Grammar Pretest

Are you ready for this class? Take this pretest and find out.

Choose the best answer to each question. You may only answer each question once, and you will receive immediate feedback on each answer you choose. After answering all 15 questions, choose the "I'm Done. Rate My Performance." button to see how prepared you are for this class.

Note: In the explanations, an asterisk * marks sentences which no native English speaker would produce.

1. Which of the following words is a noun:
A. unfair
B. feel
C. sugary
D. creature

2. What kind of noun is the noun in question 1?
A. concrete
B. abstract
C. proper

3. Which noun acts as the subject of the following sentence:
"After it rained, the firefighter was wearing a soggy uniform and holding a wilted rose."
A. rain
B. firefighter
C. uniform
D. rose

4. What is the subject of the following sentence:
"Tuesday is the day that I always eat raspberries."
A. Tuesday
B. Day
C. I
D. Raspberries

5. Which of the following words or group of words is the direct object of the following sentence:
"The nurse offered his patient some water."
A. The nurse
B. offered
C. his patient
D. some water

6. Which of the following words or group of words is the indirect object of the following sentence:
"The nurse offered his patient some water."
A. The nurse
B. offered
C. his patient
D. some water

7. Which of the following is an intransitive verb:
A. give
B. eat
C. sleep
D. buy

8. Which word or group of words in the following sentence is an object complement?
"He considered the yellow banana delicious."
A. He
B. yellow
C. banana
D. delicious

9. What is the grammatical form of the following group of words:
at, of, on, in, under, because of, around, by, to
A. pronouns
B. prepositions
C. participles
D. predicates

10. What is the function of the phrase, "Through the open window," in the following sentence:
"Through the open window, she could see some attractive grammatical structures."
A. Adverbial
B. Adjectival
C. Verbal
D. Nominal

11. Which of the following words is an irregular verb?
A. aim
B. laugh
C. seem
D. fly

12. Which of the following words is a linking verb?
A. aim
B. laugh
C. seem
D. fly

13. Which of the following sentences contains an unclear pronoun?
A. "Juan felt that he should burst into song."
B. "Juan told Barry that he should burst into song."
C. "When Maria bakes cookies, they never taste good because she lets them stay too long in the oven."
D. "As Muhammad watched the traffic, it zipped by so fast that his passengers wondered if it would ever let them cross the street."

14. Which of the following is a subordinate clause?
A. While she ate raspberries
B. On Friday
C. To the moon
D. To buy a cottage in the country

15. Which of the following sentences is written in passive voice?
A. "We enjoy jogging through the park in the nude."
B. "Swimming in the nude is also enjoyable."
C. "A waterproof blue ribbon was given to a joyous manatee."
D. "My neighbor recently lost his jellybeans."