Grammar MCQs

Correct Answer: TO MY CALLING

'Object to' takes a gerund: 'do not object to my calling them by their first names.'

Correct Answer: USED TO TRADE

'Used to' + base verb expresses a past habit: they used to trade goods.

Correct Answer: AS HIGH AS

The idiom for a maximum price is 'as high as'.

Correct Answer: IF A

'If a small specimen ... is removed, it is possible to determine ...' is the correct conditional form.

Correct Answer: I will be employed by the university

The scholarship condition states a future outcome: after finishing the degree, the holder will be employed by the university.

Correct Answer: CONTRIBUTES - STIMULATING

'Everyone contributes' (singular verb) and the mechanism stimulates employees.

Correct Answer: SURFACE - DEVELOPS

Problems surface (plural subject) and, once dealt with, productivity develops.

Correct Answer: THE CINEMA IS

In an embedded question the word order is statement order: 'where the cinema is'.

Correct Answer: A FEW

'A few' (a small number, but some) fits 'we weren't completely alone'; 'few' alone would mean almost none.

Correct Answer: Had bought

After 'wished' for a past regret, the past perfect is used: she wished she had bought the new car.

Correct Answer: As, as

The comparison of equality uses 'as ... as': not as populated as it was.

Correct Answer: So

'So' gives the result: not feeling well, so deciding not to go.

Correct Answer: Rang

The past continuous 'was having' pairs with the past simple 'rang' for the interrupting event.

Correct Answer: To submit

'Too late to submit' uses the infinitive after 'too'.

Correct Answer: Some

In a polite request, 'some' is used with an uncountable noun: 'some rice'.

Correct Answer: Think

The reply to 'are we going in the right way?' is 'I think so.'

Correct Answer: A letter was written by him

Past-simple active 'He wrote a letter' becomes past-simple passive 'A letter was written by him'; the tense must stay past, so the present-tense option D is wrong.

Correct Answer: goes

With third-person singular 'she' in the habitual present, the verb takes -s: she goes.

Correct Answer: at

The fixed collocation is 'good at' a subject or activity.

Correct Answer: an

'Honest' begins with a silent 'h', so its first sound is a vowel sound and it takes 'an'.

Correct Answer: She said that she was happy.

In reported speech the reporting verb is past, so present 'am' backshifts to 'was' and the pronoun changes to 'she'.

Correct Answer: are

With 'neither ... nor', the verb agrees with the nearer subject: 'his friends' is plural, so 'are'.

Correct Answer: working

After 'have been', the present-perfect-continuous form requires the -ing form: have been working.

Correct Answer: He is senior to me.

'Senior' is a comparative adjective of Latin origin and takes 'to', not 'than'; 'more senior' is also incorrect because the comparative is already built into the word.

Correct Answer: Almost none

In this proverb 'little' means hardly any: a small, incomplete amount of knowledge is dangerous.

Correct Answer: will have finished

'By this time tomorrow' points to an action completed before a future point, which requires the future perfect: will have finished.

Correct Answer: on

The fixed collocation is 'depend on' someone or something.

Correct Answer: The news is shocking.

'News' is a singular uncountable noun despite its -s ending, so it takes a singular verb: the news is.

Correct Answer: Criteria

Criterion is a Greek noun; its plural is criteria (the -on to -a pattern, as in phenomenon/phenomena).

Correct Answer: He said that he would go the next day.

In reported speech 'will' backshifts to 'would' and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day'.

Correct Answer: me

After the preposition 'between', the object pronoun is required: between you and me.

Correct Answer: of

The fixed collocation is 'accused of' an offence.

Correct Answer: was

'Each' is singular, so the verb is singular: each ... was given a prize, regardless of the plural 'boys' in the phrase.

Correct Answer: yet

The second clause contrasts with the first (studying hard but failing), so the contrastive conjunction 'yet' is required.

Correct Answer: saw

After 'since' with a point in the past, the past simple is used: since I saw her.

Correct Answer: Phenomena

Phenomenon is a Greek noun; its plural is phenomena (the -on to -a pattern, as in criterion/criteria).

Correct Answer: is

'Neither of' takes a singular verb in standard formal usage: neither of the answers is correct.

Correct Answer: to

The fixed collocation is 'prefer ... to ...', not 'prefer than'.

Correct Answer: Does Ahsan play football?

The correct answer is Does Ahsan play football?, as asked in this question on Grammar.

Correct Answer: She is Fatima Jinnah of society.

When a proper noun (like Fatima Jinnah) is used metaphorically to describe someone's qualities, the article "the" is usually omitted; hence "She is Fatima Jinnah of society" is correct.

Correct Answer: He is a family man.

The correct sentence is "He is a family man." The subject "He" requires the singular verb "is," and "man" is the correct singular noun to use here.

Correct Answer: The harder the work, the greater the reward.

The correct sentence uses the comparative structure "the + comparative adjective... the + comparative adjective," making "The harder the work, the greater the reward" grammatically correct.

Correct Answer: by

'Get by' means to manage or survive with the resources available.

Correct Answer: with

The idiom is 'fed up with', meaning tired or annoyed by something.

Correct Answer: to

The correct construction is 'lead to'.

Correct Answer: Noun clause

A clause beginning with 'why' acting as the object of a verb is a noun clause.

Correct Answer: Mice

The irregular plural of mouse is mice.

Correct Answer: No sooner had I reached than

The correct correlative conjunction for 'no sooner' is 'than'.

Correct Answer: Noun clause

The phrase functions as a noun within a larger sentence structure.

Correct Answer: I said to my sibling 'Do you want to go?'

Correct direct speech punctuation and inquiry format.

Correct Answer: Preposition

Words describing direction, like 'down' in 'flow down', act as prepositions.

Correct Answer: me

After 'let', the objective pronoun 'me' is used instead of the subjective pronoun 'I'.

Correct Answer: Has

The correct answer is Has, as asked in this question on Grammar.

Correct Answer: Walking down the street, I noticed the trees swaying in the wind.

The opening phrase 'Walking down the street' must modify the subject of the main clause. Only option B supplies 'I' as the walker; in the other options the trees or the wind are left 'walking', a dangling modifier.

Correct Answer: These are the best restaurants in town, but those are too expensive.

Subject-verb agreement: plural 'these' requires 'are'. Options B and C mix singular and plural forms, and D changes the meaning to a single restaurant.

Correct Answer: 2

The correct answer is 2, as asked in this question on Grammar.

Correct Answer: Hardly had she entered the room when the light went out.

The correct answer is Hardly had she entered the room when the light went out., as asked in this question on Grammar.

Correct Answer: I

The subject of a sentence is the person or thing performing the action. In this sentence, 'I' is the subject.

Correct Answer: Stops

In future time clauses, the present simple tense is used after 'when'.

Correct Answer: Why didn't you go?

The standard structure for a wh-question in English is interrogative word + auxiliary + subject + verb.

Correct Answer: was

The phrase 'Many a man' takes a singular verb.

Correct Answer: Away

'Away' is typically an adverb, while behind, under, and in front can function as prepositions.

Correct Answer: She smiled when she saw her friend

A complex sentence contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause; 'She smiled' (independent) joined by 'when she saw her friend' (dependent).

Correct Answer: Adverb

In many contexts, 'alike' functions as an adverb meaning in the same way or manner.

Correct Answer: Off

'Put off' is a phrasal verb meaning to postpone or delay.

Correct Answer: To

The correct preposition is 'to' when indicating the object or subject to which a preface is written.

Correct Answer: Preposition

In this context, 'like' functions as a preposition indicating similarity.

Correct Answer: Of

The standard preposition used with the adjective 'envious' is 'of'.

Correct Answer: To

The adjective 'irrelevant' is followed by the preposition 'to'.

Correct Answer: Arrived

Past simple 'arrived' is used to interrupt a past continuous action 'was waiting'.

Correct Answer: for

The phrase 'do for' means to serve the purpose of something.

Correct Answer: in

We sit 'in' the shade, as one is surrounded by it.

Correct Answer: Behind

One hides 'behind' a curtain to remain out of sight.

Correct Answer: by

One is happy 'by' or 'at' a treatment; in this context, 'by' explains the cause of their happiness.

Correct Answer: gave up

The use of 'last year' requires the simple past tense, so 'gave up' is correct.

Correct Answer: at

The idiomatic preposition used with 'good' when referring to skills is 'at'.

Correct Answer: Let us play nicely here.

The correct construction for a suggestion is 'Let us [verb] [adverb] [location]'.

Correct Answer: of

The verb 'accused' is idiomatically followed by the preposition 'of'.

Correct Answer: to

The adjective 'allergic' is followed by the preposition 'to'.

Correct Answer: at

The verb 'arrived' is followed by 'at' for specific locations.

Correct Answer: by

In this context, 'by' is used to denote parentage.

Correct Answer: Emphatic

The use of 'do' before 'wrong' and 'do not show' serves to provide emphasis.

Correct Answer: to

The verb 'belong' is always followed by the preposition 'to'.

Correct Answer: Preposition

In this context, 'down' is a preposition showing the relationship of movement between the cat and the stairs.

Correct Answer: Therefore

'Therefore' is a conjunctive adverb used to show a logical cause-and-effect relationship between the heavy rain and the cancellation of the match.

Correct Answer: Both sisters are in ninth class.

This sentence follows correct English grammar rules by using 'Both' as a determiner correctly before the plural subject.

Correct Answer: For

In standard English usage, the verb 'discussed' is often followed by 'the issue' directly, but in the context of prepositional choices provided, 'for' is the closest fit to complete the sense of debating or analyzing a topic.

Correct Answer: upon

The word 'sprang' indicates a sudden physical movement, and 'upon' is the appropriate preposition to describe an attack or jumping motion onto something.

Correct Answer: out of, into

'Out of' is the correct preposition for exiting a space, and 'into' denotes movement from outside to inside a container like a swimming pool.

Correct Answer: Both

The context implies requesting two distinct pieces of information, so 'both' is used to connect two nouns.

Correct Answer: Dare

The verb 'dare' fits logically in the sentence to imply the boldness required to ask for a raise.

Correct Answer: hers

The possessive pronoun 'hers' is correctly used here to represent 'her turn'.

Correct Answer: a

The article 'a' is used before words that begin with a consonant sound, and 'one' starts with a 'w' sound.

Correct Answer: Gerund

A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun within a sentence.

Correct Answer: My aunt, who lives in Karachi, is a doctor.

Non-restrictive relative clauses, like 'who lives in Karachi', must be enclosed in commas to properly set off the additional information.

Correct Answer: Preposition

'Along' is a preposition here, indicating movement in a constant direction on a path.

Correct Answer: Predicate

A complete sentence contains a subject and a predicate, which describes the action or state of the subject.

Correct Answer: Correlative conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions, such as 'not only... but also', function in pairs to join words or phrases of equal importance.

Correct Answer: Pronoun

'Our' is a possessive pronoun/determiner used to indicate ownership.

Correct Answer: Two Clause

A compound sentence consists of at least two independent clauses joined by a conjunction.