US English Sentence Structure MCQs
US English Sentence Structure MCQs
These US English Sentence Structure multiple-choice questions and their answers will help you strengthen your grip on the subject of US English Sentence Structure. You can prepare for an upcoming exam or job interview with these 70+ US English Sentence Structure MCQs.
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1: Analyze the following sentence, and then choose the correct statement from the options below. Her boyfriend and she strolled leisurely on the beach and admired the sand castles left behind by local children
A. This sentence contains a compound subject and a subject complement.
B. This sentence does not contain a direct object or an adverb.
C. This sentence contains a compound subject and a compound predicate.
Identify the type and function of the underlined clause in the following sentence.
I didn't lie to my mother; I merely participated in a campaign of misinformation that was started by my brother.
A. Adjective clause modifying
B. Noun clause acting as object
C. Adverb clause modifying
3: Complete the following sentence by choosing the adverb clause from the options below. ____ the bride leaned over and whispered to me that she was having second thoughts.
A. As the groom was slipping the ring on her finger,
B. Her eyes wild and her face pale,
C. I thought it was strange when
D. A bit flustered,
4: Which of the following statements about absolute phrases is false?
A. An absolute phrase is made up of a noun or pronoun, a participle, and any modifiers of the noun or pronoun.
B. An absolute phrase contains a subject but not a predicate, and serves to modify an entire sentence.
C. An absolute phrase can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence and is always set off by commas.
D. b and c
E. None of the statements are false.
5: How would the following sentence be categorized? Because Joe is a tennis instructor, some of our weekend guests expected him to give free lessons, while others simply pestered him for free advice.
A. A complex sentence
B. A compound-complex sentence
C. A simple sentence
D. A compound sentence
6: Identify the type of phrase underlined in the following sentence. The police stood guard over the smoking ruins of the town, their senses alert to any sign of looters.
A. Participial phrase
B. Absolute phrase
C. Appositive phrase
D. Gerund phrase
7: Which of the following statements about phrases is false?
A. Noun phrases can act as subjects, direct or indirect objects, subject or object complements, and objects of a preposition.
B. Participial phrases always act as adjectives.
C. Infinitive phrases can act as adjectives, adverbs, and nouns.
D. Gerund phrases always act as nouns.
E. None of the above statements is false.
8: Choose the phrase that best completes the following sentence. Coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions are all types of ______________________ that are used to connect ideas and aid coherence within and between sentences.
A. Subjects
B. Connecting and transitional words
C. Adjectives
D. Dependent clauses
9: Identify the type and function of the underlined phrase in the following sentence. Trying to sell that lemon of a car has become a lesson in futility.
A. Participial phrase modifying
B. Gerund phrase acting as the subject
C. Noun phrase acting as the subject
D. This is not a phrase; it's an adjective clause.
10: Identify, in order as they appear, the types of phrases underlined in the following sentence. To hear Martha tell it, living with her in-laws is a complete nightmare.
A. Infinitive phrase, gerund phrase
B. Participial phrase, noun phrase
C. Infinitive phrase, participial phrase
D. Appositive phrase, noun phrase
11: Everybody on that soccer team should ask himself a few important questions and set his own goals before the season begins.
A. Indefinite pronoun, possessive pronoun, personal pronoun, interrogative pronoun
B. Indefinite pronoun, demonstrative pronoun, reflexive pronoun, possessive pronoun
C. Relative pronoun, demonstrative pronoun, possessive pronoun, reflexive pronoun
12: Identify, in order as they appear, the types of modifiers underlined in the following sentence. My neighbor, a tall man with knobby knees, had a bad habit of chasing his dog as the dog chased the cat, resulting in a rather ridiculous display of circular motion.
A. Appositive phrase, prepositional phrase, adverb clause, adverb, adjective
B. Absolute phrase, prepositional phrase, appositive phrase, adjective, adjective
C. Appositive phrase, adverb phrase, absolute phrase, adverb, adjective
13: Choose the phrase that best completes the sentence below. Dependent, or subordinate, clauses ____
A. may or may not be able to stand alone as complete sentences, depending on how they are used
B. can stand alone as complete sentences
C. cannot stand alone as complete sentences
14: Identify the type and function of the underlined modifier in the following sentence. After a whole day of careening around on that bumpy road beside the railroad tracks, I can barely keep my hands and knees from shaking.
A. Prepositional phrase modifying
B. Appositive phrase modifying
C. Participial phrase modifying
D. Prepositional phrase modifying
15: How would the following sentence be categorized? Being an algebra teacher with a penchant for numerical complexities, I love to decipher challenging equations after my morning shower and before going to bed.
A. A compound sentence
B. A complex sentence
C. A simple sentence
D. A compound-complex sentence
16: Choose the series of phrases that best completes the following sentence. A __________ comes at the beginning of ______ and establishes the relationship between that clause and the rest of the sentence.
A. dependent clause, an independent clause
B. conjunctive adverb, an independent clause
C. subordinating conjunction, a dependent clause
D. coordinating conjunction, a dependent clause
17: Identify the function of the underlined noun phrase in the following sentence. At long last, the silent and snowy road led us to our snug home in the mountains.
A. Subject
B. Indirect object
C. Subject complement
D. Object complement
18: Identify the function of the underlined noun phrase in the following sentence. The committee gave our marketing department an award for excellence.
A. Direct object
B. Subject complement
C. Indirect object
D. Object complement
19: The underlined phrase in the following sentence is a misplaced modifier. Analyze the sentence, and then identify the type of modifier error it contains. The girl who bought the pearl earrings recently went to Paris for the fashion shows.
A. Misplaced modifier: the word, phrase, or clause does not clearly relate to the word it is intended to modify
B. Dangling modifier: the word or phrase (commonly a participle) modifies a word that either does not appear in the sentence or is placed too far away from the modifier
C. Squinting modifier: the ambiguous modifier (usually an adverb) appears to qualify the words both before and after it
20: Identify, in order as they appear, the types of phrases underlined in the following sentence. Before Ms. Allman became head of plastics for the toy company, she was a cosmetic surgeon.
A. Absolute phrase, participial phrase
B. Infinitive phrase, gerund phrase
C. Prepositional phrase, noun phrase
D. Appositive phrase, noun phrase
21: Choose the phrase that best completes the sentence below. A complex sentence contains _______
A. a compound subject and two independent clauses
B. two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses
C. one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
D. two or more independent clauses
22: Complete the following sentence by choosing the adverb clause from the options below. I have deep respect and admiration for Texas rattlesnakes, ______
A. those slithery little rascals
B. as long as they stay in Texas
C. but I wouldn't want to meet one face to face
A. intransitive verb, subject complement, linking verb, object complement
B. linking verb, subject complement, transitive verb, direct object
C. transitive verb, object complement, transitive verb, indirect object
24: Identify the type and function of the underlined clause in the following sentence. Charles, who is insufferably immature for his age, is only interested in trivial subjects and stupid jokes.
A. Noun clause acting as predicate nominative
B. Noun clause acting as subject
C. Adjective clause modifying
25: Identify the type and function of the underlined clause in the following sentence. That is the town where George Sand and Frederic Chopin spent their winter in Mallorca.
A. Adverb clause answering the question
B. Noun clause acting as object
C. Adverb clause answering the question
D. Adjective clause modifying
26: Identify, in order as they appear, the underlined parts of the sentence below. I saw the cat creeping out of the bag.
A. predicate, indirect object, object complement
B. simple predicate, direct object, subject complement
C. indirect object, simple subject, predicate
D. simple predicate, direct object, object complement
27: Identify the type and function of the underlined clause in the following sentence. Unless you plan on leaving with a black eye, I suggest you stop taunting Judith.
A. Adjective clause modifying
B. Noun clause acting as subject
C. Adverb clause expressing condition
28: The underlined phrase in the following sentence is a misplaced modifier. Analyze the sentence, and then identify the type of modifier error it contains. After being tossed on the barbecue, Malcolm thought the shrimp tasted much better.
A. Misplaced modifier: the word, phrase, or clause does not clearly relate to the word it is intended to modify
B. Dangling modifier: the word or phrase (commonly a participle) modifies a word that either does not appear in the sentence or is placed too far away from its modifier
C. Squinting modifier: the ambiguous modifier (usually an adverb) appears to qualify the words both before and after it
29: Which of the following statements about subject-verb agreement is false?
A. Depending on the context of the sentence, pronouns like none, enough, more, most, some, or all can agree with either singular verbs or plural verbs.
B. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.
C. The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb.
D. Collective nouns like jury, gang, committee, and class are singular when considered as groups and plural when considered as individuals acting within the whole.
E. None of these statements is false.
30: Identify the indirect object in the following sentence. Will you make the children some play clothes out of those old drapes, please?
A. the children
B. you
C. some play clothes
D. Will you make
31: Which of the following sentences illustrate(s) correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?
A. Everybody here must try their best to win the foot race.
B. When a person shows up late for work, he or she should be reprimanded.
C. The representatives of the press, who were annoyed by the president's remarks, have packed up their cameras and gone home.
D. Wilma never answers the phone after midnight, as it makes her nervous to do so.
E. All of the above use correct pronoun-antecedent agreement.
32: Identify the simple subject in the following sentence. Here, then, is the crux of the matter.
A. Here
B. matter
C. crux
D. crux of the matter
33: Identify the type and function of the underlined phrase in the following sentence. After gathering nectar and cleaning up the hive, the bees took a well-deserved break.
A. Prepositional phrase acting as an adverb
B. Noun phrase acting as the subject
C. Participial phrase modifying
D. This is not a phrase; it's an adverb clause.
34: Identify the type of phrase underlined in the following sentence. The cat ran herself ragged chasing that cricket around the yard all day.
A. Prepositional phrase
B. Appositive phrase
C. Infinitive phrase
D. Noun phrase
35: Identify the subject in the following sentence. Sitting in a tree at the top of the garden was a huge bluebird with long, yellow tail feathers.
A. Sitting in a tree at the top of the garden was a huge bluebird with long, yellow tail feathers
B. Sitting in a tree at the top of the garden
C. a huge bluebird with long, yellow tail feathers
D. was
36: Identify the type and function of the underlined modifier in the following sentence. Dazed and disheveled, her brow furrowed with anxiety, Helen emerged from the mountain cave.
A. Participial phrase modifying
B. Absolute phrase modifying the sentence as a whole
C. Appositive phrase modifying
D. Infinitive phrase modifying
37: Identify the subject in the following sentence. Because of the abundant use of insecticides and pesticides in the world today, my embarrassing dandruff problem has improved considerably.
A. my embarrassing dandruff problem
B. the abundant use of insecticides and pesticides
C. has improved considerably
D. the world today
38: Choose the phrase that best completes the following sentence. The principle of ______ states that, in proper sentence structure, singular subjects must take singular verbs and plural subjects must take plural verbs.
A. Parallel structure
B. Pronoun-antecedent agreement
C. Subject-verb agreement
D. Compound sentences
Identify the underlined part of the sentence below.
Even though the stinging cold isn't exactly what I would wish for in a climate, I intend to spend a good three years of my life at the North Pole.
A. Adjective clause
B. Noun clause
C. Adverb clause
40: The following sentence contains an appositive phrase. Analyze the sentence, and then choose the correct statement from the options below. Their bird, an affectionate but mischievous white cockatoo, routinely toured the neighborhood on a skateboard.
A. In this sentence, the appositive phrase is also a noun phrase.
B. An appositive phrase, which is always set off by commas, renames and amplifies the noun that immediately precedes it.
C. An appositive phrase does not directly connect to or modify any specific word in a sentence; instead, it modifies and adds information to the entire sentence.
D. In this sentence, the appositive phrase is also an infinitive phrase.
E. a and b
41: Identify the type and function of the underlined phrase in the following sentence. For more than eight years, Waldo has been trying to worm his way into our secret society.
A. Participial phrase acting as an indirect object
B. Infinitive phrase acting as a direct object
C. Prepositional phrase acting as a direct object
D. Infinitive phrase acting as the subject
42: How would the following sentence be categorized? Mr. Dillon met with his new employees and tried to instill in them the drive to succeed that had characterized his sales teams in the past.
A. A run-on sentence
B. A complex sentence
C. A compound-complex sentence
D. A compound sentence
43: Analyze the following sentence, and then choose the correct statement from the options below. My husband was worried that the kids were staying up too late every night.
A. This sentence has one independent clause and one dependent clause.
B. This sentence has two dependent clauses.
C. This sentence has two independent clauses.
Identify the type and function of the underlined clause in the following sentence.
Alexandra turned and sprinted down the driveway because she could not tolerate Jude's presence even one second longer.
A. Noun clause acting as object
B. Adverb clause answering the question
C. Adjective clause modifying
D. Adverb clause answering the question
45: Identify, in order as they appear, the underlined parts of the sentence below. She was a lawyer before she became a full-time belly-dancing instructor.
A. linking verb, subject complement, linking verb, subject complement
B. intransitive verb, subject complement, linking verb, object complement
C. transitive verb, object complement, transitive verb, object complement
46: Choose from the parallel phrases that best complete the following sentence. Imagine my _______________ when the man I admire most in the world told me that my ideas were _______________ .
A. surprise and how chagrined I was; boring, childish, and ignorant
B. surprise and how chagrined I was; boring, childish, and showed how ignorant I was
C. surprise and chagrin; boring, childish, and ignorant
47: Identify the predicate in the following sentence. The image of my wife working quietly in her studio overwhelms me with a contented sense of peace and coziness that is difficult to fully express.
A. The image of my wife working quietly in her studio
B. overwhelms me
C. overwhelms me with a contented sense of peace and coziness that is difficult to fully express.
D. The image of my wife
E. that is difficult to fully express.
48: Identify, in order as they appear, the types of modifiers underlined in the following sentence. Hands clasped in my lap, I would sit for hours and watch that silly pigeon as he nestled on my windowsill and stared at me silently.
A. Appositive phrase, adjective, participial phrase, adverb
B. Participial phrase, adverb,prepositional phrase, adjective
C. Absolute phrase, adjective, prepositional phrase, adverb
D. Absolute phrase, adjective, infinitive phrase, adjective
49: Identify, in order as they appear, the underlined parts of the sentence below. That small box contains only the tiniest parts of the remote-controlled airplane.
A. Article, subject, main verb, preposition, direct object, conjunction, object of a preposition
B. Adverb, simple subject, predicate, adjective, noun, article, noun 0
C. Adjective, simple subject, simple predicate, adverb, direct object, preposition, object of a preposition
D. Adjective, direct object, main verb, adverb, subject, preposition, indirect object
50: Identify the type and function of the underlined phrase in the following sentence. Fido, perplexed by his inability to catch his own tail, looked at us quizzically and harrumphed.
A. Infinitive phrase modifying
B. Noun phrase acting as the subject
C. Participial phrase modifying
D. Participial phrase modifying
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US English Sentence Structure MCQs
