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