Comprehension Grammar and Usage — Practice

Question 1

Fill in the blank with the correct verb: The box of chocolates ___ on the table, untouched since morning.
(a) is (b) are (c) were (d) have been

Accepted Answer

(a) is.

The subject is 'box' (singular); 'of chocolates' is an intervening phrase. A singular subject takes 'is', so (a) is correct. (b), (c) and (d) wrongly agree with 'chocolates'.

Question 2

Fill in the blank: Neither the manager nor the workers ___ informed of the sudden change in shift.
(a) were (b) was (c) is (d) has been

Accepted Answer

(a) were.

With 'neither… nor…', the verb agrees with the nearer subject, 'workers', which is plural — so 'were'. (b), (c) and (d) are singular and wrongly agree with 'manager'.

Question 3

Fill in the blank: Each of the students ___ submitted the assignment before the deadline.
(a) has (b) have (c) were (d) are

Accepted Answer

(a) has.

'Each' is singular and governs the verb regardless of the plural 'students' that follows, so it takes 'has'. (b), (c) and (d) are plural and incorrect.

Question 4

Which sentence is grammatically correct?
(a) Walking to school, I was caught in the sudden rain. (b) Walking to school, the rain began to fall. (c) Walking to school, the rain caught me by surprise. (d) Walking to school, it started to pour heavily

Accepted Answer

(a) Walking to school, I was caught in the sudden rain.

The opening phrase 'Walking to school' must describe the subject that follows the comma. Only in (a) is that subject 'I', the one actually walking. In (b), (c) and (d) the phrase dangles onto 'the rain' or 'it', which cannot walk.

Question 5

Which sentence is grammatically correct?
(a) She enjoys reading, swimming, and cycling. (b) She enjoys reading, to swim, and cycling. (c) She enjoys to read, swimming, and to cycle. (d) She enjoys reading, swim, and cycling

Accepted Answer

(a) She enjoys reading, swimming, and cycling.

Items in a series must share one grammatical form; (a) uses three '-ing' forms. (b), (c) and (d) mix gerunds with infinitives or bare verbs and break parallelism.

Question 6

Which version is free of ambiguous pronoun reference?
(a) When Ravi met Sam, Ravi was nervous. (b) When Ravi met Sam, he was nervous. (c) He was nervous when Ravi met Sam. (d) When he met Sam, he was nervous

Accepted Answer

(a) When Ravi met Sam, Ravi was nervous.

By naming Ravi, (a) makes the reference unambiguous. In (b), (c) and (d), 'he' could point to either Ravi or Sam, leaving the sentence unclear.

Question 7

Fill in the blank with the correct preposition: The new model is markedly different ___ the one it replaced.
(a) from (b) than (c) to (d) with

Accepted Answer

(a) from.

Standard usage is 'different from'. (b) 'different than' is widely regarded as incorrect in formal English, and (c) and (d) are not idiomatic with 'different'.

Question 8

Which sentence is grammatically correct?
(a) She said that she was feeling tired and wanted to rest. (b) She said that she is feeling tired and wanted to rest. (c) She said that she was feeling tired and wants to rest. (d) She said that she is feeling tired and wants to rest

Accepted Answer

(a) She said that she was feeling tired and wanted to rest.

After the past-tense 'said', reported speech shifts back a step and stays consistent — 'was feeling' and 'wanted'. (b) and (c) mix present with past, and (d) fails to shift back at all.

Practice — Comprehension Grammar and Usage

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