GRAMMAR
FOR TOEFL
TYPES OF QUESTIONS, SENTENCES WITH ONE CLAUSE,
PROBLEMS WITH SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT, PRACTICE
CONTENTS
TABLE OF
01 TYPES
OF QUESTIONS
02 SENTENCES
WITH ONE CLAUSE
03 PROBLEMS WITH SUBJECT-
VERB AGREEMENT
04 TOEFL
PRACTICE
TYPES OF
QUESTIONS
01
Types of Questions
Structures and Written Expressions are tested on the second section and it
consists of 40 questions in total. There are two types of questions.
Structures Written expressions
15 questions 25 questions
Fill-in-the-blank type Error recognition type
_______ at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
The religion attempts to clarify man’s
A. Waters boils
A B C
B. The water boils
relationship with a superhuman power
C. Water boils
D. Waters boil D
SENTENCES
WITH ONE
CLAUSE
02
Clause
Every sentence has at least ONE SUBJECT
and ONE VERB. This is considered to be
the most common problem in the TOEFL
test. Possible errors regarding the subject
and verb are:
▪ Missing subject
___________ want to pass TOEFL.
▪ Missing verb
The roads ______________ quite busy
tonight.
▪ Double subject/verb
The president, who sent the troops in
1987, he escaped to a remote land in
the south.
Identify the subject and verb of the
following sentences.
1. A number of students were missing from class.
2. Both tigers and elephants are becoming extinct.
3. It was the president who agreed on the deal.
4. She wishes she had a bigger house.
5. The man said that he will work late tonight.
Identify the error of the following
sentences.
1. Everything in this house for sale. _____
2. Last week went fishing for trout at the nearby lake. ____
3. Yesterday was out of town to meet his family. ____
4. The picture I saw it displays a happy family. ____
5. The cupboard is costs $50 each. ____
PROBLEMS WITH
SUBJECT-VERB
AGREEMENT
03
Subject-Verb
agreement (SVA)
In English sentences, you have to
make sure if the subject is singular,
then the verb should be in singular
form as well, and if the subject is
plural, then the verb should be in
plural form.
▪ The car runs very fast.
▪ The cars run very fast.
Problem 1. Make verb agree
after prepositional phrase
When a prepositional phrase comes between
the subject and the verb, be sure that the verb
agrees with the subject.
For example:
• The key to the doors is in the drawer.
• The keys to the door are in the drawer.
Decide if the following sentences are correct
or incorrect. Circle the prepositional phrase.
1. The buildings destroyed by the fire are being rebuilt at the taxpayers’
expense. _______
2. The tenants in the apartment next to mine is giving a party this
evening. _______
3. Any houses built in that development before 1970 have to be upgraded
to meet current standard. ______
4. Further development of any new ideas for future products has to be
approved in advance. ______
5. Manufacture of the items that you requested have been discontinued
because of lack of profit. _______
Problem 2. Make verbs agree
after expressions of quantity
When an expression of quantity (all, most, some,
half) is the subject, the subject can be singular or
plural depending on what follows the preposition
“of”.
For example:
• All of the book was interesting. (Singular)
• All of the books were interesting. (Plural)
• All of the information was interesting.
(Uncountable Noun)
Decide if the following sentences are correct
or incorrect. Circle the prepositional phrase.
1. She didn’t know where most of the people in the room was from.
_______
2. All of the students in Professor Robert’s class is required to turn in their
paper next Monday. _______
3. I was sure that all of the questions on the test were correct. ______
4. We believe that some of the time of the employees is going to be
devoted to quality control. ______
5. In spite of what was decided at the meeting, half of the procedures
were not changed. _______
Problem 3. Make verbs agree
after certain words
Certain words in English are always grammatically
singular, even though they might have plural
meanings.
These words or expressions are grammatically singular
each
anybody everybody nobody somebody
(+noun)
every
anyone everyone no one someone
(+noun)
anything everything nothing something
Decide if the following sentences are correct
or incorrect. Circle the prepositional phrase.
1. It is nice to believe that anything is possible if a person tries hard
enough. _______
2. Anybody who goes to the top of the Empire State Building is impressed
with the view. _______
3. Every man, woman and child in this line are required to sign the forms.
______
4. The company reiterated to reporters that nobody have been dismissed
because of the incident. ______
5. Because of the low number of orders, nothing has to be done now.
_______
TOEFL
PRACTICE
04
TOEFL Practice: Part A
2. Each of the radioisotopes produced
1. Cupid, one of the ancient Roman gods, ___.
artificially ___ its own distinct structure.
A. Were a little winged child
A. Have
B. Representing as a little winged child
B. Has
C. Was represented as a little winged child
C. Having
D. A little winged child
D. Have had
3. ____ heated by solar energy have special 4. One problem with all languages ____
collections on the roofs to trap sunlight. they are full of irregularities.
A. A home is A. When
B. Homes are B. So
C. A home C. Is that
D. Homes D. In case
TOEFL Practice: Part B
Choose the letter of the underlined word or group of words that is not correct.
1. Scientists at the medical center is trying to determine if there is a relationship between saccharine and cancer.
A B C D
2. More than half of the children in the 1,365 member district qualifies for reduced-price of free lunches.
A B C D
3. The great digital advances of the electronic age, such as integrated circuitry and a microcomputer, has been planted in tiny
A B C D
chips.
4. Kepler’s laws, principles outlining planetary movement, was formulated based on observations made without a telescope.
A B C D
5. There are many frequently mentioned reasons why one out of four arrests involve a juvenile.
A B C D
6. The Zoning Improvement Plan, better known as zip codes, enable postal clerks to speed the routing of an ever-increasing
A B C D
volume of mail.
THANK YOU
AND LET’S
DISCUSS