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