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.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... a verb
  2. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'very' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb
    2.   ... a verb
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... an adjective
  3. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'became' is ...
    1.   ... a modal auxiliary verb
    2.   ... an 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 adjective phrase
    2.   ... a verb phrase
    3.   ... a noun phrase
    4.   ... an adverb 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.   ... periphrasis
    2.   ... inflexion
    3.   ... prefixation
    4.   ... declination
  7. In the clause "My mother came to help make the dinner", the word 'came' is ...
    1.   ... a copular verb
    2.   ... a finite 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.   ... a copular verb
    2.   ... a non-finite verb
    3.   ... an auxiliary verb
    4.   ... a 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 modal auxiliary verb
    4.   ... a copular verb
  10. We can't say "She arrived the hotel" because ...
    1.   ... the verb never takes an object
    2.   ... the verb always takes an object
    3.   ... the verb is non-finite
    4.   ... 'the hotel' can never act as 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 is used to link the noun to an adjective
    4.   ... the verb always takes an object
  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.   ... he walked
    2.   ... he walked off
    3.   ... walked off
    4.   ... walked
  14. In the clause, "He walked over the bridge" the verb phrase is ...
    1.   ... he walked over
    2.   ... he walked
    3.   ... walked over
    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 central or pure modal auxiliary and 'need to' is a semi-modal auxiliary
    4.   ... 'must' is a semi-modal auxiliary and 'need to' is a pure modal auxiliary
  16. In the clause, "He could play the piano well as a child", the word 'could' refers to ...
    1.   ... obligation
    2.   ... ability
    3.   ... permission
    4.   ... possibility
  17. In the clause, "I will cook if you like", the word 'will' refers to ...
    1.   ... futurity
    2.   ... ability
    3.   ... willingness
    4.   ... permission
  18. In the clause, "I was smoking a cigarette", the tense of the verb is ...
    1.   ... past perfect
    2.   ... past simple
    3.   ... present perfect
    4.   ... past progressive
  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. The the clause, "She'll have been driving all night", the verb tense is ...
    1.   ... future simple
    2.   ... future perfect
    3.   ... future perfect progressive
    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 complex sentence
    3.   ... a compound sentence
    4.   ... a simple sentence
  22. The sentence, "Will you be quiet, please?" functions as ...
    1.   ... a negative
    2.   ... a positive
    3.   ... an imperative
    4.   ... a question
  23. The tense of the verb in "He had been thinking of her" is ...
    1.   ... past perfect progressive
    2.   ... past perfect simple
    3.   ... present perfect progressive
    4.   ... past progressive
  24. The normal word order for positive sentences in English is ...
    1.   ... Verb - Subject - Object
    2.   ... Subject - Object - Verb
    3.   ... Object - Verb - Subject
    4.   ... Subject - Verb - Object
  25. The placement of the word 'concerned' in "the people concerned" is unusual because ...
    1.   ... it should be 'the concerned people'
    2.   ... the word 'concerned' can't be used as an adjective
    3.   ... adjectives in English normally come before the noun
    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 present progressive
    2.   ... a present participle
    3.   ... a gerund
    4.   ... a past participle
  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.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a conjunction
  29. In the sentence, "When did they arrive?", the word 'when' is ...
    1.   ... a conjunction
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a pronoun
    4.   ... an adjective
  30. In the sentence, "I have been here since ten o'clock", the word 'since' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb
    2.   ... a conjunction
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... a preposition
  31. In the expression, "take those tickets", the word 'those' is ...
    1.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a demonstrative
    4.   ... a pronoun
  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 future based on present evidence
    3.   ... a future prediction
    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 that definitely stopped immediately
    3.   ... an action which was habitual
    4.   ... an action which began before 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 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.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... a preposition
  39. The word 'wonderfully' in, "it appeared wonderfully clever" is ...
    1.   ... modifying the word 'clever'
    2.   ... modifying the verb 'appeared'
    3.   ... modifying 'it'
    4.   ... an adjective
  40. "I frequently can see it" is wrong because ...
    1.   ... adverbs always follow verbs
    2.   ... no adverbs can come before auxiliary verbs
    3.   ... adverbs of indefinite frequency always come before the main verb
    4.   ... adverbs of indefinite frequency cannot come before the auxiliary 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 is less likely than the first
    2.   ... the second refers to the present and the first refers to the past
    3.   ... the first is impossible and the second is possible
    4.   ... the first is less likely than the second
  42. "He spoke too quickly" contains ...
    1.   ... an adverb following an adjective
    2.   ... two adverbs
    3.   ... two adjectives
    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 pronoun
    2.   ... a demonstrative
    3.   ... a verb
    4.   ... a noun
  44. In the clause, "Anybody can come", the word 'anybody' is ...
    1.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... an adverb
  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.   ... a reflexive pronoun
    2.   ... an object 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.   ... a possessive pronoun
    2.   ... the direct object
    3.   ... the indirect object
    4.   ... a subject pronoun
  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.   ... an infinitive
    2.   ... a to-infinitive
    3.   ... a finite verb
    4.   ... the object of 'Why'