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 proper use of articles articles english

Choose the option that best corrects the sentence:


The Europe has many lakes and castles.

  1. Europe has many the lakes and castles.

  2. An Europe has many lakes and castles.

  3. Europe has many lakes and castles.

  4. NO CHANGE
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation
'An/A' is used as an indefinite article for a thing or person when the reader doesn't know which one we are referring to out of many nouns. It states the random nature of the subject.
'The' is used as a definite article for a thing or person when the reader knows which one we are exactly referring to. It states the specific nature of the subject.
We don't use articles in front of names. Thus in the given sentence 'the Europe' needs to be changed. But in option A 'the lakes' is wrong. Similarly in option B 'an Europe' is also wrong. Thus option C is correct.
Multiple choice proper use of articles articles english

Choose the option that best corrects the sentence:


After he turned eighteen, he left the home to seek his fortune.

  1. NO CHANGE

  2. After he turned eighteen, he left a home to seek his fortune.

  3. After he turned eighteen, he left an home to seek his fortune.

  4. After he turned eighteen, he left home to seek his fortune.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

In some common expressions to do with place and time, generally countable nouns act like uncountable nouns and the article is omitted. 'Home' is where the speaker resides hence it does not need to be specified and the article is not used here. 'The' needs to be removed from the sentence hence option A is incorrect. Option D is correct as the sentence in the option has omitted the article 'the'. Options B and C include articles (a, an) used for non-specific nouns, 'home' is not a non-specific noun because it belongs to the speaker. Since we know that the home was his home, we can't use any of these articles, they're both incorrect.

Multiple choice proper use of articles articles english

Choose the option that best corrects the sentence:


Mrs Trent became an headmistress of the school last year.

  1. Mrs Trent became a headmistress of the school last year.

  2. Mrs Trent became the headmistress of the school last year.

  3. Mrs Trent became headmistress of the school last year.

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

A predicate noun is a noun that provides more information about the subject of the sentence, here 'headmistress' is a predicate noun for the subject "Mrs Trent". The article is omitted before predicate nouns that denote a unique position, there can be only one headmistress in a school. Hence the article is omitted from the sentence and option D is incorrect. Option C is the correct option as there's no article before 'headmistress'. Options A and B are incorrect because the article (a, the) is to be omitted from the statement.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is an example of a performative utterance?

  1. I promise to be home by midnight.

  2. The sky is blue.

  3. What time is it?

  4. I think it's going to rain.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A performative utterance is a statement that, when uttered, performs an action. In the example given, the speaker is performing the action of promising to be home by midnight.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is an example of a deictic expression?

  1. The book is on the table.

  2. I'm going to the store.

  3. It's raining outside.

  4. I'm hungry.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

A deictic expression is a word or phrase that refers to something in the context of the utterance. In the example given, the speaker is referring to the store that they are going to.

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the telescope.

  2. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  3. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the telescope." is syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the telescope" can modify either the verb "saw" or the noun "woman". This ambiguity can be disambiguated by adding a comma after the word "woman", which makes it clear that the prepositional phrase modifies the verb "saw".

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is not syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  2. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  3. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the telescope.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the glasses." is not syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the glasses" can only modify the noun "woman". This is because the verb "saw" does not take a prepositional phrase as a complement.

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  2. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  3. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the telescope.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the binoculars." is syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the binoculars" can modify either the verb "saw" or the noun "woman". This ambiguity can be disambiguated by adding a comma after the word "woman", which makes it clear that the prepositional phrase modifies the verb "saw".

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is not syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  2. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.

  3. The man saw the woman with the telescope.

  4. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the sunglasses." is not syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the sunglasses" can only modify the noun "woman". This is because the verb "saw" does not take a prepositional phrase as a complement.

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the telescope.

  2. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  3. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the telescope." is syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the telescope" can modify either the verb "saw" or the noun "woman". This ambiguity can be disambiguated by adding a comma after the word "woman", which makes it clear that the prepositional phrase modifies the verb "saw".

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is not syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  2. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  3. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the telescope.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the glasses." is not syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the glasses" can only modify the noun "woman". This is because the verb "saw" does not take a prepositional phrase as a complement.

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  2. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  3. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the telescope.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the binoculars." is syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the binoculars" can modify either the verb "saw" or the noun "woman". This ambiguity can be disambiguated by adding a comma after the word "woman", which makes it clear that the prepositional phrase modifies the verb "saw".

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is not syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  2. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.

  3. The man saw the woman with the telescope.

  4. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the sunglasses." is not syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the sunglasses" can only modify the noun "woman". This is because the verb "saw" does not take a prepositional phrase as a complement.

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the telescope.

  2. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  3. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the telescope." is syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the telescope" can modify either the verb "saw" or the noun "woman". This ambiguity can be disambiguated by adding a comma after the word "woman", which makes it clear that the prepositional phrase modifies the verb "saw".

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences is not syntactically ambiguous?

  1. The man saw the woman with the binoculars.

  2. The man saw the woman with the glasses.

  3. The man saw the woman with the sunglasses.

  4. The man saw the woman with the telescope.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence "The man saw the woman with the glasses." is not syntactically ambiguous because the prepositional phrase "with the glasses" can only modify the noun "woman". This is because the verb "saw" does not take a prepositional phrase as a complement.