It can take pre-HSE students quite a while to get the hang of exactly what a sentence is, grammatically speaking, and to become confident with combining sentences. Since the HSE Writing Skills Test requires that students understand how sentences are put together and how they can be best combined, any extra practice will help.

Quill.org is an especially good place for students to practice these skills online. Quill is especially helpful because it provides students with explanations of what they may have done incorrectly. The site is free, but students do need to register for an account.

The website supports learning by asking students to combine sentences and then providing instant feedback for their attempts. An added advantage is that it show students alternative ways to combine the sentence they just worked on. This reinforces the idea that there is usually not one right answer when it comes to sentence-combining, and allows students to see other “shortcuts” for combining sentences.