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 adverb
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... a verb
  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.   ... an auxiliary verb
    4.   ... a modal 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.   ... inflexion
    2.   ... periphrasis
    3.   ... declination
    4.   ... prefixation
  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.   ... an infinitive
    4.   ... a non-finite verb
  8. In the clause "My mother came to help make the dinner", the word 'make' is ...
    1.   ... an auxiliary verb
    2.   ... a copular verb
    3.   ... a finite verb
    4.   ... a non-finite verb
  9. In the clause "She has arrived at last", the word 'has' is ...
    1.   ... a primary auxiliary verb
    2.   ... a non-finite verb
    3.   ... a modal auxiliary verb
    4.   ... a copular verb
  10. We can't say "She arrived the hotel" because ...
    1.   ... the verb is non-finite
    2.   ... 'the hotel' can never act as an object
    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 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.   ... 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.   ... he walked off
    2.   ... he walked
    3.   ... walked
    4.   ... walked off
  14. In the clause, "He walked over the bridge" the verb phrase is ...
    1.   ... walked over
    2.   ... he 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.   ... '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.   ... ability
    2.   ... permission
    3.   ... obligation
    4.   ... possibility
  17. In the clause, "I will cook if you like", the word 'will' refers to ...
    1.   ... permission
    2.   ... willingness
    3.   ... futurity
    4.   ... ability
  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 progressive
    3.   ... past perfect
    4.   ... present perfect progressive
  20. In the clause, "She'll have been driving all night", the verb tense is ...
    1.   ... future progressive
    2.   ... future perfect progressive
    3.   ... future perfect
    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 simple sentence
    3.   ... a compound sentence
    4.   ... a complex sentence
  22. The sentence, "Will you be quiet, please?" functions as ...
    1.   ... a question
    2.   ... an imperative
    3.   ... a negative
    4.   ... a positive
  23. The tense of the verb in "He had been thinking of her" is ...
    1.   ... past progressive
    2.   ... past perfect progressive
    3.   ... past perfect simple
    4.   ... present perfect progressive
  24. The normal word order for positive sentences in English is ...
    1.   ... Object - Verb - Subject
    2.   ... Verb - Subject - Object
    3.   ... Subject - Object - Verb
    4.   ... Subject - Verb - 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.   ... the word 'concerned' can't be used as an adjective
    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 present participle
    2.   ... a present progressive
    3.   ... a gerund
    4.   ... a past participle
  27. The word 'because' in "She came because I asked" is ...
    1.   ... a coordinating conjunction
    2.   ... a defining conjunction
    3.   ... a subordinating conjunction
    4.   ... a correlating 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.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... a conjunction
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a pronoun
  30. In the sentence, "I have been here since ten o'clock", the word 'since' is ...
    1.   ... a preposition
    2.   ... a conjunction
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a noun
  31. In the expression, "take those tickets", the word 'those' is ...
    1.   ... a demonstrative determiner
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a pronoun
    4.   ... an adjective
  32. In the clause, "He is being stupid" the verb is used ...
    1.   ... with an object
    2.   ... as an auxiliary
    3.   ... statively
    4.   ... dynamically
  33. "I am seeing the doctor tomorrow" refers to ...
    1.   ... a future prediction
    2.   ... a future based on present evidence
    3.   ... a present arrangement
    4.   ... a current activity
  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 was habitual
    3.   ... an action which began before the accident
    4.   ... an action that definitely stopped immediately
  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.   ... 'furniture' is countable
    3.   ... we can't use 'many' in negative sentences
    4.   ... 'many' cannot be used in the plural
  37. There is no article (a, an or the) in "Alligators are aggressive" because ...
    1.   ... we are referring to specific alligators
    2.   ... 'alligator' is a countable noun
    3.   ... we are referring to all alligators everywhere
    4.   ... we are referring to a collective noun
  38. In the clause, "She waited outside", the word 'outside' is ...
    1.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a preposition
    4.   ... a noun
  39. The word 'wonderfully' in, "It appeared wonderfully clever" is ...
    1.   ... modifying the verb 'appeared'
    2.   ... modifying the word 'clever'
    3.   ... modifying 'it'
    4.   ... an adjective
  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 second refers to the present and the first refers to the past
    2.   ... the first is less likely than the second
    3.   ... the first is impossible and the second is possible
    4.   ... the second is less likely than the first
  42. "He spoke too quickly" contains ...
    1.   ... an adjective following an adverb
    2.   ... an adverb following an adjective
    3.   ... two adverbs
    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 pronoun
    3.   ... a demonstrative
    4.   ... a noun
  44. In the clause, "Anybody can come", the word 'anybody' is ...
    1.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... a noun
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a pronoun
  45. The term "tree surgeon" is an example of ...
    1.   ... verb + noun compounding
    2.   ... adjective + noun compounding
    3.   ... adjective + verb compounding
    4.   ... noun + noun compounding
  46. In "I did it myself", the word 'myself' is ...
    1.   ... a possessive pronoun
    2.   ... a possessive determiner
    3.   ... a reflexive pronoun
    4.   ... an object pronoun
  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.   ... a subject pronoun
    2.   ... a possessive pronoun
    3.   ... the direct object
    4.   ... the indirect object
  49. In the clause "It's expensive enough", the word 'enough' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb
    2.   ... a determiner
    3.   ... an adjective
    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.   ... the object of 'Why'
    3.   ... an infinitive
    4.   ... a finite verb