APIEVocabulary: Fixing and Making Things
Fixing and making things (DIY)
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
🛠️ Fixing and Making Things (DIY)
Learn 10 everyday words to talk about home repairs, basic tools, and wall fixtures.
How to use this lesson
📋 For Teachers
• Guide learners through the 10 words in 20 minutes and model correct sentence stress.
• Let students test each practice task immediately and check their answers together.
🎒 For Learners
• Read the word table and quick memory tips first before trying any quiz.
• Complete the 16 practice questions, then record your voice in the shadowing section.
Word table
Study these 10 tools, wall parts, and common home repair words.
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🧰 Group 1: In the toolbox | ||||
| hammer | A heavy metal hand tool used to hit nails into wood or walls. | heavy hammer, hit with a hammer | He used a heavy hammer to hit the nail into the wooden shelf. | 💡 Sound: Listen to the bang: "HAM-mer" sounds like you slam something hard. |
| screwdriver | A thin hand tool you use to turn screws. | flat screwdriver, use a screwdriver | Take a small screwdriver to fix the loose kitchen door handle. | 💡 Word parts: It literally "drives" the "screw" into the board. |
| drill | An electric power tool that turns fast to make round holes. | electric drill, drill a hole | She bought an electric drill to hang a big mirror in the hall. | 💡 Sound: The sharp "drrr" sound is like the fast spinning motor. |
| tape | A long sticky plastic or paper strip used to join things together. | sticky tape, strong tape | He wrapped strong black tape around the broken plastic handle. | 💡 Picture: A roll of sticky tape: you pull out a strip and tear it off. |
| 🧱 Group 2: On the wall | ||||
| nail | A small thin piece of metal with a sharp point and flat top. | hit a nail, small nail | I used a small nail to hang our wedding picture in the hall. | 💡 Contrast: Same name as your finger nail, but made of cold hard iron. |
| plug | A small plastic piece you put in a wall hole before a screw. | wall plug, plastic plug | Always push a plastic plug into the brick wall first so screws hold. | 💡 Picture: Like a bath plug stops water, a wall plug fills and holds the hole. |
| hole | An empty opening or space in a wall, door, or surface. | make a hole, round hole | Drill a round hole in the wall before you put the shelf up. | 💡 Picture: Look at the letter "O" in hole; it is completely round and hollow. |
| ⚠️ Group 3: Problems and jobs | ||||
| leak | A small gap where liquid escapes drop by drop. | water leak, fix a leak | We must fix the water leak under the bathroom sink today. | 💡 Sound: Drip... leak... leak. Sounds like water sneaking out of a pipe. |
| crack | A thin line on a surface where it is broken but not in pieces. | small crack, wall crack | There is a small crack along the white paint in the corner. | 💡 Sound: "CRACK!" is the sound of wood or glass breaking. |
| measure | To find the exact size or length of something with a ruler or tape. | measure the wall, measure twice | Measure the wall twice so you know the shelf fits well. | 💡 Picture: A tape with numbers on it that you pull along the wall. |
Practice
Work through these 16 items from easy collocations to full sentences.
Match the verb to the natural partner
Select the correct noun phrase that naturally follows each action verb.
5. Dialogue in the hallway:
"This screw is loose." — "Use a flat ____ to turn it."
Hint: The tool that turns screws.
6. Sentence on fixing a cord:
Wrap some strong ____ around the torn plastic cable.
Hint: Sticky strip used to join or cover things.
7. Hanging a heavy mirror:
Put a plastic wall ____ into the hole before you put in the screw.
Hint: The plastic piece that sits inside a hole.
8. Checking the living room wall:
Look at that long ____ running down the wall above the window.
Hint: A thin line where the surface is broken.
Choose the word that fits the meaning
Each option makes good grammar, but only one makes practical sense.
9. "Pass me the heavy ________ so I can drive this nail in."
10. "There is water on the floor because the pipe has a ________."
11. "Use sticky ________ to close the cardboard box."
12. "We pushed a plastic ________ into the wall hole."
Sentence-building: Put words in order
Type the words in the correct order to make a complete, meaningful sentence.
13. Reorder the words:
[ a / drill / will / hole / He / new ]
____14. Reorder the words:
[ the / first / Please / measure / table ]
____15. Reorder the words:
[ a / hit / nails / I / with / hammer ]
____16. Reorder the words:
[ the / fix / can / small / crack / She ]
____Shadowing
Listen, repeat aloud, and check your pronunciation in 12 recording tasks.
hit a nail
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____drill a hole
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____fix a leak
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____sticky tape
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____I need a flat screwdriver right now.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Push a plastic plug into the wall.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____We must fix this bad water leak today.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____There is a small crack in the corner.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____He hit the long nail with a hammer.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Please measure the tall kitchen wall twice.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____measure
Pronounce the middle sound like 'pleasure' or 'treasure': /ˈmeʒ.ər/
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____drill
Blend the 'dr' smoothly and end on a clear 'l': /drɪl/
[Bài tập luyện nói]
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