MMC2121: GRAMMAR EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Noun - ANSWER - a person, place, thing, or idea/concept
Ex) Fred, banker, street, Florida, orange, toy, love, freedom
Article - ANSWER - marks a noun. when you see an article, you know a noun is
near.
Ex) a, an, the
Verb - ANSWER - indicates action or being
Ex) drives, flies, walks, talks, has, was, were
Pronoun - ANSWER - substitutes for a noun
Ex) he, they, we, I, our, its
Antecedent - ANSWER - the word to which a pronoun points is its antecedent
(nearest noun)
- be careful of pronouns with unclear antecedents and avoid those with none.
Examples of antecedents - ANSWER - The car (antecedent) has its (pronoun)
original tires.
- Shirley's mother died when she was 33. (Antecedent of "she" is unclear.)
Adverb - ANSWER - modifies or quantifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb
- Many words ending in -ly are adverbs (though not all, such as "family")
Examples of adverbs - ANSWER - The very (adverb) rare (adjective) car has
black tires.
- well, really, now, stronger, always
Conjunction - ANSWER - joins two or more words, phrases or clauses
Ex) and, but, for, nor, so, while, yet
Preposition - ANSWER - starts a modifying phrase
Ex) at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to
Linking verb - ANSWER - indicates a state of being
- "to be" verbs (am, are, being, did, is, was, were)
,- become and seem, and depending on the context, feels, smells and sounds
Modifiers after ACTION verbs are - ANSWER adverbs
Modifiers after LINKING verbs are - ANSWER adjectives
Linking verb examples: - ANSWER - He felt bad.
- This is he.
- The music sounded good.
- She is good.
- She is doing well.
- His future seems bright.
Subjunctive mood - ANSWER Verbs in the subjunctive mood indicate something
contrary to the fact and require WERE instead of WAS.
Examples of subjunctive mood: - ANSWER - If I WERE president, students would
get free tickets. (I'm not the president)
- If I WAS rude, I apologize. (I may have been rude.)
Sentence (part one) - ANSWER - A COMPLETE sentence requires a subject and
a verb.
- The subject can be implied, which means a sentence could be a single word.
Examples of a COMPLETE sentence: - ANSWER - You rock.
- Halt! (Subject "you" is implied)
- Pam loves Jim.
- Dogs (subject) are (verb) popular pets.
Subject - ANSWER - identifies what the sentence is about
Ex) She (subject) placed the book on the table.
2 kinds of verbs: - ANSWER 1. action verb (action)
2. linking verb (state of being)
Example of an action verb: - ANSWER She placed (action verb) the book on the
table.
Example of action verb & linking verb: - ANSWER - Mariana sounded (action
verb) the alert wearily.
- Mariana sounded (linking verb) weary (adj.) when she issued the alert.
Object - ANSWER - receives action or thought
Ex) She placed the book (object) on the table.
Prepositional phrase - ANSWER - modifies something
, - has an OBJECT
Ex) She placed the book on the table. (Prepositional phrase; modifies "placed"
and has an object, "table")
Subject vs. Object - ANSWER - A subject and an object can both be nouns, but
they serve DIFFERENT purposes in a sentence.
Ex) The quart (subject) of strawberries is (agrees with QUART) on the table.
Common linking/action verbs: - ANSWER appear, become, feel, grow, look,
make, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste
More sentence examples of verbs: - ANSWER Mia felt (L.V.) bad (adj.) that she
played (A.V.) badly (adv.).
Don't use nouns as verbs! - ANSWER Wrong: Police tasered Andrew Meyer.
RIGHT: Police used a taser on Andrew Meyer.
Verb abuse example (one): - ANSWER Wrong: Mandy was suppose to meet us at
the library.
RIGHT: Mandy was supposed to meet us at the library.
Verb abuse example (two): - ANSWER Wrong: You should of seen the look on her
face.
RIGHT: You should have seen the look on her face.
Examples from module one quiz: - ANSWER President George W. Bush, who has
three brothers, is the eldest son of a former president who sounded (Linking
verb; a state of being) weary (adj.) in his last public experience.
Robert said he felt (L.V) bad (adj) that the peck (subject) genetically modified
tomatoes is (singular) still awaiting tests.
Sentence (part two) - ANSWER - can stand on its own
- an independent thought
Examples of a complete sentence: - ANSWER Right: Dogs are popular pets. (can
stand on its own)
Wrong: Because dogs are popular pets (sentence fragment; a prepositional
phrase cannot stand on its own)
Run-on - ANSWER - Two independent clauses without joining words cannot be
joined with a comma; otherwise, they create a run-on sentence.
Examples of a run-on sentence and how to fix it - ANSWER Wrong: She is gone,
let's celebrate! (use: period, semicolon or conjunction)
Right: She is gone. Let's party!
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Noun - ANSWER - a person, place, thing, or idea/concept
Ex) Fred, banker, street, Florida, orange, toy, love, freedom
Article - ANSWER - marks a noun. when you see an article, you know a noun is
near.
Ex) a, an, the
Verb - ANSWER - indicates action or being
Ex) drives, flies, walks, talks, has, was, were
Pronoun - ANSWER - substitutes for a noun
Ex) he, they, we, I, our, its
Antecedent - ANSWER - the word to which a pronoun points is its antecedent
(nearest noun)
- be careful of pronouns with unclear antecedents and avoid those with none.
Examples of antecedents - ANSWER - The car (antecedent) has its (pronoun)
original tires.
- Shirley's mother died when she was 33. (Antecedent of "she" is unclear.)
Adverb - ANSWER - modifies or quantifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb
- Many words ending in -ly are adverbs (though not all, such as "family")
Examples of adverbs - ANSWER - The very (adverb) rare (adjective) car has
black tires.
- well, really, now, stronger, always
Conjunction - ANSWER - joins two or more words, phrases or clauses
Ex) and, but, for, nor, so, while, yet
Preposition - ANSWER - starts a modifying phrase
Ex) at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to
Linking verb - ANSWER - indicates a state of being
- "to be" verbs (am, are, being, did, is, was, were)
,- become and seem, and depending on the context, feels, smells and sounds
Modifiers after ACTION verbs are - ANSWER adverbs
Modifiers after LINKING verbs are - ANSWER adjectives
Linking verb examples: - ANSWER - He felt bad.
- This is he.
- The music sounded good.
- She is good.
- She is doing well.
- His future seems bright.
Subjunctive mood - ANSWER Verbs in the subjunctive mood indicate something
contrary to the fact and require WERE instead of WAS.
Examples of subjunctive mood: - ANSWER - If I WERE president, students would
get free tickets. (I'm not the president)
- If I WAS rude, I apologize. (I may have been rude.)
Sentence (part one) - ANSWER - A COMPLETE sentence requires a subject and
a verb.
- The subject can be implied, which means a sentence could be a single word.
Examples of a COMPLETE sentence: - ANSWER - You rock.
- Halt! (Subject "you" is implied)
- Pam loves Jim.
- Dogs (subject) are (verb) popular pets.
Subject - ANSWER - identifies what the sentence is about
Ex) She (subject) placed the book on the table.
2 kinds of verbs: - ANSWER 1. action verb (action)
2. linking verb (state of being)
Example of an action verb: - ANSWER She placed (action verb) the book on the
table.
Example of action verb & linking verb: - ANSWER - Mariana sounded (action
verb) the alert wearily.
- Mariana sounded (linking verb) weary (adj.) when she issued the alert.
Object - ANSWER - receives action or thought
Ex) She placed the book (object) on the table.
Prepositional phrase - ANSWER - modifies something
, - has an OBJECT
Ex) She placed the book on the table. (Prepositional phrase; modifies "placed"
and has an object, "table")
Subject vs. Object - ANSWER - A subject and an object can both be nouns, but
they serve DIFFERENT purposes in a sentence.
Ex) The quart (subject) of strawberries is (agrees with QUART) on the table.
Common linking/action verbs: - ANSWER appear, become, feel, grow, look,
make, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste
More sentence examples of verbs: - ANSWER Mia felt (L.V.) bad (adj.) that she
played (A.V.) badly (adv.).
Don't use nouns as verbs! - ANSWER Wrong: Police tasered Andrew Meyer.
RIGHT: Police used a taser on Andrew Meyer.
Verb abuse example (one): - ANSWER Wrong: Mandy was suppose to meet us at
the library.
RIGHT: Mandy was supposed to meet us at the library.
Verb abuse example (two): - ANSWER Wrong: You should of seen the look on her
face.
RIGHT: You should have seen the look on her face.
Examples from module one quiz: - ANSWER President George W. Bush, who has
three brothers, is the eldest son of a former president who sounded (Linking
verb; a state of being) weary (adj.) in his last public experience.
Robert said he felt (L.V) bad (adj) that the peck (subject) genetically modified
tomatoes is (singular) still awaiting tests.
Sentence (part two) - ANSWER - can stand on its own
- an independent thought
Examples of a complete sentence: - ANSWER Right: Dogs are popular pets. (can
stand on its own)
Wrong: Because dogs are popular pets (sentence fragment; a prepositional
phrase cannot stand on its own)
Run-on - ANSWER - Two independent clauses without joining words cannot be
joined with a comma; otherwise, they create a run-on sentence.
Examples of a run-on sentence and how to fix it - ANSWER Wrong: She is gone,
let's celebrate! (use: period, semicolon or conjunction)
Right: She is gone. Let's party!
