Grammar

Which word is a determiner in this sentence? 'The cat sat on a chair.'

• Acat
• Bthe✓
• Csat
• Dchair

Answer: 'The' is a definite article, which is a type of determiner. Determiners come before nouns to specify or limit them.

What is the conjunction in this sentence? 'She wanted to go swimming but it was raining.'

• Aswimming
• Braining
• Cwanted
• Dbut✓

Answer: 'But' is a conjunction that joins two contrasting clauses. It shows the relationship between the two ideas.

Rewrite in the passive voice: 'The gardener planted the flowers.'

• AThe gardener has planted the new red flowers
• BThe flowers is being planted by the gardener
• CThe gardener was planting flowers in the garden
• DThe flowers were planted by the gardener✓

Answer: In the passive voice, the object becomes the subject. 'Were planted' is the correct passive form of 'planted'.

Which sentence has a subordinate clause?

• AThe cat is sleeping on the warm windowsill in the sun.
• BShe ate her breakfast quickly and went to school on the bus.
• CWhen the bell rang, the children left the classroom.✓
• DThe big brown dog ran quickly across the muddy field.

Answer: 'When the bell rang' is a subordinate clause because it depends on the main clause to make complete sense.

Identify the determiner: 'Some children played with their toys.'

• Atoys
• Bplayed
• Csome✓
• Dchildren

Answer: 'Some' is a determiner (a quantifier): it comes before the noun 'children' and tells us how many. 'Children' and 'toys' are nouns, and 'played' is a verb.

Which sentence uses active voice correctly?

• AThe cake has been eaten by Sarah.
• BThe cake was eaten by Sarah.
• CSarah was eaten the cake.
• DSarah ate the cake.✓

Answer: In active voice, the subject performs the action. 'Sarah ate the cake' is the clearest active voice sentence.

Choose the conjunction that fits best: 'He worked hard _____ he wanted to succeed.'

• Abut
• Bbecause✓
• Cand
• Dunless

Answer: 'Because' is a subordinating conjunction that shows cause and effect. It explains why he worked hard.

What type of clause is 'who was very tall' in this sentence? 'The boy, who was very tall, reached the shelf.'

• AMain clause
• BRelative clause✓
• CNoun clause
• DAdverb clause

Answer: A relative clause gives extra information about a noun. This one begins with the relative pronoun 'who' and tells us more about the boy.

Rewrite in active voice: 'The letter was written by Emma.'

• AThe letter is being written by Emma
• BThe letter was written
• CEmma wrote the letter✓
• DEmma has written the letter

Answer: In active voice, the subject (Emma) performs the action. 'Emma wrote the letter' is the correct active form.

Identify all the determiners in: 'These three apples are mine.'

• AThese, three, mine
• BThese, apples
• CThese, three✓
• DApples, mine

Answer: 'These' is a demonstrative determiner and 'three' a quantifier - both sit before the noun and specify it. 'Mine' is a possessive PRONOUN, not a determiner: it stands in place of a noun ('these are mine') and cannot come before one ('mine apples' is wrong). 'Apples' is the noun itself.

Which sentence contains a co-ordinating conjunction?

• AIf you study, you will pass.
• BAlthough it rained, we went outside.
• CBefore the match started, we warmed up.
• DThe team played well but lost the game.✓

Answer: 'But' is a co-ordinating conjunction joining two equal clauses. The other sentences use subordinating conjunctions.

Choose the correct form: 'The goalkeeper _____ playing well in the final match.'

• Ahave
• Bwere
• Care
• Dis✓

Answer: 'Goalkeeper' is a singular subject, so it takes the singular verb 'is'. 'Are' and 'were' are plural forms, and 'have playing' is not an English verb form.

What is the main clause in: 'Although she was tired, she finished her homework.'

• AAlthough she was tired
• BShe finished her homework✓
• CAlthough she was
• Dshe was tired

Answer: The main clause is 'she finished her homework': it makes complete sense on its own. 'Although she was tired' is the subordinate clause, and 'she was tired' is only part of it.

Identify the determiner type for 'any': 'I don't have any money.'

• AInterrogative
• BPossessive
• CDemonstrative
• DQuantifier✓

Answer: 'Any' is a quantifier that tells us about the amount or number of something. It's used in negative sentences.

Which pair of words are conjunctions?

• Aalthough, without
• Bbefore, during
• Csince, unless✓
• Dbecause, would

Answer: 'Since' and 'unless' are both subordinating conjunctions: each one joins a subordinate clause to a main clause. 'Without' and 'during' are prepositions, and 'would' is a modal verb.

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

• AHe has gone to the shop✓
• BHe has went to the shop
• CHe have gone to the shop
• DHe do gone to the shop

Answer: The correct form is 'has gone' because the subject 'he' requires 'has' (singular) with the past participle 'gone'. This is the present perfect tense.

Identify the main clause in this sentence: 'When the bell rings, the children run outside.'

• Athe children run outside✓
• BWhen the bell rings
• Cthe children
• DWhen the bell rings, the children

Answer: The main clause 'the children run outside' can stand alone and makes complete sense. 'When the bell rings' is a subordinate clause that depends on the main clause.

Which sentence uses the correct pronoun?

• ASarah and I went to the cinema✓
• BMe and Sarah went to the cinema
• CSarah and me went to the cinema
• DHim and I went to the cinema

Answer: The pronoun 'I' is used for the subject of a sentence. A useful trick is to say the sentence without the other person - 'I went to the cinema' is correct, so 'Sarah and I went to the cinema' is correct.

Which sentence contains an embedded clause?

• AThe enormous ginger cat purred quite loudly
• BThe cat, which was orange, sat on the mat✓
• CThe orange cat slept beside the warm fireplace
• DThe big cat washed its muddy paws carefully

Answer: The embedded clause 'which was orange' is inserted within the main clause and gives extra information about the cat. Here a pair of commas marks it off from the rest of the sentence.

What is the correct form of the verb? 'If I _____ known, I would have told you.'

• Awere
• Bhave
• Chad✓
• Dwas

Answer: 'Had known' is the past perfect form (had + the past participle 'known'). With 'would have told' in the main clause, it describes something that did not happen in the past.

Which sentence is written in the passive voice?

• AThe excited dog barked loudly
• BThe dog chased the bouncing ball
• CThe ball was chased by the dog✓
• DThe ball rolled downhill quickly

Answer: The passive voice puts the object first and makes it the subject of the sentence. 'The ball was chased by the dog' changes focus from the dog doing the action to the ball receiving the action.

Identify the object in this sentence: 'Maya wrote a letter yesterday.'

• AMaya
• Ba letter✓
• Cyesterday
• Dwrote

Answer: The object is 'a letter' - it's the thing that receives the action of the verb 'wrote'. Maya is the subject (who does the action), and 'yesterday' is an adverbial phrase showing when.

Which sentence contains a subordinate clause?

• AShe ate crunchy apples and delicious yellow bananas
• BThe children played outside in the warm sunshine
• CThe sun shone brightly over the wet playground
• DAlthough it was raining, we went to the park✓

Answer: 'Although it was raining' is a subordinate clause: it cannot stand alone and does not make sense by itself. It needs the main clause 'we went to the park' to be complete.

What is the correct subject-verb agreement? 'The players _____ playing well.'

• Aare✓
• Bis
• Cdo
• Dhave

Answer: 'Players' is a plural subject, so it takes the plural verb 'are'. 'Is' is the singular form, and 'do playing' and 'have playing' are not correct verb forms.

Which sentence correctly uses a relative pronoun?

• AThe boy which won the race was happy
• BThe boy who won the race was happy✓
• CThe boy what won the race was happy
• DThe boy whom won the race was happy

Answer: 'Who' is used for people (the subject of a clause). 'Which' is used for things. 'That' can be used for both. 'What' is not a relative pronoun, and 'whom' is used as an object, not a subject.

Identify the preposition in this sentence: 'The book is on the shelf above the desk.'

• Abook, shelf
• Bon, above✓
• Cshelf, desk
• Dbook, shelf, desk

Answer: Prepositions show the relationship between words, often indicating position or direction. 'On' and 'above' are both prepositions in this sentence, showing where the book is located.

Which sentence contains a fronted adverbial?

• AThe children played in the park quietly
• BThe children played quietly in the park
• CThe children quietly played in the park
• DIn the park, the children played quietly✓

Answer: A fronted adverbial is an adverbial phrase moved to the front of the sentence. 'In the park' normally comes at the end, but moving it to the front creates more emphasis and makes it a fronted adverbial.

What type of clause is 'because it was raining' in this sentence: 'We stayed inside because it was raining.'?

• AAdverbial clause✓
• BNoun clause
• CExpanded noun phrase
• DMain clause

Answer: 'Because it was raining' is an adverbial clause - it tells us why (the reason) we stayed inside. Adverbial clauses modify verbs and answer questions like why, when, where, or how.

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

• ANeither Sam nor Emma are out
• BEither Sam nor Emma is going
• CNeither Sam nor Emma is going✓
• DNeither Sam or Emma is going

Answer: With 'neither...nor', we use the singular verb 'is' because it means not one and not the other (singular in meaning). We must also use 'nor', not 'or', with 'neither'.

Identify the noun phrase in this sentence: 'The old wooden door creaked loudly.'

• AThe old wooden door creaked
• Bcreaked loudly
• Cwooden door creaked loudly
• DThe old wooden door✓

Answer: A noun phrase is a noun with the words that modify it. 'The old wooden door' is a noun phrase where 'door' is the head noun and 'the', 'old', and 'wooden' modify it.