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 noun
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... a verb
  3. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'became' is ...
    1.   ... a modal verb
    2.   ... a copular verb
    3.   ... a lexical or main 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 verb phrase
    3.   ... a noun phrase
    4.   ... an adjective phrase
  5. We say 'delicious citrus fruit' not 'citrus delicious fruit' because ...
    1.   ... we can't say 'more' or 'most delicious'
    2.   ... the noun is 'citrus fruit'
    3.   ... we can't say 'more' or 'most citrus'
    4.   ... the word 'citrus' classifies the word 'fruit'
  6. Adding '-er' and '-est to make comparative and superlative forms of adjectives is called ...
    1.   ... prefixation
    2.   ... declination
    3.   ... periphrasis
    4.   ... inflexion
  7. In the clause "My mother came to help make the dinner", the word 'came' is ...
    1.   ... a copular verb
    2.   ... an infinitive
    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 finite verb
    2.   ... a non-finite verb
    3.   ... a copular 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 non-finite verb
    3.   ... a primary auxiliary verb
    4.   ... a copular verb
  10. We can't say "She arrived the hotel" because ...
    1.   ... the verb is non-finite
    2.   ... the verb never takes an object
    3.   ... 'the hotel' can never act as an object
    4.   ... the verb always takes an object
  11. We can't say "She made" because ...
    1.   ... the verb is non-finite
    2.   ... the verb never takes an object
    3.   ... the verb always 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.   ... cannot be transitive
    2.   ... is different in each case
    3.   ... changes its meaning depending on whether it has an object
    4.   ... always takes an object
  13. In the clause, "He walked off his hangover" the verb phrase is ...
    1.   ... walked
    2.   ... walked off
    3.   ... he walked
    4.   ... he walked off
  14. In the clause, "He walked over the bridge" the verb phrase is ...
    1.   ... walked
    2.   ... he walked over
    3.   ... walked over
    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.   ... 'need to' is not an auxiliary verb
    2.   ... the first clause is in the present tense and the second is in the past
    3.   ... 'must' is a semi-modal auxiliary verb and 'need to' is a pure modal auxiliary verb
    4.   ... 'must' is a central or pure modal auxiliary verb and 'need to' is a semi-modal auxiliary verb
  16. In the clause, "He could play the piano well as a child", the word 'could' refers to ...
    1.   ... permission
    2.   ... possibility
    3.   ... ability
    4.   ... obligation
  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.   ... past progressive
    2.   ... past simple
    3.   ... past perfect
    4.   ... present perfect
  19. In the clause, "I had been waiting for hours", the tense of the verb is ...
    1.   ... past perfect progressive
    2.   ... past perfect
    3.   ... present perfect progressive
    4.   ... past progressive
  20. In the clause, "She'll have been driving all night", the verb tense is ...
    1.   ... future perfect progressive
    2.   ... future simple
    3.   ... future perfect
    4.   ... future progressive
  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 question
    2.   ... a positive
    3.   ... an imperative
    4.   ... a negative
  23. The tense of the verb in "He had been thinking of her" is ...
    1.   ... present perfect progressive
    2.   ... past perfect simple
    3.   ... past perfect progressive
    4.   ... past progressive
  24. The normal word order for positive sentences in English is ...
    1.   ... Subject - Verb - Object
    2.   ... Verb - Subject - Object
    3.   ... Object - Verb - Subject
    4.   ... Subject - Object - Verb
  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 people are concerned'
    3.   ... it should be 'the concerned people'
    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 present progressive
    2.   ... a gerund
    3.   ... a past participle
    4.   ... a present participle
  27. The word 'because' in "She came because I asked" is ...
    1.   ... a defining conjunction
    2.   ... a correlating conjunction
    3.   ... a coordinating conjunction
    4.   ... a subordinating conjunction
  28. In the sentence, "I'll come when I can", the word 'when' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... a pronoun
    4.   ... a conjunction
  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 preposition
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... an adverb
  31. In the expression, "take those tickets", the word 'those' is ...
    1.   ... a demonstrative determiner
    2.   ... a pronoun
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... an adjective
  32. In the clause, "He is being stupid" the verb is used ...
    1.   ... as an auxiliary
    2.   ... with an object
    3.   ... statively
    4.   ... dynamically
  33. "I am seeing the doctor tomorrow" refers to ...
    1.   ... a present arrangement
    2.   ... a current activity
    3.   ... a future based on present evidence
    4.   ... a future prediction
  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 collective noun
    2.   ... an uncountable noun
    3.   ... a mass noun
    4.   ... a proper noun
  36. "I don't have many furniture" is not possible because ...
    1.   ... 'many' cannot be used in the plural
    2.   ... 'furniture' is countable
    3.   ... 'furniture' is a mass noun
    4.   ... we can't use 'many' in negative sentences
  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.   ... 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 noun
    2.   ... a pronoun
    3.   ... a preposition
    4.   ... an adverb
  39. The word 'wonderfully' in, "It appeared wonderfully clever" is ...
    1.   ... modifying the verb 'appeared'
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... modifying the word 'clever'
    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.   ... 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 second refers to the present and the first refers to the past
    2.   ... the second is less likely than the first
    3.   ... the first is less likely than the second
    4.   ... the first is impossible and the second is possible
  42. "He spoke too quickly" contains ...
    1.   ... two adverbs
    2.   ... an adjective following an adverb
    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 demonstrative
    2.   ... a verb
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... a pronoun
  44. In the clause, "Anybody can come", the word 'anybody' is ...
    1.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... a pronoun
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... an adverb
  45. The term "tree surgeon" is an example of ...
    1.   ... noun + noun compounding
    2.   ... adjective + verb compounding
    3.   ... verb + noun compounding
    4.   ... adjective + noun compounding
  46. In "I did it myself", the word 'myself' is ...
    1.   ... a possessive determiner
    2.   ... an object pronoun
    3.   ... a reflexive pronoun
    4.   ... a possessive pronoun
  47. In "He sold me them", the word 'me' is ...
    1.   ... the subject
    2.   ... the indirect object
    3.   ... a possessive pronoun
    4.   ... the direct object
  48. In "He sold me them", the word 'them' is ...
    1.   ... a possessive pronoun
    2.   ... a subject pronoun
    3.   ... the indirect object
    4.   ... the direct object
  49. In the clause "It's expensive enough", the word 'enough' is ...
    1.   ... a preposition
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a determiner
    4.   ... an adjective
  50. This is the last question. Make a note of your score NOW.
    In "Why not tell him?", the word 'tell' is ...
    1.   ... the object of 'Why'
    2.   ... a finite verb
    3.   ... an infinitive
    4.   ... a to-infinitive