APIEVocabulary & Pronunciation: Gardening Basics
Gardening and growing plants
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
Everyday English Lesson
🌱 Gardening and Growing Plants (20 Mins)
Learn 10 everyday gardening words, practise with 16 quick activities, and speak clearly with shadowing.
📋 How to use this lesson
🧑🏫 For Teacher
- Read through the 10 words together and check the tips in 5 minutes.
- Give students 10 minutes for the 16 tasks, then check answers with the example sentences.
🧑🎓 For Learner
- First, study the 10 words, their collocations, and the easy memory tricks.
- Next, solve all 16 practice questions and read each sentence out loud in the recording box.
Word table
Here are the 10 words for today. Read the meaning, collocations, sentence, and memory tip for each word.
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| spade | a metal garden tool with a flat blade for digging ground | dig with a spade, garden spade | I use a sharp spade to dig a hole for the rose bush. | Picture a sharp blade that cuts into the soil. |
| hose | a long flexible pipe for spraying water on plants | water with a hose, garden hose | She connected the hose to the tap to water the lawn. | A hose looks like a long green snake full of water. |
| rake | a long tool with metal teeth for gathering dry leaves | rake dry leaves, garden rake | In autumn, we rake dry leaves off the grass. | Rake sounds like scrape because its teeth scrape the lawn. |
| bucket | a round container with a handle for carrying water | a bucket of water, fill a bucket | He carried a bucket of water to the apple tree. | Put water in a bucket before it drips from the tap. |
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| soil | the top brown earth where plants and trees grow | rich brown soil, wet soil | Rich brown soil helps young plants grow fast. | Soil rhymes with boil, but it stays cool and moist on the ground. |
| seed | a tiny hard part of a plant that grows into a new plant | plant a seed, tomato seed | We plant a seed in the ground and wait for rain. | A seed needs water to be freed into a flower. |
| bulb | a round plant root like an onion that blooms into a flower | plant a bulb, tulip bulb | We bury a tulip bulb under the soil before winter. | A flower bulb is shaped like a glass light bulb. |
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| leaf | a flat green part that grows from the stem of a plant | green leaf, autumn leaf | The green leaf turns bright yellow in cold weather. | In autumn, the dead leaf will leave the branch. |
| weed | a wild plant that grows where you do not want it | pull a weed, garden weed | Please pull that green weed out of the flower bed. | A weed grows with great speed where nobody wants it. |
| pot | a round container made of clay or plastic for growing a plant | plant in a pot, clay pot | I moved the young flower into a bigger clay pot. | A pot is a cozy spot for a little houseplant. |
Practice
16 interactive activities from easy to hard. Complete each item to test your gardening vocabulary.
A Part 1: Collocation matrices (Match the tool or plant with its natural action)
1 Which action goes best with a spade?
2 Which action goes best with a garden rake?
3 Which action goes best with a hose?
4 Which action goes best with a wild weed?
B Part 2: Gap-fill dialogues (Use the word bank)
5 Dialogue: In the garden
A: What are you planting in this small hole?
B: I am dropping a tiny tomato ____ into the ground.
6 Dialogue: Getting water
A: Can you help me carry water to the young apple tree?
B: Sure, let's fill this plastic ____ at the tap.
7 Dialogue: Checking the earth
A: Why are these rose flowers growing so fast?
B: Because the dark brown ____ here is rich and moist.
8 Dialogue: Spring flowers
A: Is that an onion in your hand?
B: No, it is a tulip ____ ready for planting.
C Part 3: Choose the word (Pick the word that fits the meaning best)
9 I need to spray water across the whole lawn, so I connect the _____ to the tap outside.
10 Look under the rose bush; a wild green _____ is stealing sunlight and water from the flowers.
11 This indoor plant is growing too large for its container, so we must move it into a bigger _____.
12 Many dead leaves fell on the grass today, so my grandfather picked up the _____ to clear them away.
D Part 4: Sentence-building (Put the words in the right order)
13 Arrange these words to make a clear sentence:
14 Arrange these words to make a clear sentence:
15 Arrange these words to make a clear sentence:
16 Arrange these words to make a clear sentence:
Shadowing
Listen to each item, repeat out loud, and record your voice in the box below.
Collocations (Listen and repeat)
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____Natural Sentences (Max 9 words each)
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____⭐ Key Pronunciation Words
Tip: Say "buhl-b" smoothly with your lips.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Tip: Start with "soy" and touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue for the "l".
[Bài tập luyện nói]
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