The Initial Plus Grammar Test

Multiple-choice test
Make a note of your score at the end!

Choose the best answer.
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  1. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'angry' is ...
    1.   ... a noun
    2.   ... a verb
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... an adjective
  2. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'very' is ...
    1.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... a verb
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a noun
  3. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'became' is ...
    1.   ... a lexical or main verb
    2.   ... a copular verb
    3.   ... a modal verb
    4.   ... an auxiliary verb
  4. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the phrase 'very angry indeed' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb phrase
    2.   ... a noun phrase
    3.   ... an adjective phrase
    4.   ... a verb phrase
  5. We say 'delicious citrus fruit' not 'citrus delicious fruit' because ...
    1.   ... we can't say 'more' or 'most delicious'
    2.   ... we can't say 'more' or 'most citrus'
    3.   ... the word 'citrus' classifies the word 'fruit'
    4.   ... the noun is 'citrus fruit'
  6. Adding '-er' and '-est to make comparative and superlative forms of adjectives is called ...
    1.   ... prefixation
    2.   ... inflexion
    3.   ... periphrasis
    4.   ... declination
  7. In the clause "My mother came to help make the dinner", the word 'came' is ...
    1.   ... a finite verb
    2.   ... a non-finite verb
    3.   ... an infinitive
    4.   ... a copular verb
  8. In the clause "My mother came to help make the dinner", the word 'make' is ...
    1.   ... a non-finite verb
    2.   ... a copular verb
    3.   ... a finite verb
    4.   ... an auxiliary verb
  9. In the clause "She has arrived at last", the word 'has' is ...
    1.   ... a modal auxiliary verb
    2.   ... a copular verb
    3.   ... a non-finite verb
    4.   ... a primary auxiliary verb
  10. We can't say "She arrived the hotel" because ...
    1.   ... 'the hotel' can never act as an object
    2.   ... the verb never takes an object
    3.   ... the verb always takes an object
    4.   ... the verb is non-finite
  11. We can't say "She made" because ...
    1.   ... the verb never takes an object
    2.   ... the verb always takes an object
    3.   ... the verb is non-finite
    4.   ... the verb is used to link the noun to an adjective
  12. In the two clauses, "The bird flew away" and "She flew the plane", the verb ...
    1.   ... always takes an object
    2.   ... is different in each case
    3.   ... cannot be transitive
    4.   ... changes its meaning depending on whether it has an object
  13. In the clause, "He walked off his hangover" the verb phrase is ...
    1.   ... walked
    2.   ... he walked
    3.   ... he walked off
    4.   ... walked off
  14. In the clause, "He walked over the bridge" the verb phrase is ...
    1.   ... he walked over
    2.   ... walked over
    3.   ... walked
    4.   ... he walked
  15. We can't say, "He doesn't must do it" but we can say "He didn't need to do it" because ...
    1.   ... 'must' is a central or pure modal auxiliary verb and 'need to' is a semi-modal auxiliary verb
    2.   ... 'need to' is not an auxiliary verb
    3.   ... 'must' is a semi-modal auxiliary verb and 'need to' is a pure modal auxiliary verb
    4.   ... the first clause is in the present tense and the second is in the past
  16. In the clause, "He could play the piano well as a child", the word 'could' refers to ...
    1.   ... permission
    2.   ... obligation
    3.   ... possibility
    4.   ... ability
  17. In the clause, "I will cook if you like", the word 'will' refers to ...
    1.   ... willingness
    2.   ... permission
    3.   ... futurity
    4.   ... ability
  18. In the clause, "I was smoking a cigarette", the tense of the verb is ...
    1.   ... past progressive
    2.   ... past perfect
    3.   ... present perfect
    4.   ... past simple
  19. In the clause, "I had been waiting for hours", the tense of the verb is ...
    1.   ... past perfect
    2.   ... past perfect progressive
    3.   ... present perfect progressive
    4.   ... past progressive
  20. In the clause, "She'll have been driving all night", the verb tense is ...
    1.   ... future simple
    2.   ... future perfect
    3.   ... future progressive
    4.   ... future perfect progressive
  21. The sentence, "She hasn't read it but it's on her holiday list" can be described as ...
    1.   ... a complex sentence
    2.   ... a simple sentence
    3.   ... a complex-compound sentence
    4.   ... a compound sentence
  22. The sentence, "Will you be quiet, please?" functions as ...
    1.   ... an imperative
    2.   ... a question
    3.   ... a negative
    4.   ... a positive
  23. The tense of the verb in "He had been thinking of her" is ...
    1.   ... past progressive
    2.   ... present perfect progressive
    3.   ... past perfect simple
    4.   ... past perfect progressive
  24. The normal word order for positive sentences in English is ...
    1.   ... Verb - Subject - Object
    2.   ... Subject - Object - Verb
    3.   ... Object - Verb - Subject
    4.   ... Subject - Verb - Object
  25. The placement of the word 'concerned' in "the people concerned" is unusual because ...
    1.   ... the word 'concerned' can't be used as an adjective
    2.   ... it should be 'the concerned people'
    3.   ... it should be 'the people are concerned'
    4.   ... adjectives in English normally come before the noun
  26. In the sentence, "Having opened the door, he went in", the word 'having' is ...
    1.   ... a gerund
    2.   ... a past participle
    3.   ... a present participle
    4.   ... a present progressive
  27. The word 'because' in "She came because I asked" is ...
    1.   ... a coordinating conjunction
    2.   ... a subordinating conjunction
    3.   ... a defining conjunction
    4.   ... a correlating conjunction
  28. In the sentence, "I'll come when I can", the word 'when' is ...
    1.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... a conjunction
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... an adjective
  29. In the sentence, "When did they arrive?", the word 'when' is ...
    1.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... a pronoun
    3.   ... a conjunction
    4.   ... an adverb
  30. In the sentence, "I have been here since ten o'clock", the word 'since' is ...
    1.   ... a conjunction
    2.   ... a noun
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a preposition
  31. In the expression, "take those tickets", the word 'those' is ...
    1.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... a demonstrative determiner
    4.   ... an adverb
  32. In the clause, "He is being stupid" the verb is used ...
    1.   ... statively
    2.   ... dynamically
    3.   ... as an auxiliary
    4.   ... with an object
  33. "I am seeing the doctor tomorrow" refers to ...
    1.   ... a current activity
    2.   ... a future prediction
    3.   ... a future based on present evidence
    4.   ... a present arrangement
  34. In the sentence, "He was cycling when he saw the accident", the first verb refers to ...
    1.   ... an action which began before the accident
    2.   ... an action that definitely continued after the accident
    3.   ... an action that definitely stopped immediately
    4.   ... an action which was habitual
  35. In the phrase, "the class in Room 16", the word 'class' is ...
    1.   ... a mass noun
    2.   ... a proper noun
    3.   ... a collective noun
    4.   ... an uncountable noun
  36. "I don't have many furniture" is not possible because ...
    1.   ... 'furniture' is a mass noun
    2.   ... 'many' cannot be used in the plural
    3.   ... we can't use 'many' in negative sentences
    4.   ... 'furniture' is countable
  37. There is no article (a, an or the) in "Alligators are aggressive" because ...
    1.   ... we are referring to a collective noun
    2.   ... we are referring to specific alligators
    3.   ... 'alligator' is a countable noun
    4.   ... we are referring to all alligators everywhere
  38. In the clause, "She waited outside", the word 'outside' is ...
    1.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... a noun
    3.   ... a preposition
    4.   ... an adverb
  39. The word 'wonderfully' in, "It appeared wonderfully clever" is ...
    1.   ... modifying 'it'
    2.   ... modifying the verb 'appeared'
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... modifying the word 'clever'
  40. "I frequently can see it" is wrong because ...
    1.   ... adverbs of indefinite frequency always come before the main verb
    2.   ... adverbs of indefinite frequency cannot come before the auxiliary verb
    3.   ... no adverbs can come before auxiliary verbs
    4.   ... adverbs always follow verbs
  41. The difference between "If he came, I'd talk to him" and "If he comes, I'll talk to him" is that ...
    1.   ... the first is less likely than the second
    2.   ... the second is less likely than the first
    3.   ... the second refers to the present and the first refers to the past
    4.   ... the first is impossible and the second is possible
  42. "He spoke too quickly" contains ...
    1.   ... an adjective following an adverb
    2.   ... two adjectives
    3.   ... an adverb following an adjective
    4.   ... two adverbs
  43. In the sentence, "I don't like this car as much as that", the word 'that' is ...
    1.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... a noun
    3.   ... a demonstrative
    4.   ... a verb
  44. In the clause, "Anybody can come", the word 'anybody' is ...
    1.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... a noun
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... an adverb
  45. The term "tree surgeon" is an example of ...
    1.   ... adjective + verb compounding
    2.   ... verb + noun compounding
    3.   ... noun + noun compounding
    4.   ... adjective + noun compounding
  46. In "I did it myself", the word 'myself' is ...
    1.   ... an object pronoun
    2.   ... a possessive pronoun
    3.   ... a reflexive pronoun
    4.   ... a possessive determiner
  47. In "He sold me them", the word 'me' is ...
    1.   ... the direct object
    2.   ... a possessive pronoun
    3.   ... the subject
    4.   ... the indirect object
  48. In "He sold me them", the word 'them' is ...
    1.   ... a possessive pronoun
    2.   ... the indirect object
    3.   ... the direct object
    4.   ... a subject pronoun
  49. In the clause "It's expensive enough", the word 'enough' is ...
    1.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... a preposition
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a determiner
  50. This is the last question. Make a note of your score NOW.
    In "Why not tell him?", the word 'tell' is ...
    1.   ... a to-infinitive
    2.   ... a finite verb
    3.   ... an infinitive
    4.   ... the object of 'Why'