UK English Grammar Test (For Writing Professionals)
Choose
the option that best corrects the diction errors in the underlined part of the
following sentence.
After
two thrilling hours at the toy store, Gregory was devastated to learn that he'd
have to choose between his eleven action figures; you see, the sign at the
check out counter said, "Ten items or less."
a. between
his eleven action figures; you see, the sign at the check out counter said,
"Ten items or less."
b. among
his eleven action figures; you see, the sign at the checkout counter said,
"Ten items or less."
c. among
his eleven action figures; you see, the sign at the checkout counter said,
"Ten or fewer items."
d. between
his eleven action figures; you see, the sign at the check out counter said,
"Ten or fewer items."
Identify
the sentence that is written in active voice.
a. A
disembodied grin was left hanging in the air when the Cheshire Cat disappeared.
b. Fourteen
songs have been written about her by her ex-boyfriend.
c. The
four finalists in the ballroom dancing competition will be honoured by the
judges at tonight's dinner.
d. The
supervisor has told us seven times not to unplug all the computers—why do we
keep doing it?
Choose
the option that best completes the following sentence.
An
antecedent is _______________ .
a. an
independent clause
b. the
noun a pronoun stands for
c. a
rule of precedence for compound nouns in a sentence
d. the
beginning of a sentence
Choose
the option that best completes the following sentence.
Neither
Alice nor Amy mentioned Alan's arrogant behaviour _________________.
a. lest
he'd lose his temper
b. lest
he lose his temper
c. lest
he loses his temper
d. less
he lose his temper
Which
of the following sentences contains a pronoun error?
a. Francine
objected loudly to us buying a new boat.
b. His
complaining about every little thing made him unpleasant to be around.
c. You
see, we sailors really love the sea.
d. I
do not like your arriving ten minutes after class has started.
Choose
the series of verbs that best completes the following passage.
Honestly,
I _______________ to tolerate that know-it-all air of yours. _________ me
__________ my condolences to your wife, who _________ to listen to your
incessant lecturing for many years to come.
a. have
never been able, Allow, to renew, will have
b. am
never able, Allow, to renew, will have
c. had
never been able, Allowing, has renewed, must
d. have
never been able, Allow, to renew, has
Choose
the series of modifiers that best completes the following sentence.
_________
enough, even though we mixed all those _________ ingredients together, the cake
turned out remarkably ________; however, it did smell _________ while it was
baking.
a. Strange,
strange, good, strange
b. Strangely,
strange, well, strange
c. Strangely,
strange, well, strangely
d. Strangely,
strangely, good, strange
Choose
the series of pronouns that best completes the following sentence.
Agatha
agreed with John and ____________ even though _______ had previously clashed
with _____________ on the subject.
a. myself,
we, her
b. I,
she, us
c. I,
we, us
d. me,
she, us
Identify
the sentence that illustrates proper sentence construction.
a. We
got really lucky with our new bakery. It's clean, recently refurbished and
conveniently located.
b. Either
people go to school to learn something of just to enjoy socialising.
c. Either
people go to school to learn something new or just to enjoy socializing.
d. Sharon
asked the grocer if the cheese was fresh and could she have a taste.
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct pronoun-antecedent agreement.
a. Each
of the trainers completes seven sessions a week with his or her animals.
b. Neither
the supervisor nor his assistants did his job well.
c. The
secret agent, instead of his underlings, are planning the sting.
d. Every
person on the cruise had to jump overboard in order to save their lives.
Choose
the series of verbs that best completes the following passage.
Sally's
chronic carelessness ________ her in the hospital again. This time she _______
run over by a tractor as she ________ peacefully in a wheat field.
a. landed,
had been, was snoozing
b. has
landed, was, snoozed
c. is
landing, has been, snoozed
d. has
landed, was, was snoozing
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct comparison structure.
a. The
opinions of the teachers are no more valid than those of the students.
b. The
lampshades at Grayson's specialty store are more expensive than Macy's.
c. Jenny
always gives her brother more attention than her sister.
d. Mrs
Anderson bakes as well if not better than my grandmother.
e. a
and d
f. b
and c
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct pronoun-antecedent agreement.
a. If
one wants to do well in this job, you should watch, listen, and learn.
b. The
fine arts gallery will be presenting the works of their students next week.
c. When
the baby is done with the bottle, it must be sterilized.
d. The
snow, which was falling gently, melted on my upturned face.
Choose
the option that best corrects the subject-verb agreement error in the
underlined part of the following sentence.
Neither
volunteering at the fire department nor fundraising for the theatre and schools
has stopped Aunt Marnie to help the animals at the local shelter.
a. has
stopped Aunt Marnie to help
b. have
stopped Aunt Marnie from helping
c. has
stopped Aunt Marnie from helping
d. has
stopped Aunt Marnie helping
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct comparison structure.
a. Rudy
has always liked squid more than Tabitha.
b. The
countryside of Austria is more beautiful than that of France.
c. Reading
newspapers is no longer as popular as the Internet.
d. Jupiter
is larger than any planet in the universe.
Identify
the sentence that contains a faulty comparison.
a. Several
people less qualified than Alistair have been promoted over the last few
months.
b. As
far as I'm concerned, reading a good book is still preferable to surfing the
Internet.
c. Betty
thinks that working late hours every day is better than early mornings.
d. Studies
show that people who have money enough to meet their needs are more satisfied
with their lives than those who have excessive wealth.
Which
of the following sentences contains a pronoun-antecedent agreement error?
a. Anyone
coming to the Halloween party as a vampire should bring his own fangs.
b. I'm
an eternal optimist and believe that everything is not as bad as it seems.
c. Somebody
left their goat on the front lawn.
d. Some
of the guests are still at the parade.
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct modifier placement.
a. Felicity
ordered a croissant and a hot cup of tea.
b. I wsn't
at all hungry, so I only ordered soup and a salad.
c. Though
Tom has lived there for years, he has hardly any friends.
d. We
barely have enough time to finish our shopping.
Choose
the series of pronouns that best completes the following sentence.
Only
one of the nurses __________ works in the field hospital is certified, and
_________ has been out sick for two weeks.
a. who,
she
b. whom,
she
c. which,
that
d. that,
which
Read
the following passage and identify the type of sentence structure error it
contains.
"That
moose stood smack-dab in the middle of the road," recounted our neighbour,
Griffin, from his hospital bed. "I have only three choices: to hit the
brakes and hope for the best, to swerve into the trees and hope for the best,
or running him over and hoping for the best. Guess which one I chose?"
a. Run-on
sentence
b. Diction
c. Faulty
modifier
d. Parallelism
e. Verb
tense shift
f. d
and e
g. All
of the above
Identify
the sentence that contains a verb tense error.
a. Some
of the people on the Alaskan cruise had never seen snow before.
b. Our
science teacher told us that the earth revolved around the sun.
c. If
we don't make a sincere effort to strengthen our skills, we will end up with
nothing to show for our hard work.
d. No
sooner do the rains come than the countryside bears a green mantle.
Choose
the option that best corrects the verb tense error in the underlined part of
the following sentence.
The
detailed mosaic work on the ancient altar is of such high quality and rare
beauty that no modern artwork of the same genre had ever come close to
matching it.
a. no
modern artwork of the same genre had ever come close to matching it
b. it
had no equal compared to modern artwork of the same genre
c. no
modern artwork of the same genre comes close to matching it
d. no
modern artwork of the same genre will ever have come close to matching it
e. no
modern artwork of the same genre has ever come close to matching it
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct comparison structure.
a. Did
you notice that completing the math questions was much easier than the essay
questions?
b. My
dad's barbecued steaks were always tastier than Uncle Dave.
c. Melanie
dances as well if not better than most of the girls in the ballet corps.
d. There
can be no doubt that the people in Janet's office are more astute than those in
Jack's.
e. a
and b
f. a
and d
Which
of the following sentences contains a pronoun-antecedent agreement error?
a. Neither
the doorman nor the delivery men has asked for his pay packet.
b. Each
of you has your own chores to complete before day's end.
c. All
of us band members have our own instruments, uniforms, and music stands, all of
which we pay for through our yearly dues.
d. Alison
prefers to read books that make her laugh.
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct subject-verb agreement.
a. My
favourite topic is plays by Brecht.
b. Gary
as well as his father were frightened of the chimpanzee.
c. Both
the orange and the lemon is rich in vitamin C.
d. The
major, instead of the generals who had been asked to appear, are scheduled to
review the troops at graduation.
Choose
the option that best corrects the sentence structure error underlined in the
following sentence.
The
martini, very dry, was sipped taciturnly by Sebastian while Wanda,
absentmindedly twirling the little umbrella in her cocktail, stared at him
maliciously.
a. The
martini, very dry, was sipped taciturnly by Sebastian
b. The
very dry martini was taciturnly sipped by Sebastian
c. Sebastian
sipped his very dry martini taciturnly
d. Sebastian,
who sipped his dry martini taciturnly,
e. Sebastian
taciturnly sipped his very dry martini
Which
of the following sentences uses correct diction?
a. Emma
said the reason she's moving is because the neighbours are too noisy.
b. Let's
work together to try and correct the problem, shall we?
c. Regardless
of his position in the company, I find his behaviour really aggravating.
d. We
didn't receive any of our packages on time on account of the snowstorm.
e. a
and d
f. None
of the above
Choose
the verb tense that best completes the following sentence.
Sarah
was so late arriving home that Mike ____________ to bed.
a. had
already gone
b. has
already gone
c. already
went
d. will
already have gone
Choose
the series of verbs that best completes the following passage.
Garrett
___________ ostracized by the other penguins for so long that he no longer
noticed the way they _________ him. For their part, the others _________
Garrett _________ a rogue.
a. has
been, shun, believe, to be
b. had
been, shunned, believed, to be
c. was,
shunned, believed, was
d. had
been, shun, believe, is
Complete
the following sentence by choosing the pronoun that agrees with the antecedent.
When
Crenshaw finally appeared on stage and saved the day, the audience roared
_________ approval.
a. their
b. its
c. his
d. one's
Which
of the following sentences contains a subject-verb agreement error?
a. I am
not one of those people who pretend to know everything about music.
b. Here's
the bushels of apples you've been waiting for.
c. Every
man, woman, and child on the cruise knows how to get to the lifeboats.
d. Neither
rain nor falling rocks keeps me from driving through the canyon.
e. a
and c
f. b
and d
Choose
the option that corrects the parallelism error contained in the following
sentence.
Greta
is either moving to Germany next month or she will stay in Iceland for another
year.
a. Greta
is either moving to Germany next month or staying in Iceland for another year.
b. Either
Greta is moving to Germany next month, or she is staying in Iceland for another
year.
c. Either
Greta will move to Germany next month or staying in Iceland for another year.
d. a
and b
e. b
and c
Choose
the option that best corrects the verb tense error in the underlined part of
the following sentence.
Just
as the second act was about to start, the stage manager came out and told the
audience that the lead actress fell ill during intermission and needed the
aid of a doctor before the show could go on.
a. that
the lead actress fell ill during intermission and needed the aid of a doctor
b. that
the lead actress fell ill during intermission and had needed the aid of a
doctor
c. that
the lead actress had fallen ill during intermission and needed the aid of a
doctor
d. that
the lead actress has been ill during intermission and would need the aid of a
doctor
e. that
the lead actress was ill during intermission and had been in need of a doctor's
aid
Choose
the option that best completes the following sentence.
The
general rule in grammar is to place modifiers _______________ .
a. as
close as possible to the beginning of the sentence
b. immediately
before the words they modify
c. as
close as possible to the words they modify
d. immediately
after the words they modify
Choose
the option that best completes the following sentence.
Three
essential components of a correct comparison between two or more items are _______________ .
a. pertinence,
relativity, and parallel structure
b. completeness,
logic, and parallel structure
c. relativity,
logic, and pertinence
Identify
the sentence that contains a verb tense error.
a. Oh,
how the queen wished that she had not married the king!
b. Jethro
has lost his keys and does not remember where he last saw them.
c. The
hunter claimed that he killed more than a hundred lions in his life.
d. Siobhan
has been playing the harp for the last three years—and, boy, her fingers are
tired!
Identify
the sentence that illustrates correct use of modifiers.
a. Of
the two companies, Groose & Grouse is the more reliable.
b. I
had never seen so much people in one place—it was truly frightening!
c. Mt.
Kiskayuna is the taller of the three peaks of the mountain range.
d. Grandpa
always said that he preferred less words and more action.
Which
of the following sentences contains an error in diction?
a. He
had a large amount of ammunition left, but only a small amount of bullets.
b. Being
that I hadn't eaten since breakfast, I started to feel lightheaded.
c. Did
you get a discount on that scarf or did you get it for free?
d. Though
I'm loathe to admit it, I rather liked his performance art piece.
e. a
and d
f. All
of the above
Complete
the following sentence by choosing the verbs that agree with the subject.
The
clown with his accompanying unicyclists _________ surprised to find that the
elephants or the zebra ________ chewing on his rubber noses in the dressing
room.
a. were,
were
b. was,
was
c. were,
was
d. was,
were
Choose
the option that best corrects the subject-verb agreement error in the
underlined part of the following sentence.
The
stunning beaches, rolling hills, and charming medieval towns of Tuscany explain
its popularity with tourists.
a. explains
its popularity
b. explain
their popularity
c. are
the reasons for their popularity
d. None
of the above—the original sentence has no error