These sentences will help you remember grammar rules. Try it!
Each of the following sentences is written to isolate a certain grammar point. In his years of teaching, Erin has noticed that each of these grammar points causes problems for both TOEFL test-takers and learners of English as another language. Erin has written some easy-to-remember sentences that will help you remember the grammar rules that are keeping your TOEFL grammar scores low.
Quiz: See how you do!
Choose the best answer for each of the following questions. There is only one correct answer choice for each. You will need to write down your answers for this quiz; it is NOT a computer test.
Have fun!
1. ______ not very healthy.
A Eaten cookies is
B Eating cookies are
C Eating cookies which are
D Eating cookies is
2. Your job is ______ your TOEFL score.
A working hard and raising
B which works hard and raising
C worked hard and raised
D to work hard and raise
3. The population of the US is ______.
A greater than Canada
B more than the population Canada
C greater than that of Canada
D greater than Canada's one
4. You make ______.
A me happily
B me happy
C happy me
D me to happy
5. Mother Theresa dedicated ______ the poor.
A her life and helped
B her life to helping
C her help and life
D to help
6. The guy ______ my brother.
A you saw was
B that saw
C who saw
D that saw you
7. You are the first person ______ I am funny.
A to tell me
B telling me that
C who telling me
D that tells me to be
8. ______ pretty funny.
A You said
B You said that
C What you said was
D The thing
9. ______ a new student.
A The room came
B The room came into
C Into the room came
D Came into the room
10. Robin Hood stole from ______ poor.
A rich and gave
B the rich and gave to the
C the rich and giving
D rich and the
Check your answers
Quiz: Answers
1. ______ not very healthy.
A Eaten cookies is
B Eating cookies are
C Eating cookies which are
D Eating cookies is
The grammar point in question is this: Is eating a PRESENT PARTICIPLE or aGERUND? In this case eating is a gerund and is the subject of the verb is. This one can be tricky to explain and to understand, so if you have any questions, please post them in our forum.
2. Your job is ______ your TOEFL score.
A working hard and raising
B which works hard and raising
C worked hard and raised
D to work hard and raise
The grammar rule you need to know is this:
job + BE-VERB + INFINITIVE
Remember that synonyms of job follow the same rule: task, function, duty, etc.
3. The population of the US is ______.
A greater than Canada
B more than the population Canada
C greater than that of Canada
D greater than Canada's one
This question tests you on COMPARISONS. We sometimes refer to this type of question as an "apple and oranges" question. In this type of question, we need to compare two populations. The that in C is a PRONOUN and refers topopulation. If you chose A, you were comparing population and Canada, which ETS considers illogical.
4. You make ______.
A me happily
B me happy
C happy me
D me to happy
For this one we need to remember this rule:
make + NOUN + COMPLEMENT (usually an adjective or noun)
The complement modifies the second noun (me), so we should use an adjective or another noun, NOT an adverb.
5. Mother Theresa dedicated ______ the poor.
A her life and helped
B her life to helping
C her help and life
D to help
People miss this one because they think that after to we need the BASE FORMof the VERB. However, to can also be a PREPOSITION, so we need to remember when to is a preposition and when it's part of the INFINITIVE.
6. The guy ______ my brother.
A you saw was
B that saw
C who saw
D that saw you
Grammar point: that is sometimes optional in ADJECTIVE CLAUSES. When is it optional, you ask? When the HEAD NOUN is the object or COMPLEMENT of theSUBORDINATE VERB. Did you get that??? Better ask Erin Billy in the forum...
7. You are the first person ______ I am funny.
A to tell me
B telling me that
C who telling me
D that tells me to be
Important grammar pattern:
first + NOUN + INFINITIVE
This is on the TOEFL a lot, and a lot of students ask TestMagic about this, so you should be familiar with this pattern.
8. ______ pretty funny.
A You said
B You said that
C What you said was
D The thing
Grammar focus: NOUN CLAUSE as SUBJECT of the verb. People tend to miss questions when the SUBJECT is a NOUN CLAUSE.
9. ______ a new student.
A The room came
B The room came into
C Into the room came
D Came into the room
Grammar point: INVERSION. People mess up on INVERSION and ELLIPSIS more than they do on any other grammar points on ETS's tests. If you're shooting for a high score, learn this!
10. Robin Hood stole from ______ poor.
A rich and gave
B the rich and gave to the
C the rich and giving
D rich and the
And last but not least, we need to remember that we can do this in English:
the + ADJECTIVE = ADJECTIVE people
So:
the rich = rich people
the poor = poor people
the gifted and talented = gifted and talented people
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