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 adverb
    2.   ... a noun
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... a verb
  2. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'very' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb
    2.   ... a verb
    3.   ... an adjective
    4.   ... a noun
  3. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the word 'became' is ...
    1.   ... a modal auxiliary verb
    2.   ... an auxiliary verb
    3.   ... a lexical verb
    4.   ... a copular verb
  4. In the clause: "She became very angry indeed", the phrase 'very angry indeed' is ...
    1.   ... an adjective phrase
    2.   ... a noun phrase
    3.   ... a verb phrase
    4.   ... an adverb phrase
  5. We say 'delicious citrus fruit' not 'citrus delicious fruit' because ...
    1.   ... the word 'citrus' classifies the word 'fruit'
    2.   ... the noun is 'citrus 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.   ... inflexion
    2.   ... prefixation
    3.   ... periphrasis
    4.   ... declination
  7. In the clause "My mother came to help make the dinner", the word 'came' is ...
    1.   ... an infinitive
    2.   ... a non-finite verb
    3.   ... a copular verb
    4.   ... a 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 primary auxiliary verb
    2.   ... a copular verb
    3.   ... a non-finite verb
    4.   ... a modal auxiliary 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 always takes an object
    2.   ... the verb never takes an object
    3.   ... the verb is non-finite
    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.   ... walked
    2.   ... he walked
    3.   ... walked off
    4.   ... he walked off
  14. In the clause, "He walked over the bridge" the verb phrase is ...
    1.   ... walked
    2.   ... walked over
    3.   ... he 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.   ... 'must' is a central or pure modal auxiliary and 'need to' is a semi-modal auxiliary
    2.   ... the first clause is in the present tense and the second is in the past
    3.   ... 'must' is a semi-modal auxiliary and 'need to' is a pure modal auxiliary
    4.   ... 'need to' is not an 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.   ... obligation
    4.   ... ability
  17. In the clause, "I will cook if you like", the word 'will' refers to ...
    1.   ... ability
    2.   ... willingness
    3.   ... futurity
    4.   ... permission
  18. In the clause, "I was smoking a cigarette", the tense of the verb is ...
    1.   ... past perfect
    2.   ... past progressive
    3.   ... present perfect
    4.   ... past simple
  19. In the clause, "I had been waiting for hours", the tense of the verb is ...
    1.   ... present perfect progressive
    2.   ... past perfect progressive
    3.   ... past progressive
    4.   ... past perfect
  20. The the clause, "She'll have been driving all night", the verb tense is ...
    1.   ... future simple
    2.   ... future perfect progressive
    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 compound sentence
    2.   ... a complex-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.   ... 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 - Verb - Object
    4.   ... Subject - Object - Verb
  25. The placement of the word 'concerned' in "the people concerned" is unusual because ...
    1.   ... it should be 'the people are concerned'
    2.   ... the word 'concerned' can't be used as an adjective
    3.   ... it should be 'the concerned people'
    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 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.   ... a pronoun
    2.   ... a conjunction
    3.   ... an adverb
    4.   ... an adjective
  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.   ... a preposition
    2.   ... a conjunction
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... an adverb
  31. In the expression, "take those tickets", the word 'those' is ...
    1.   ... an adverb
    2.   ... a demonstrative
    3.   ... an adjective
    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 present arrangement
    3.   ... a future prediction
    4.   ... a future based on present evidence
  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 continued after the accident
    4.   ... an action that definitely stopped immediately
  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 a mass noun
    2.   ... we can't use 'many' in negative sentences
    3.   ... 'many' cannot be used in the plural
    4.   ... 'furniture' is countable
  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.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a noun
    4.   ... a preposition
  39. The word 'wonderfully' in, "it appeared wonderfully clever" is ...
    1.   ... modifying the verb 'appeared'
    2.   ... an adjective
    3.   ... modifying 'it'
    4.   ... modifying the word 'clever'
  40. "I frequently can see it" is wrong because ...
    1.   ... adverbs always follow verbs
    2.   ... adverbs of indefinite frequency cannot come before the auxiliary verb
    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 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.   ... an adjective following an adverb
    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 noun
    2.   ... a demonstrative
    3.   ... a verb
    4.   ... a pronoun
  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.   ... noun + noun compounding
    2.   ... verb + noun compounding
    3.   ... adjective + noun compounding
    4.   ... adjective + verb compounding
  46. In "I did it myself", the word 'myself' is ...
    1.   ... a possessive determiner
    2.   ... a reflexive pronoun
    3.   ... an object pronoun
    4.   ... a possessive pronoun
  47. In "He sold me them", the word 'me' is ...
    1.   ... the direct object
    2.   ... the indirect object
    3.   ... the subject
    4.   ... a possessive pronoun
  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.   ... an adjective
    2.   ... an adverb
    3.   ... a determiner
    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.   ... the object of 'Why'
    2.   ... an infinitive
    3.   ... a to-infinitive
    4.   ... a finite verb