Grammar Review No. 1

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1. _____ students enrolled this year than last year at my university.
   1) A few more
   2) Less of the
   3) A few of
   4) Less
   Answer 1
   hint Is "student" a countable noun or an uncountable noun? This compares the enrollment between last year and this year.
2. "Who has been planning the dance?"
   "Everyone in the class _____."
   1) is
   2) has
   3) have
   4) are
   Answer 2
   hint Is "everyone" singular or plural? Pay attention to the tense of the verb in the question.
3. "You and Mary seem to be getting along well."
   "Yes, I _____ her better than before."
   1) liked
   2) am liking
   3) like
   4) have liked
   Answer 3
   hint The speaker is comparing the current feeling with that in the past.
4. "Ellen is a wonderful singer."
   "She _____ since she was four."
   1) has been singing
   2) was singing
   3) is singing
   4) has been sung
   Answer 1
   hint Ellen started singing when she was four, and she is still singing.
5. "Nancy's grades are really bad."
   "Yes, but Tom's are _____."
   1) bad
   2) badder
   3) worse
   4) so worse
   Answer 3
   hint Tom's grades are really, really bad. Which of these choices are ungrammatical?
6. "I can't find my wallet."
   "_____ it at home?"
   1) You must leave
   2) Might you have left
   3) Maybe you leave
   4) You might left
   Answer 2
   hint Why does this sentence have a question mark at the end?
7. "What was your impression of last night's movie?"
   "_____ speaking, I thought it was rather boring."
   1) Very
   2) Really
   3) Honest
   4) Honestly
   Answer 4
   hint The speaker is telling the truth. What modifies the verb?
8. "All the students went to the magic show yesterday."
   "I heard it was really _____."
   1) amusingly
   2) amuse
   3) amusing
   4) amused
   Answer 3
   hint The verb of this sentence is "was". The word in the blank is modified with "really", an adverb.
9. We insisted _____ by the president.
   1) to see
   2) on being seen
   3) on seeing
   4) to be seen
   Answer 2
   hint Which preposition does "insist" take?
10. "Could you help me a while?"
    "Sure. Tell me what _____ me to do."
    1) want
    2) you do want
    3) do you want
    4) you want
    Answer 4
    hint The second speaker does not know what the first speaker is expecting.
11. You don't hear _____ news about that accident.
    1) many
    2) a lot
    3) much
    4) much of
    Answer 3
    hint Is "news" a countable or uncountable noun?
12. "Are you sure that you don't want to eat out tonight?"
    "I can't. I have _____ to do tonight."
    1) too many homeworks
    2) much too much homework
    3) too much homeworks
    4) much too many homeworks
    Answer 2
    hint Is "homework" a countable or uncountable noun, and what modifies each?
13. "What would you like to drink?"
    "I'll have _____, please."
    1) a little tea
    2) a tea cup
    3) a cup tea
    4) a tea
    Answer 1
    hint The speaker wants tea. Is "tea" a countable or uncountable noun? Which of these choices are not grammatical?
14. Ancient _____ were simple.
    1) message systems
    2) messages systems
    3) message-systems
    4) messages-systems
    Answer 1
    hint Systems is a noun, modified by message(s).
15. _____ man, woman, and child in the US should wear a seat belt.
    1) All
    2) Each of
    3) No
    4) Every
    Answer 4
    hint This means that all people in the US must wear a seat belt. Are "man", "woman", and "child" singular or plural?
16. Some people in the village are planning to climb the moun- tains to rescue injured people, but _____ are staying home.
    1) most of people
    2) many of a number
    3) many of them
    4) the most people
    Answer 3
    hint This means that, while some of the people are helping with the rescue, more are staying home.
17. I need _____ to finish the chair.
    1) one more wood
    2) much woods
    3) many woods
    4) a piece of wood
    Answer 4
    hint What are the meanings of "wood" and "woods"? How do you count "wood"?
18. In the past, we needed _____ than today.
    1) less mathematics
    2) less mathematic
    3) fewer mathematics
    4) fewer mathematic
    Answer 1
    hint Which is correct, mathematics or mathematic? Is it a countable or uncountable noun?
19. There is _____ of money left to share.
    1) a small number
    2) a little number
    3) a small amount
    4) a few amount
    Answer 3
    hint Is money a countable or uncountable noun? Which is used to modify a countable noun and an uncountable noun, "a few" or "a little"?
20. There is _____ ink in the bottle.
    1) few
    2) little
    3) such a few
    4) such a little
    Answer 2
    hint This has a rather negative meaning. Which is used to modify a countable noun and an uncountable noun, "few" or "little"?
21. "The refrigerator is really empty."
    "Yes, all the food _____ eaten."
    1) is been
    2) has been
    3) have been
    4) been
    Answer 2
    hint Is "food" a countable or uncountable noun? Can you use "been" alone or with "is"?
22. "Why did you change your major from economics to literature?"
    "Because economics _____ as interesting to me as literature."
    1) doesn't
    2) are
    3) isn't
    4) aren't
    Answer 3
    hint The speaker likes literature better than economics. Is "economics" singular or plural?
23. Abraham Lincoln taught _____ to read at a young age.
    1) him
    2) her
    3) itself
    4) himself
    Answer 4
    hint This means that Abraham Lincoln did not have a teacher to teach him to read.
24. Each person in the game has to show what _____ to the audience.
    1) he/she has
    2) he/she have
    3) she have
    4) they has
    Answer 1
    hint Pay attention to the combination of pronouns and "has" or "have".
25. That child is old enough to take care of _____.
    1) him
    2) them
    3) himself
    4) themselves
    Answer 3
    hint This means that nobody needs to take care of that child. Should the pronoun here be singular or plural?