The Initial Plus Grammar Test

Multiple-choice test
eltconcourse.com

Choose the best answer.
Make a note of your score at the end!

  1. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'angry' is ...
    1.   ... a noun
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a verb
    4.   ... an adjective
  2. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'very' is ...
    1.   ... a noun
    2.   ... a verb
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... an adverb
  3. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'became' is ...
    1.   ... an auxiliary verb
    2.   ... a modal auxiliary verb
    3.   ... a copular verb
    4.   ... a lexical 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.   ... the noun is 'citrus fruit'
    2.   ... the word 'citrus' classifies the word 'fruit'
    3.   ... we can't say 'more' or 'most delicious'
    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.   ... inflexion
    3.   ... declination
    4.   ... periphrasis
  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.   ... 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 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 is non-finite
    3.   ... the verb always takes an object
    4.   ... the verb never takes an object
  11. We can't say "She made" because ...
    1.   ... the verb is used to link the noun to an adjective
    2.   ... the verb always takes an object
    3.   ... the verb never takes an object
    4.   ... the verb is non-finite
  12. In the two clauses, "The bird flew away" and "She flew the plane", the verb ...
    1.   ... is different in each case
    2.   ... cannot be transitive
    3.   ... always takes an object
    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
    2.   ... 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.   ... 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.   ... 'must' is a semi-modal auxiliary and 'need to' is a pure modal auxiliary
    2.   ... 'must' is a central or pure modal auxiliary and 'need to' is a semi-modal auxiliary
    3.   ... 'need to' is not an 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.   ... ability
    3.   ... obligation
    4.   ... possibility
  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 perfect
    2.   ... past simple
    3.   ... past progressive
    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 progressive
    3.   ... past perfect progressive
    4.   ... past perfect
  20. The 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 complex sentence
    3.   ... a compound sentence
    4.   ... a simple sentence
  22. The sentence, "Will you be quiet, please?" functions as ...
    1.   ... a positive
    2.   ... a question
    3.   ... a negative
    4.   ... an imperative
  23. The tense of the verb in "He had been thinking of her" is ...
    1.   ... past perfect simple
    2.   ... past progressive
    3.   ... past perfect progressive
    4.   ... present perfect progressive
  24. The normal word order for positive sentences in English is ...
    1.   ... Subject - Object - Verb
    2.   ... Subject - Verb - Object
    3.   ... Verb - Subject - Object
    4.   ... Object - Verb - Subject
  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.   ... adjectives in English normally come before the noun
    3.   ... it should be 'the people are concerned'
    4.   ... it should be 'the concerned people'
  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 correlating conjunction
    4.   ... a subordinating conjunction
  28. In the sentence, "I'll come when I can", the word 'when' is ...
    1.   ... a conjunction
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... a pronoun
    4.   ... an adverb
  29. In the sentence, "When did they arrive?", the word 'when' is ...
    1.   ... a conjunction
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... a pronoun
  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
    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.   ... dynamically
    3.   ... statively
    4.   ... with an object
  33. "I am seeing the doctor tomorrow" refers to ...
    1.   ... a current activity
    2.   ... a present arrangement
    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 which began before the accident
    2.   ... an action which was habitual
    3.   ... an action that definitely stopped immediately
    4.   ... an action that definitely continued after the accident
  35. In the phrase, "the class in Room 16", the word 'class' is ...
    1.   ... an uncountable noun
    2.   ... a proper noun
    3.   ... a mass noun
    4.   ... a collective noun
  36. "I don't have many furniture" is not possible because ...
    1.   ... 'furniture' is countable
    2.   ... 'many' cannot be used in the plural
    3.   ... we can't use 'many' in negative sentences
    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.   ... 'alligator' is a countable noun
    3.   ... we are referring to a collective 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.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a preposition
  39. The word 'wonderfully' in, "it appeared wonderfully clever" is ...
    1.   ... modifying 'it'
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... modifying the word 'clever'
    4.   ... modifying the verb 'appeared'
  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 first is less likely than the second
    2.   ... the second refers to the present and the first refers to the past
    3.   ... the second is less likely than the first
    4.   ... the first is impossible and the second is possible
  42. "He spoke too quickly" contains ...
    1.   ... two adjectives
    2.   ... an adverb following an adjective
    3.   ... two adverbs
    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 pronoun
    3.   ... a demonstrative
    4.   ... a verb
  44. In the clause, "Anybody can come", the word 'anybody' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... a pronoun
  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.   ... a possessive pronoun
    2.   ... a reflexive pronoun
    3.   ... an object pronoun
    4.   ... a possessive determiner
  47. In "He sold me them", the word 'me' is ...
    1.   ... the direct object
    2.   ... the subject
    3.   ... a possessive pronoun
    4.   ... the indirect object
  48. In "He sold me them", the word 'them' is ...
    1.   ... the direct object
    2.   ... the indirect 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.   ... a determiner
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... an adverb
  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