English Language

English Grammar and Usage

1,563 Questions

English grammar and usage form a critical component of language sections in competitive exams. This hub provides practice with fill in the blanks, prepositions, and appropriate word selection. Strong grammar skills are necessary to score well in verbal ability tests.

Fill in the blanksPrepositions usageConjunctions selectionSentence correction

English Grammar and Usage Questions

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 19?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Long, long ago, when humans _______(17)______ the world, they used to live in groups. These forms of early groups are what we call tribes.
The members of a tribe hunted together, fought together, ate together, and slept together _____(18)_____ caves or primitive dwellings owned by the tribe.
The food brought in by the hunters or farmers _____(19)______ to the entire tribe, and cooking was done in common.
This was the time when there _______(20)______ still no families, as you know families today.

  1. had reached

  2. demanded

  3. belonged

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

The meaning that is to be conveyed is that the food brought was for all the tribe people. Therefore, (3) is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 17?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Long, long ago, when humans _______(17)______ the world, they used to live in groups. These forms of early groups are what we call tribes.
The members of a tribe hunted together, fought together, ate together, and slept together _____(18)_____ caves or primitive dwellings owned by the tribe.
The food brought in by the hunters or farmers _____(19)______ to the entire tribe, and cooking was done in common.
This was the time when there _______(20)______ still no families, as you know families today.

  1. was first seen

  2. had first seen

  3. had first saw

  4. have first seen
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

'Humans' is plural and the reference being made is in past tense. Therefore, 'had first seen' is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 18?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Long, long ago, when humans _______(17)______ the world, they used to live in groups. These forms of early groups are what we call tribes.
The members of a tribe hunted together, fought together, ate together, and slept together _____(18)_____ caves or primitive dwellings owned by the tribe.
The food brought in by the hunters or farmers _____(19)______ to the entire tribe, and cooking was done in common.
This was the time when there _______(20)______ still no families, as you know families today.

  1. inside

  2. under

  3. beneath

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

The members of the tribe slept in the cave. Therefore, (1) is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Which of the following could replace 'trap in' as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.

The rolling waves of lush (1) green grass stretching from Montana to Mexico is the home (2) to prairie dogs. They are actually very big scquirals (3) that live together in large numbers. They live in holes in the ground, and connect the holes to each other by tunnels. Such tunnels connect all ground holes in a prairie dog town with each other. Prairie dogs are very conservative (4) and defensive. Before letting any other prairie dog into their homes, they hug and kiss each other to make sure that it (5) is family! Each prairie dog family has its own hole in the ground and they really are proper homes. Each has separate entry and exit tunnels and rooms for the family to stay. Each home has a special hole dug (6) near the bottom of the ceiling. These special holes trap in (7) pockets of air, if water floods the holes. They trap enough air for the family to keep on (8) breathing until the water goes down.

  1. expel

  2. capture

  3. catch

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

To be trapped means to be captured or stuck. Therefore, the correct option is (2).

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 17?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Fire ____(17)_____ things hot by adding heat, and that raises temperature.
You _______(18)______ a fire with its hissing tongues of orange flame.
When something gets too hot and its temperature rises more than it can take, it bursts into hot flames and _____(19)_____ to burn.

Fire is _____(20)_____ than sunlight and it quickly heats up anything it touches.

  1. made

  2. makes

  3. will make

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

Fire (singular) makes things hot.

Multiple choice

Which of the following could replace 'keep on' as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.

The rolling waves of lush (1) green grass stretching from Montana to Mexico is the home (2) to prairie dogs. They are actually very big scquirals (3) that live together in large numbers. They live in holes in the ground, and connect the holes to each other by tunnels. Such tunnels connect all ground holes in a prairie dog town with each other. Prairie dogs are very conservative (4) and defensive. Before letting any other prairie dog into their homes, they hug and kiss each other to make sure that it (5) is family! Each prairie dog family has its own hole in the ground and they really are proper homes. Each has separate entry and exit tunnels and rooms for the family to stay. Each home has a special hole dug (6) near the bottom of the ceiling. These special holes trap in (7) pockets of air, if water floods the holes. They trap enough air for the family to keep on (8) breathing until the water goes down.

  1. stay

  2. continue

  3. achieve

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

Keep on means to keep something or continuing.

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 20?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Fire ____(17)_____ things hot by adding heat, and that raises temperature.
You _______(18)______ a fire with its hissing tongues of orange flame.
When something gets too hot and its temperature rises more than it can take, it bursts into hot flames and _____(19)_____ to burn.

Fire is _____(20)_____ than sunlight and it quickly heats up anything it touches.

  1. much hotter

  2. more hot

  3. much hot

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

Much indicates the intensity of heat. More hot is incorrect. The correct comparative is hotter.

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 17?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Christopher Columbus ______(17)______ by many to be the first European explorer to find the continents of America.
Columbus was actually looking for a sea route to Asia from Spain, when he _____(18)______ land in the Caribbean Islands.
He and his people named the Caribbean Islands as West Indies. They thought that they _____(19)_____ the western part of India.

In the United States, the second Monday of October is a colourful holiday, called Columbus Day, in _______(20)______ Christopher Columbus.

  1. was thought

  2. is taken

  3. will be assumed

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

The sentence here wants to convey the meaning that man7 believe that Columbus was the  first European explorer to find the continents of America. Therefore, (2) is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 19?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Christopher Columbus ______(17)______ by many to be the first European explorer to find the continents of America.
Columbus was actually looking for a sea route to Asia from Spain, when he _____(18)______ land in the Caribbean Islands.
He and his people named the Caribbean Islands as West Indies. They thought that they _____(19)_____ the western part of India.

In the United States, the second Monday of October is a colourful holiday, called Columbus Day, in _______(20)______ Christopher Columbus.

  1. reached

  2. will reach

  3. had reached

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

Both the events (thought and reached) are in past tense. But reaching occurred before 'thought'. An event that occurs before another event in the past is expressed in past perfect tense (had).

Multiple choice

Which of these fits gap 20?

Directions: Complete this passage by selecting the most suitable option for the corresponding gap.
Christopher Columbus ______(17)______ by many to be the first European explorer to find the continents of America.
Columbus was actually looking for a sea route to Asia from Spain, when he _____(18)______ land in the Caribbean Islands.
He and his people named the Caribbean Islands as West Indies. They thought that they _____(19)_____ the western part of India.

In the United States, the second Monday of October is a colourful holiday, called Columbus Day, in _______(20)______ Christopher Columbus.

  1. respect to

  2. honour of

  3. memories with

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

This holiday is celebrated in honour of Christopher Columbus.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the opposite in meaning to ‘fallen’ as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.

It was October. The pink-white leaves of the flowering dogwood covered (1) the entire yard. The clumps (2) of glossy red fruits, peaping (3) from gaps between its leaves, made the tree look like a giant sundae. A flock of bluebirds flying over the town’s sky couldn’t resist (4) the temptation and nosedived for the tree. The tree looked washed (5) in pink, white and red, with busy blue dots moving all over. The bluebirds were back again. The little six inch birds ate grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars. But, the fruits of the flowering dogwood surely (6) topped their list of favourites. Their numbers had fallen (7) recently, and may be the starlings and sparrows were giving them a hard time to find nests. But everybody in the town started putting out nesting boxes - and that seems to have worked pretty well (8). The bluebirds have returned to the town.

  1. stood up

  2. increased

  3. moved

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

Fallen here is related to decrease and the only option that is opposite to it is ‘increased’.

Multiple choice

Which of the following could replace 'covered' as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.

It was October. The pink-white leaves of the flowering dogwood covered (1) the entire yard. The clumps (2) of glossy red fruits, peaping (3) from gaps between its leaves, made the tree look like a giant sundae. A flock of bluebirds flying over the town’s sky couldn’t resist (4) the temptation and nosedived for the tree. The tree looked washed (5) in pink, white and red, with busy blue dots moving all over. The bluebirds were back again. The little six inch birds ate grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars. But, the fruits of the flowering dogwood surely (6) topped their list of favourites. Their numbers had fallen (7) recently, and may be the starlings and sparrows were giving them a hard time to find nests. But everybody in the town started putting out nesting boxes - and that seems to have worked pretty well (8). The bluebirds have returned to the town.

  1. enclosed

  2. exposed

  3. layered

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

'Covered' means completely formed a layer of the leaves, such that the surface beneath the leaves was not visible. Therefore, covered means layered in this case.

Multiple choice

Which of the following could replace 'clumps' as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.

It was October. The pink-white leaves of the flowering dogwood covered (1) the entire yard. The clumps (2) of glossy red fruits, peaping (3) from gaps between its leaves, made the tree look like a giant sundae. A flock of bluebirds flying over the town’s sky couldn’t resist (4) the temptation and nosedived for the tree. The tree looked washed (5) in pink, white and red, with busy blue dots moving all over. The bluebirds were back again. The little six inch birds ate grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars. But, the fruits of the flowering dogwood surely (6) topped their list of favourites. Their numbers had fallen (7) recently, and may be the starlings and sparrows were giving them a hard time to find nests. But everybody in the town started putting out nesting boxes - and that seems to have worked pretty well (8). The bluebirds have returned to the town.

  1. chunks

  2. crowd

  3. bunches

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

A collection of fruits is being talked about. Therefore bunches of the glossy red fruits is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Which of the following could replace ‘pretty well’ as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.

It was October. The pink-white leaves of the flowering dogwood covered (1) the entire yard. The clumps (2) of glossy red fruits, peaping (3) from gaps between its leaves, made the tree look like a giant sundae. A flock of bluebirds flying over the town’s sky couldn’t resist (4) the temptation and nosedived for the tree. The tree looked washed (5) in pink, white and red, with busy blue dots moving all over. The bluebirds were back again. The little six inch birds ate grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars. But, the fruits of the flowering dogwood surely (6) topped their list of favourites. Their numbers had fallen (7) recently, and may be the starlings and sparrows were giving them a hard time to find nests. But everybody in the town started putting out nesting boxes - and that seems to have worked pretty well (8). The bluebirds have returned to the town.

  1. fictionally

  2. practically

  3. unknowingly

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

‘Pretty well’ here means effectively or efficiently. Therefore, the correct option is ‘practically’, which is similar in meaning.

Multiple choice

Which of the following could replace 'washed' as used in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable option according to the corresponding number in the passage.

It was October. The pink-white leaves of the flowering dogwood covered (1) the entire yard. The clumps (2) of glossy red fruits, peaping (3) from gaps between its leaves, made the tree look like a giant sundae. A flock of bluebirds flying over the town’s sky couldn’t resist (4) the temptation and nosedived for the tree. The tree looked washed (5) in pink, white and red, with busy blue dots moving all over. The bluebirds were back again. The little six inch birds ate grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars. But, the fruits of the flowering dogwood surely (6) topped their list of favourites. Their numbers had fallen (7) recently, and may be the starlings and sparrows were giving them a hard time to find nests. But everybody in the town started putting out nesting boxes - and that seems to have worked pretty well (8). The bluebirds have returned to the town.

  1. cleaned

  2. filled

  3. bathed

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

'Washed' means totally covered or bathed. So the tree looked totally bathed in pink, white and red.