English Language

English Grammar and Usage

2,780 Questions

English grammar and usage questions test fundamental sentence structure, correct verb forms, and accurate syntax. Topics include identifying grammatical errors, filling blanks with appropriate verbs, and changing narration. These are essential for the English language sections of competitive exams.

Verb FormsSentence CorrectionTense IdentificationNarration ChangeRelative PronounsSyntactic Productivity

English Grammar and Usage Questions

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Choose the option that best corrects the sentence:


He walked as far as the next town almost before he turned back.

  1. He walked almost as far as the next town before he turned back.

  2. He almost walked as far as the next town before he turned back.

  3. He walked as far as the next town before he almost turned back.

  4. NO CHANGE
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In the given sentence, almost is the adverb of degree. It is modifying adjective 'as far as' given in the sentence. It should be placed before adjective. Thus, option A is the correct answer.

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Choose the option that best corrects the sentence:


He stopped only for lunch on his way to his parents' place.

  1. He stopped for only lunch on his way to his parents' place.

  2. He stopped for lunch only on his way to his parents' place.

  3. He only stopped for lunch on his way to his parents' place.

  4. NO CHANGE
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The correct answer is Option C because the adverb "only" is always placed before the verb that it modifies. Here, the adverb "only" modifies the verb "stopped" and hence, it is placed just before the verb in the sentence.

Options A and B are wrong because they do not have the correct placement of "only." 
Option D is wrong because the original sentence is incorrect and needs to be changed.

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Choose the option that best corrects the sentence at the underlined point:


Such clothes are seldom or ever worn by the people of the town.

  1. NO CHANGE

  2. seldom never

  3. seldom or never

  4. seldom ever
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is Option C.
The sentence means to say that 'particular clothes are either worn sometimes (seldom) or never worn. There are two options and options are separated by the conjunction 'or'.
Therefore, Option C is the correct option.
Seldom never and seldom ever (option B and C) are grammatically incorrect as two options are not separated by or.
Hence Option C is the correct answer.
Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Choose the option that best corrects the sentence:


He lived in only one house while he was growing up.

  1. NO CHANGE

  2. He lived in one house only while he was growing up.

  3. He lived in one only house while he was growing up.

  4. He only lived in one house while he was growing up.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A,D Correct answer
Explanation

As a rule, the word 'only' is always placed as close as possible to the word it is intended to modify. Hence, the correct answer is A and D.

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Identify the word which the adverb modifies:

The movie is quite interesting.

  1. quite

  2. movie

  3. interesting

  4. is
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and sometimes other adverbs in a sentence.
In this sentence, The adverb, 'quite' is modifying the adjective 'interesting'. It states the extent to which the movie was interesting. Hence, Option C is correct.
Option A is incorrect as 'quite' is the adverb itself.
Option B is incorrect as 'movie' is a noun. Adverbs don't modify nouns.
Option D is incorrect as 'is' is the auxiliary verb which is not being modified by the adverb in this sentence.

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Identify the word which the adverb modifies:

She is running very fast.

  1. is running

  2. very

  3. fast

  4. she
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and sometimes other adverbs in a sentence.
In this sentence, the adverb 'very' modifies the adverb 'fast'. 'Very' tries to measure the speed at which she is running. Hence, Option C is correct.
Option A is incorrect because the verb 'is running' is not being modified by the adverb 'very' in this sentence.
Option B is incorrect as the adverb 'very' acts as the modifier in this sentence.
Option D is incorrect as adverbs don't modify pronouns.

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Identify the word which the adverb modifies:

She has almost finished her work.

  1. finished

  2. work

  3. she

  4. her
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and sometimes other adverbs in a sentence.
In this sentence, the adverb 'almost' modifies the verb 'finished'. It hints at time states that she is about to finish her work. So, Option A is correct.
Option B is incorrect as 'work' is a noun. Adverbs don't modify nouns.
Option C is incorrect as 'she' is a pronoun. Adverbs don't modify pronouns.
Option D is incorrect as 'her' is a possessive adjective which is not being modified by the adverb in this sentence.

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Identify the word which the adverb modifies:

The water was extremely cold.

  1. water

  2. cold

  3. extremely

  4. was
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and sometimes other adverbs in a sentence.
In this sentence, The adverb, 'extremely' is modifying the adjective 'cold'. It states to what extent the water was cold. Hence, Option B is correct.
Option A is incorrect as 'water' is a noun. Adverbs don't modify nouns.
Option C is incorrect as 'extremely' is the adverb itself.
Option D is incorrect as 'was' is an auxiliary verb which is not being modified by the adverb in this sentence.

Multiple choice position of adverbs adverb english

Identify the word which the adverb modifies:

This story is well written.

  1. well

  2. written

  3. story

  4. NO word
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and sometimes other adverbs in a sentence.
In this sentence, the verb 'written' is modified by the adverb 'well'. It shows the manner in which something is written. Hence, Option B is correct.
Option A is incorrect as 'well' is the modifying adverb in this sentence.
Option C is incorrect as adverbs don't modify nouns.
Option D is obviously incorrect.

Multiple choice colon punctuation english

Choose the correct sentence of the given, in terms of the usage of 'colon'.

  1. In the rainy night, his eyes could focus only one thing the light house.

  2. In the rainy night, his eyes could focus only one thing: the light house.

  3. In the rainy night, his eyes: could focus only one thing the light house.

  4. None of these.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
According to general rule, a colon can be used to connect two independent clauses that are closely related or, when one illustrates or explains the other.
Thus, the correct answer is Option B.
The remaining options are incorrect.
Option A does not include a colon which is necessary for a pause between the clauses.
Option C does not distinct the clauses in the sentence.
Multiple choice colon punctuation english

Maya wrote "It is stormy at this time of the year."

Choose the option that best corrects the underlined word.

  1. wrote.

  2. wrote:

  3. wrote;

  4. NO CHANGE
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
The given sentence consists of two independent clauses. Quotation marks can be either preceded by a comma or a colon. However, in the case of independent clause, a colon must be opted for. Thus, the correct answer will be Option B.
The other options are not valid to be used before a quotation mark.
Multiple choice colon punctuation english

Choose the option that best corrects the underlined word.

Early dawn, clear mornings and cool weather; these were the things Eric enjoyed on his early morning runs.

  1. weather,

  2. weather:

  3. weather ...

  4. NO CHANGE
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
The given sentence gives a list of items that Eric enjoyed on his early morning runs. A colon is used to introduce an item or list of items in a sentence. Thus, a colon should be used in the sentence in place of the semi colon. 
Option A - A comma is used before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses.
Option C - An ellipsis is used to represent a trailing off thought.
Option D - The use of semi colon is incorrect. A semi colon is used between two independent clauses when the coordinating conjunction is omitted.
Thus, the correct answer is Option B.
Multiple choice impersonal pronouns pronoun english

Identify the impersonal pronoun in the below sentence:

Raj walked his way to office everyday and he says it helped his fitness.

  1. Raj

  2. he

  3. it

  4. his
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Impersonal pronouns are used when we want to refer to people in general, to things, unspecified objects or animals. 'It' is the most commonly used impersonal pronoun. There are several situations where we can use 'it'. In this sentence, 'it' is used to refer to a preceding statement, 'Raj walked his way to office everyday'. Hence, Option C is correct since here 'it' is referring to him walking to office everyday. Raj is a proper noun because it is the name of a person. Thereby, Option A is incorrect. 'He' is a pronoun used to refer to a man or boy previously mentioned. Hence, Option B is incorrect. 'His' is used to as a connecting word or to show belonging. Hence, Option D is incorrect.

Multiple choice impersonal pronouns pronoun english

Identify the kind of pronoun used in the sentence:
It is very cold today.

  1. Personal pronoun

  2. Impersonal pronoun

  3. Interrogative pronoun

  4. Possessive pronoun
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The pronoun in the sentence is ‘It’. It is an impersonal pronoun that is used to denote an inanimate object/thing. Thus option B is correct. Whereas a personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. Since ‘It’ is the pronoun used and as 'it' doesn’t refer to a person option A is incorrect. On the other hand, interrogative pronouns that are used for asking questions, for example, ‘what’, ‘who’ and ‘which’. Thus option C is incorrect. Similarly, option D is unsuitable because possessive pronouns are used to talk about things that belong to people. The words ‘mine’, ‘yours’, ‘his’ ‘her’ etc are examples of possessive pronouns. Thus option D is incorrect.

Multiple choice impersonal pronouns pronoun english

Replace the underlined noun with the appropriate pronoun.

Jim used a spade to dig the garden. The spade was heavy.

  1. It

  2. He

  3. She

  4. Who
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A pronoun takes the place of a noun in a sentence. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. While an impersonal pronoun is commonly used to speak about inanimate objects/things. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. In the given sentence the noun is a ‘spade’ therefore ‘it’ would be the apt answer. Thus option D is correct. On the other hand, ‘he’ and ‘she’ cannot be used since ‘spade’ is not a person. Thus options A and B are incorrect. ‘Who’ is an interrogative pronoun that is used to for asking questions. Since the sentence doesn’t pose a question, option C is incorrect.