What is cloze deletion?

Cloze deletion is a study technique where you take a sentence, remove one or more important words, and try to fill the blank from memory. The word "cloze" comes from "closure" — your brain naturally wants to complete the gap.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good  , must be in want of a  .

Why hiding words in a sentence works

Ordinary flashcards test a fact in isolation: "fortune" on one side, nothing around it. But memory is built on connections. Cloze deletion keeps the whole sentence — the rhythm, the grammar, the meaning — and removes only the part you need to recall. You get the benefit of active recall while the surrounding context gives your memory something to grab onto.

That context also makes recall realistic. In an English exam you don't need a word in isolation — you need it inside the quotation. Practising it that way matches what you'll actually do.

How to make a good cloze

• Hide what matters, not filler. Blank out the keyword, the date, the technical term — not "the" or "and".
• Keep enough context. Leave sentence around the blank so it's recall, not a guessing game.
• One or two blanks per sentence. Too many and there's nothing left to anchor the memory.
• Use your own material. Your textbook definition, your quote, your vocab list — turning it into a cloze is itself a learning step.

What it's good for

Almost anything you memorise in words: English quotes, science definitions, history dates, maths and physics formulae, and language vocabulary in context. If it lives in a sentence, you can cloze it.