English Language

Sentence Improvement

821 Questions
All Tense and Time Sequence 181 Verb-Governed Prepositions 145 Lexical Confusables 75 Subject-Verb Agreement 59 Modifiers 48 Determiners and Quantifiers 47 Infinitive vs. Gerund 47 Correlative and Paired Conjunctions 35 Conditional Sentences 30 Pronoun Case and Agreement 24 Redundancy 24 Parallel Structure 20 Question Tags 10 Reported Speech 8

Sentence Improvement Questions

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

The popular theory that modern man came out of Africa has thrown into doubt by the discovery of a 3,50,000 year old skull from China.

  1. have thrown

  2. has been thrown

  3. had been thrown

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Case of passive voice. A sentence of past indefinite, when changed into passive voice, thas the form: has/have + been + third form of the verb. Now, the noun 'theory' is singular, so 'has been thrown'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

The old woman would return with a beaming countenance the next day and reported that her husband had recovered.

  1. returns

  2. returned

  3. has returned

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Error of sentence formation. As per the rules if one clause of a sentence is in the past indefinite, the other clause must also be in the same tense. So, 'returned' in the subordinate clause needs to be preceded by 'returned'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

That all cancers are not incurable and even the terminally ill may be able to live the rest of their lives in peace and relative comfort is seldom understood.

  1. The fact that all cancers

  2. The fact all cancers

  3. The fact every cancer

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Error of sentence formation (Modifier usage). Modifier is missing, and from the available options, option 1 is the best choice.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

She looked askance at the tablet and asked if it has been all that was to be given to a dying man to make him well.

  1. is

  2. was

  3. had been

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Error of sentence formation. If the principal clause of a sentence is in the past tense, the subordinate clause must also be in the same tense. Hence, 'asked' should be followed by 'was'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

Pitching the camp on top of the mountain took five times as long as it would have taken in a place where there was enough air to breathe.

  1. five times as long it would take

  2. five times as long as it takes

  3. five times as long as it would take

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence is correct as given.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

In spite of various attempts to brighten the lives of workers, the average man in a factory is rather to pity than envy.

  1. to be pitied than envied

  2. to be pitied than envy

  3. to be pity than envied

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Case of passive voice. This option 1 seems to be correct.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

At night, most climbers took their gloves off, but I prefer to keep them on.

  1. take their gloves off

  2. took their gloves of

  3. had taken their gloved off

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Error of sentence formation. Verb 'prefer' in the sentence shows that the sentence is in the present indefinite tense.  So, 'took off' should be replaced by 'take off'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

The extraordinary ability of satellites to see, listen and communicate have made them an integral part of the modern warfare.

  1. were made them

  2. has made them

  3. have been made them

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Error of subject-verb agreement. Here the subject (i.e. the extraordinary ability of the satellites) is a singular noun, and must be followed by a singular auxilary verb. Thus, option 2.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

This is the first time in my memory that the river has overflown the banks.

  1. has been over flown

  2. has overflowed

  3. has overflowing

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Error of vocabulary usage. Rivers always 'flow', they never 'fly'. 'Flown' is the third form of fly, while 'flowed' is the third form of flow. Thus, option 2.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

They decided to arrange a grand party on the eve of her retirement, especially, as she had been working for the firm since almost twenty years.

  1. almost twenty years since

  2. for almost twenty years

  3. almost twenty years ago

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Error of prepositional usage. To refer a 'period of time' we use preposition 'for'. 'Since' is used to refer to a specific point of time.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

Israel has been turning the search for water into a science so advanced that it has been surpassing even biblical miracles.

  1. it surpasses

  2. it had surpassed

  3. it has been surpassing

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Case of present tense. Double usage of continuity form is avoided. Hence, option 1.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

At last the two climbers were getting the tent up and crawled in.

  1. got

  2. has gotten

  3. get

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Case of sentence formation in past indefinite tense. Second form of the verb is to be used. Hence, option 1.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

After his retirement from the Presidency College, Bose founded the great institute which now bear his name.

  1. which now bears his name

  2. which now has born his name

  3. which now has borne his name

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Error of subject-verb agreement. Here, pronoun 'which' qualifies to the mentioned college. It being a singular noun, usage of singular auxilary is required. Hence, 'bear' should be replaced by 'bears'. Thus, option 1.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

It is an established fact that the consumption of alcohol be discouraged as it has been the cause of ruin in many families.

  1. should discourage

  2. should have discouraged

  3. should be discouraged

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

When we wish or desire something, we use 'should be'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases (1), (2) and (3) should replace the underlined phrase to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (4) as your answer.

His duties were to teach design to the architectural students and also developing new courses for them.

  1. to develop

  2. to developing

  3. to have developed

  4. No improvement needed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Error of parallelism. 'To teach' in the antecedant needs to be followed by 'to develop' in the subsequent clause.