Grammar & Punctuation

Which sentence is written in the passive voice?

• AEveryone waited nervously for the results all week.
• BStudents gathered outside to hear the results on Friday.
• CThe head teacher announced the results to the whole school on Friday morning.
• DThe results were announced by the head teacher on Friday morning.✓

Answer: In the passive voice the subject receives the action instead of performing it, usually shown by a form of 'to be' plus a past participle. Here 'the results' receive the action of being announced, with the agent added after 'by'. Every distractor is active voice, where the subject performs the action directly.

Which sentence is written in the active voice?

• ABy lunchtime, the meal for the guests was fully prepared.
• BA three-course meal was fully prepared for the hungry dinner guests.
• CThe chef prepared a three-course meal for the guests.✓
• DThe guests were served a three-course meal by the chef.

Answer: In the active voice the subject performs the action named by the verb, as 'the chef' does here by preparing the meal. Each distractor is passive, built from a form of 'to be' plus a past participle, so the meal or guests receive the action rather than perform it. Spotting the doer of the verb is the quickest way to tell the two voices apart.

What is a main clause?

• AA phrase that describes a noun but contains no verb at all
• BA group of words with a subject and verb that can stand alone as a complete sentence✓
• CA single connecting word that joins two separate clauses together within one longer sentence
• DA group of words that only makes complete sense once it has been joined to another main clause nearby

Answer: A main clause, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a finite verb and expresses a complete thought on its own. A clause that only makes sense attached to another is subordinate, not main. A linking word is a conjunction, not a clause, and a phrase with no verb cannot form a sentence by itself.

What is a subordinate clause?

• AA punctuation mark, such as a semicolon, used to join two complete sentences together in formal writing
• BA clause that depends on a main clause and cannot stand alone as a complete sentence✓
• CA clause that expresses a complete idea on its own and can easily stand alone as a full sentence
• DA single noun that acts as the subject of an independent sentence

Answer: A subordinate clause, sometimes called a dependent clause, adds extra information but does not make complete sense on its own, so it must be attached to a main clause. A clause that stands alone perfectly is main, not subordinate. Punctuation marks and single nouns are not clauses at all, since a clause always contains a subject and a verb.

Which sentence contains a relative clause?

• AThe old bridge was built back in 1902 and is now a listed structure in the town.
• BThe bridge is a listed structure because it is very old.
• CThe bridge, which was built in 1902, is now a listed structure.✓
• DHaving been built in 1902, the old bridge is now a listed structure in the town.

Answer: A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun such as which, who or that and adds extra detail about a noun, as 'which was built in 1902' does here about the bridge. The first distractor simply joins two main clauses with 'and', and the second uses a participle phrase rather than a relative pronoun. The third uses 'because' to give a reason, which forms a different kind of subordinate clause.

Which sentence uses a co-ordinating conjunction to join two main clauses of equal importance?

• AOnce the rain stopped, the players returned to the pitch.
• BThe match went ahead because the rain had stopped.
• CThe rain stopped, and the match went ahead as planned.✓
• DAlthough the rain stopped, the pitch stayed muddy.

Answer: The national curriculum grammar glossary lists the co-ordinating conjunctions as and, but and or. They link two clauses as an equal pair, so each clause could stand alone as a complete sentence. In this sentence, and joins two main clauses in exactly that way. Subordinating conjunctions such as because, although and once instead begin a subordinate clause that depends on the main clause, so a sentence built with one of them does not join two equal main clauses.

Which sentence uses a subordinating conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause?

• AIt rains heavily, but the field rarely floods completely.
• BThe school field floods within hours, and lessons often move indoors for the day.
• CWhenever it rains heavily, the school field floods within hours.✓
• DIt rains heavily very often, and the school field floods within a few hours each time.

Answer: A subordinating conjunction such as whenever, because or although begins a clause that cannot stand alone and must depend on a main clause. 'Whenever it rains heavily' is exactly this kind of dependent clause. Every distractor instead uses and or but, which are co-ordinating conjunctions joining two clauses that could each stand as a sentence on their own.

What does a modal verb express?

• ADegrees of possibility, necessity, permission or ability, such as might, must or can✓
• BA physical action performed directly and energetically by the subject of the sentence itself
• CThe gender or number of the noun that follows it in a sentence
• DThe tense of the main verb, showing clearly whether an action happened in the past or is happening now

Answer: Modal verbs such as can, might, must and should combine with a main verb to show how possible, necessary or permitted an action is, rather than naming an action themselves. Tense is shown by the main verb's own form, not by the modal. A modal verb never names a physical action, and it has nothing to do with the gender or number of a following noun.

What is a determiner?

• AA word that describes the quality or manner of a verb, adjective or another adverb, such as quickly
• BA word placed before a noun to specify which or how many, such as the, some or three✓
• CA word that replaces a noun already mentioned earlier in the text
• DA word that links two clauses of equal grammatical importance within a single longer sentence

Answer: A determiner sits before a noun and narrows down which one or how many are meant, as in the, this, some or three cakes. A word describing a verb is an adverb, not a determiner, and a word linking two equal clauses is a coordinating conjunction. A word that stands in for a noun already mentioned is a pronoun.

Which sentence begins with a fronted adverbial?

• AThe entire building heard the fire alarm ring suddenly.
• BEveryone in the building, especially the youngest pupils, heard the alarm.
• CThe fire alarm rang without warning through the building.
• DWithout warning, the fire alarm rang through the entire building.✓

Answer: A fronted adverbial is moved to the start of a sentence, ahead of the subject, and is usually followed by a comma, as 'Without warning,' is here. The first distractor places the same phrase later in the sentence, so it is no longer fronted. The other distractors reword the idea without placing any adverbial phrase before the subject at all.

What is a complement in a sentence?

• AA phrase that is placed right at the very start of a sentence purely for emphasis or dramatic effect
• BA conjunction that joins a main clause to a subordinate clause elsewhere within the same longer sentence
• CA word or phrase that adds information about the subject or object, often after a linking verb✓
• DA word that shows only the tense of the main verb in a clause, without adding any other information

Answer: A complement follows a linking verb such as be, seem or become and describes or renames the subject or object, as in 'the weather turned cold', where 'cold' completes the meaning of 'the weather'. Tense is shown by the verb form itself, not by a separate complement. A fronted phrase and a conjunction are different sentence elements entirely, neither of which completes the subject or object.

What is a cohesive device in a piece of writing?

• AA word that simply names a person, place or thing, functioning only within a single sentence itself
• BA verb form that shows an action is still in progress or continuing right at the moment of speaking
• CA punctuation mark that is used only to separate individual items within a list inside one sentence
• DA word or phrase, such as however or as a result, that links ideas across sentences or paragraphs✓

Answer: Cohesive devices, including connectives like however, as a result and furthermore, create links between sentences and paragraphs so a text reads as a connected whole. A word naming a person, place or thing is simply a noun, operating within one sentence rather than across a text. A listing comma and a progressive verb form both serve different, unrelated grammatical purposes.

Which sentence uses the subjunctive mood?

• AEvery pupil in the class was ready and waiting for the coach by eight o'clock sharp.
• BThe teacher insisted that every pupil be ready for the trip by eight.✓
• CThe teacher insists that every pupil is ready for the trip.
• DThe teacher checked that every pupil was on the coach.

Answer: The subjunctive mood uses the base form of the verb, such as 'be' rather than 'is' or 'was', after verbs like insist, demand or suggest to express a wish or requirement rather than a plain fact. Each distractor instead uses an ordinary indicative verb form, is or was, simply reporting what happened rather than what was required.

What is a present participle?

• AA verb form that is used only to give direct commands or instructions to somebody standing nearby
• BThe base form of a verb before any ending at all, such as -ing or -ed, has ever been added to it
• CA word that shows how an action is performed, such as quickly, slowly or very carefully indeed
• DThe -ing form of a verb, used to form continuous tenses or as an adjective, as in running water✓

Answer: A present participle is the -ing form of a verb, used both to build continuous tenses such as 'is running' and as an adjective, as in 'running water'. The unmarked base form of a verb, before any ending is added, is the infinitive stem, not a participle. Command forms are imperatives, and a word describing how an action is performed is an adverb.

Which sentence uses a past participle as an adjective?

• AThe window broke suddenly during the storm last night.
• BSomeone broke the window during the storm last night.
• CThe broken window let in a cold draught all evening.✓
• DThe storm was breaking windows across the whole street.

Answer: A past participle, such as broken, can work as an adjective directly in front of a noun, describing the window rather than reporting an action. Each distractor instead uses 'broke' or 'breaking' as the main verb of its clause, actively reporting an event rather than describing a noun. Only the key places the participle in an adjective's usual position, before the noun it modifies.

What is a finite verb?

• AA verb used only in its infinitive form, such as to run, without ever showing tense or agreement
• BA verb form that shows tense and agrees with its subject, forming the main verb of a clause✓
• CA verb form that never changes at all to show tense, person or number, no matter what the subject is
• DA noun that is formed from a verb by adding the suffix -ing, such as running or singing

Answer: A finite verb changes according to tense and person, agreeing with its subject, and it always functions as the main verb of a clause, as in 'she walks' or 'they walked'. A verb form that never changes for tense or number is non-finite, such as a participle used as an adjective. An infinitive is also non-finite, and a noun formed with -ing is a gerund, not a verb at all.

Which sentence contains a transitive verb, one that takes a direct object?

• AThe tired hikers finally arrived at the summit.
• BThe librarian returned the overdue book to the shelf.✓
• CThe children in the front row laughed loudly at the joke.
• DThe old clock ticked steadily throughout the night.

Answer: A transitive verb passes its action directly onto an object, and here 'returned' acts directly on 'the overdue book'. Laughed, ticked and arrived are all intransitive in these sentences, since none of them takes a direct object; the phrases that follow them are adverbials describing where or how, not objects receiving the action.

Which sentence contains an intransitive verb, one with no direct object?

• AThe toddler giggled uncontrollably during the puppet show.✓
• BThe show delighted every single child sitting in the front row.
• CThe puppeteer entertained the toddler for nearly an hour that afternoon.
• DThe toddler watched the entire puppet show with wide, delighted eyes.

Answer: An intransitive verb has no direct object receiving its action, and 'giggled' here is simply followed by an adverb and a time phrase, not an object. In every distractor the verb does take a direct object: watched takes 'the puppet show', entertained takes 'the toddler', and delighted takes 'every child'. That direct object is exactly what makes those verbs transitive instead.

Which sentence uses the perfect aspect to show a completed action?

• AShe has finished all of her maths homework for this week.✓
• BShe will finish all of her maths homework later this week.
• CShe is finishing all of her maths homework at the moment.
• DShe finishes all of her maths homework on Sunday evenings.

Answer: The perfect is formed with a form of have plus a past participle, as in has finished, and it presents an action as completed, with its result still relevant now. Will plus an infinitive refers to future time; English has no separate future tense, so will is a present-tense modal verb here. A form of be plus a present participle (the -ing form) makes the progressive, which shows an action still in progress, and the simple present here describes a regular habit.

Which sentence uses the progressive aspect to show an action in progress?

• AThe engineers repaired the old bridge earlier this week already.
• BThe engineers are repairing the bridge throughout this week.✓
• CThe engineers have repaired the bridge completely already this week.
• DThe engineers repair the bridge on a regular schedule every year.

Answer: The progressive aspect is formed with a form of be plus an -ing verb and presents an action as ongoing, as 'are repairing' does here. The first distractor uses the simple past, reporting a finished event, and the second uses the perfect aspect, marking the repair as already completed. The third uses the simple present to describe a habitual routine rather than an action happening right now.

What does grammatical ellipsis mean?

• AA sentence written with no main verb, used only for dramatic effect
• BA type of clause that adds extra descriptive detail about a noun
• CThe deliberate omission of words understood from context, such as a repeated subject✓
• DThe use of three dots in writing to show speech trailing off or a pause

Answer: Grammatical ellipsis is the deliberate leaving out of words that the reader or listener can supply from context, such as dropping a repeated subject in 'She opened the door and walked through'. The printed mark of three dots showing a trailing pause is a different, punctuation sense of the word ellipsis. A verbless sentence written for effect and a descriptive clause are both separate grammatical features, not ellipsis itself.

Which phrase is a noun phrase?

• Aquickly ran towards the gate
• Bthe tall oak tree by the gate✓
• Cvery carefully and quietly
• Dunderneath the old wooden gate

Answer: A noun phrase is built around a noun as its head word, here 'tree', with other words adding detail around it. The first phrase is built around the verb 'ran', making it a verb phrase, and the second is headed by the preposition 'underneath', making it a preposition phrase. The third phrase contains no noun at all and simply modifies a verb, so it functions as an adverb phrase.

Which phrase is a preposition phrase?

• Athe old wooden bridge
• Bunderneath the wooden bridge✓
• Cextremely old and creaky
• Dcreaked loudly and slowly

Answer: A preposition phrase begins with a preposition, here 'underneath', followed by a noun phrase that it relates to the rest of the sentence. 'The old wooden bridge' is headed by the noun 'bridge' alone, making it a noun phrase rather than a preposition phrase. The other two are built around a verb and an adjective respectively, with no preposition present at all.

In the sentence 'The excited dog chased the nervous postman down the street,' what is the grammatical object?

• Adown the street
• Bthe nervous postman✓
• Cthe excited dog
• Dchased nervously

Answer: The grammatical object receives the action of the verb, and here 'the nervous postman' is the one being chased. 'The excited dog' is the subject, the one performing the action, not receiving it. 'Down the street' is an adverbial telling us where the chasing happened, and 'chased nervously' misquotes the verb entirely, since no adverb appears in the original sentence.

What is the function of an auxiliary verb?

• AIt links a subordinate clause to the main clause, as in because or although at the start of a clause
• BIt replaces a noun mentioned earlier in the text, as in she or it standing in for a person's name
• CIt combines with a main verb to show tense, aspect, mood or voice, as in has finished or is running✓
• DIt describes the manner or way in which an action takes place, as in quickly or carefully

Answer: An auxiliary or helping verb, such as be, have or do, combines with a main verb to build tenses, aspects, questions and the passive voice, as in 'has finished' or 'is running'. A word that stands in for a noun already mentioned is a pronoun, not an auxiliary verb. Linking a subordinate clause to a main clause is the job of a conjunction, and describing how an action happens is the job of an adverb.

What does the prefix 'mis-' add to a root word such as understand?

• AA meaning of before, as in preview or prepay
• BA meaning of again, as in rewrite or replay
• CA meaning of not, as in impossible or incomplete
• DA meaning of wrongly or badly, as in misunderstand✓

Answer: The prefix mis- attaches to a root word to add the meaning of wrongly or badly, so misunderstand means to understand something incorrectly. Re- adds the meaning of again, and im- or in- adds the meaning of not, neither of which matches mis-. Pre- adds the meaning of before, which again is a different sense from wrongly or badly.

Which suffix, added to the adjective 'sad', forms an adverb?

• A-ness, forming sadness
• B-est, forming saddest
• C-en, forming saddens
• D-ly, forming sadly✓

Answer: Adding -ly to the adjective sad forms the adverb sadly, describing how an action is done. Adding -ness instead forms the noun sadness, naming a state or quality rather than describing an action. Adding -en forms saddens, a verb, and adding -est forms saddest, a superlative adjective, so neither produces an adverb.

Which word is formed by combining two complete words to make a compound word?

• Anational
• Bquickly
• Ctoothbrush✓
• Dunhappy

Answer: Toothbrush is a compound word, built from two complete words, tooth and brush, joined to create a new meaning. Unhappy is formed by adding the prefix un- to the root happy, not by joining two whole words. Quickly and national are each formed by adding a suffix, -ly and -al, to a root word, so neither is a compound either.

Which sentence uses the possessive apostrophe correctly?

• AThe teacher's classroom was decorated for the open evening.✓
• BThe teachers' classroom was decorated for the open evening.
• CThe teachers classroom was decorated for the open evening.
• DThe teacher's' classroom was decorated for the open evening.

Answer: For one teacher owning the classroom, the apostrophe belongs directly before the final s, giving teacher's, exactly as the key shows. 'The teachers classroom' leaves out the apostrophe altogether, so it fails to show possession at all. 'The teacher's' classroom' adds an extra apostrophe after the s, which is never correct, and 'The teachers' classroom' places the apostrophe after the s as if there were several teachers, which does not match the sentence.

Which sentence uses 'it's' and 'its' correctly?

• AIt's clear that the dog has buried it's bone in the garden.
• BIts clear that the dog has buried it's bone in the garden.
• CIt's clear that the dog has buried its bone in the garden.✓
• DIts clear that the dog has buried its bone in the garden.

Answer: It's is always a contraction of it is or it has, while its with no apostrophe shows possession, so the key correctly opens with the contraction and later uses the possessive form for the bone. The first two options put the contraction it's where the possessive its belongs, or use it twice, and the third drops the apostrophe from the opening contraction entirely, leaving no contraction where one is needed.

Which sentence is written in Standard English?

• AWe never went to no meeting yesterday at all.
• BWe ain't able to attend the meeting yesterday.
• CWe were not able to attend the meeting yesterday.✓
• DWe wasn't able to attend the meeting yesterday.

Answer: Standard English follows agreed grammatical rules, such as pairing the plural subject we with were rather than wasn't. The first distractor mismatches subject and verb by using wasn't with we, a non-standard form typical of some regional dialects. The second contains a double negative, never and no together, and the third uses ain't, both features associated with non-standard varieties of English rather than the standard form.

In a formal class debate, which register should a pupil use when presenting an argument to the whole class?

• ARegional dialect only, to sound more natural and familiar
• BStandard English, avoiding slang and using clear, well-organised sentences✓
• CInformal slang, since it keeps the audience relaxed and entertained
• DText-message abbreviations, to keep points short and quick

Answer: A formal debate calls for Standard English, delivered in clear, well-organised sentences that an unfamiliar audience can follow easily. Informal slang suits casual conversation with friends, not a formal presentation to the whole class. Relying only on regional dialect or on text-message abbreviations both undermine clarity and formality in a setting that specifically calls for Standard English.