| Parts of the body | hair, eyes, mouth, nose, face, arms, legs, foot/feet, head, hands |
| Letters | a-z |
| Cardinal numbers | one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,
twenty
twenty-one to sixty |
| Time expressions | four fifteen, [a] quarter past/to four, half past four, ten past four, four ten, ten to four, etc.
morning, evening, today |
| Exams | letters, words, sentence, question, answer, story |
| Family members and people | mother, father, brother, sister, baby, girl, boy, child, children
aunt, uncle, cousin, grandmother, grandfather, Mum, Dad, man, woman, friend |
| Shapes | square, circle, triangle, rectangle |
| Miscellaneous | film, newspaper, magazine, star, moon, thing |
| 2. Adjectives: | sets of lexical items |
| Size | tall, short, big, small, favourite, best, little |
| Feelings | happy, sad |
| Colours | black, blue, green, yellow, white, orange, red, grey, brown, pink, purple |
| Age | old, young, new |
| Other | clever, nice, good |
| Modifiers | Very |
| 3. VERBS | watch, play, listen, cook, wear, go, read, write, eat, drink, sit, stand, have, has, is, are, am
live, work, walk, run, sleep, ride, drive, make, do, understand, want, like, can, swim, look, have/has got, get up, start, talk, buy, tell, clean, wash |
| 4. ARTICLES | a, an, the |
| 5. PERSONAL PRONOUNS | I, you, he, she, it, we, they
me, him, them, us |
| 6. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES | my, your, his, her, our, their |
| 7. PREPOSITIONS | in, under, behind, on, near, in front of, at
to, (by, about, for - may appear in certain expressions; not tested) |
| 8. QUESTION WORDS | What, When, Why, Where, Who, Whose |
| 9. ADVERBS | today, now, at the moment, never, always, sometimes, often, usually, every day, every week |
| 10. CONJUNCTIONS | because, and, or, then, next |
| 11. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS | this, that, these, those |
Explore other levels:
| C2 | Masters | |||||||||
| C1 | Proficiency | |||||||||
| B2 | Advanced | |||||||||
| B1 | Intermediate | |||||||||
| A2+ | Pre-Intermediate | |||||||||
| A2 | Elementary | |||||||||
| A1 | Preliminary | |||||||||
| Primary | ||||||||||
| Junior | ||||||||||
| First Step | ||||||||||
