TOEFL

Structure and written expression

 TENSE SIMPLE CONTINUOUS
Present Jane works as a secretary. Anna is working as a secretary
(permanent action, this is her while Diane is on maternity
job) leave.
(temporary job)
Present Perfect She has finished her breakfast. She has been working on this
(the focus is on the result) project for five days.
(progressive action)
 TENSE SIMPLE CONTINUOUS
Past He watched TV for two hours He was watching TV when I
and took a shower. phoned.
(the focus is on the result) (continuous action, focus on the
process)
Past Perfect He had finished his dinner He had been talking on the
when she arrived. phone for two hours when she
(the focus is on the result) arrived.
(continuous action, focus on the
process)
 TENSE SIMPLE CONTINUOUS
Future I will help you with those bags! John will be reading tonight.
(spontaneous, simple action) (continuous action)

Future Perfect By tomorrow morning, she will When he calls, she will have
have finished writing the essay. been reading the article for
(simple action, the focus is on two hours.
the result) (continuous action, focus on the
process)
 TENSE TIME EXPRESSIONS
Past Simple Ago
• Past actions Yesterday
• Finished events in Last… night, Friday
the past When
Past Continuous While
• An event in progress When
in the past As

Past perfect By the time…

• A finished action in Before…
the past done
before another one.
 TENSE TIME EXPRESSIONS
Present Simple Always, never, usually, sometimes,
• Routines often, rarely, seldom.
• Facts Every… week, month, year.
• Permanent Once a… day, week, month.
situations Twice a…
Three times a…
Everyday.
Present Now
Continuous Right now
• Activities At the moment
happening Today
at/around the This… week, month, year
time of speaking
 TENSE TIME EXPRESSIONS
Present Perfect Just
• An event in the Already
past that has a For/ since
result in the Ever/ never
present Yet
• Experiences
Future simple Tomorrow
• Plans Next… Sunday, week, month,
• Intentions
1.My cat ______ (drink) all the milk by the time we got home.
2.She ______ (think) about buying a new car because the one she has is old.
3.I ______ (do) my homework, so I can’t help you wash the dishes now.
4.He ______ (write) a lot of emails every day.
5.It’s almost 10 p.m. and we ______ (decided) what to eat yet.
Subjects and Adverb and
adjective clause
verbs connectors

Subject-verb Objects of
agreement preposition

Parallel
Appositives
structure

Common grammar mistakes

SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT

Remember that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree on

person and number
For example:
 The elevator works very well.
Singular singular

 The elevators work very well.

Plural plural
A common error in making subject-verb agreement is confusing a phrase with the
subject of the sentence. When you read, be careful to locate the true subject of the
sentence. Subject and verbs are underlined in the following examples:
 One of the boys is missing.
 The paintings by Pedro Reiss are bold and commanding.
 The president, along with three members of his Cabinet, is returning to Washington
today.
Sometimes it is very difficult to decide exactly what the subject is if the
subject and verb are separated.

 Several theories on this subject have been proposed.

Plural subject plural verb

 The view of these disciplines varies from time to time

Singular subject singular verb

 The danger of forest fire is not to be taken lightly

Singular subject singular verb

 The effects of that crime are likely to be devastating.

Plural subject plural verb
The following expressions also have no effect on the verb:
Together with
Along with
Accompanied by
As well as

The actress, along with her manager and some friends, is going to a party tonight.
Singular subject singular verb

Mr. Robbins, accompanied by his wife and children, is arriving tonight.

Singular subject singular verb
Choose the correct form of the verb in the following sentences:

1. John, along with twenty friends, (is/are) planning a party.

2. The picture of soldiers (bring/brings) back many memories.
3. The quality of these recordings (is/are) not very good.
4. The effects of cigarette smoking (have/has) been proven to be extremely harmful.
5. Mr. Jones, accompanied by several members of the committee, (have/has) proposed
some changes of the rules.
6. The levels of intoxication (vary/varies) from subject to subject.
 PRONOUN SUBJECTS
Pronouns are misused often in speech and writing. Some pronouns are always singular, whereas others are
always plural. A few can be either singular or plural.
■ Each, either, neither, anybody, anyone, everybody, everyone, no one, nobody, one, somebody, someone are singular
pronouns that agree with singular verbs.
Everyone wants to win the lottery.
Each of the managers wants her own phone line.
■ Both, few, many, and several are plural pronouns and agree with plural verbs.
Both of her ex-boyfriends are attending the wedding.
■ All, any most, none, and some can be singular or plural pronouns, depending on their use.
All of the ice cream is gone.
All of the ice cream sundaes are gone.
1. The chief executive officer and the chairman of the board agrees/agree
about the new benefit package.

2. All of the children sleeps/sleep at naptime.

3. One of the first modern detectives in literature was/were created by

Edgar Allan Poe.
SINGULAR NOUNS THAT END WITH “S”

Some words like measles, mumps, news, checkers or marbles (games), physics, economics,
sports, and politics are singular despite their plural form, because we think of them as a
single thing. Some other words are singular or plural depending on how they are used
in a sentence.

 The news begins at 6 p.m.

 Aerobics is a great way to get in shape and reduce stress.
 Politics is also about recognizing and articulating interests, searching for ways to
combine different group interests.
APPOSITIVES

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames another

noun right beside it. The appositive can be a short or long
combination of words. Look at these appositive examples:
 The insect, a cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen table.
 Genette's bedroom desk, the biggest disaster area in the
house, is a collection of library books, dirty plates, cat hair, and
empty potato chip bags.
When the appositive begins the sentence, it looks like this:
A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire and
tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

When the appositive interrupts the sentence, it looks like this:

Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and
tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:
Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie, a hot- tempered
tennis player who charged the umpire and tried to crack the
poor man's skull with a racket.
1. The Duncan sofa, __________ is highly valued in today's
antique furniture market.
A. a colonial masterpiece,
B. a colonial masterpiece which
C. it is a colonial masterpiece that
D. whose colonial masterpiece

2. Mars, __________, has been a source of human fascination

for untold generations of sky gazers.
A. the fourth planet from the Sun
B. it is the fourth planet from the Sun
C. which the fourth planet from the Sun is it
D. is it the fourth planet from the Sun
3. Of all the saturated vegetable oils, coconut oil, ________, has
the greatest concentration of polysaturated oils.
A. that derived it from the meat of the coconut
B. it is derived from the meat of the coconut
C. derived from the meat of the coconut
D. is derived it from the meat of the coconut

4. The common sand crab, __________, carries a small garden

on top of its shell.
A. which it is Hyas araneus
B. is it Hyas araneus
C. there it is Hyas araneus
D. Hyas araneus
C
A
A
C
D
D
REDUCED CLAUSES

 The woman who is waving to us is the tour guide.

 The letter which was written last week arrived today.
 The pitcher that is on the table is full of iced tea.

 The White house, which is located in Washington, is the home of the president.
 The White house, located in Washington, is the home of the president.
 Located in Washington, the White house is the home of the president.
OBJECTS OF PREPOSITION

An object of a preposition is a noun or a pronoun that comes after a preposition, such

as in, at, of, to, by, behind, on, and so on, to form a prepositional phrase.
(After his exams,) Tom will take a trip (by boat)
This sentence contains two objects of prepositions. Exam is the object of the
preposition after and boat is the object of the preposition by.
An object of a preposition can cause confusion in the Structure section of the TOEFL
test because it can be mistaken for the subject of a sentence.
If a word is an object of a preposition, it is not the subject
1. The progressive reading methods at this school are given credit for the improved test
scores.

2. For the last three years at various hospitals in the county has been practicing
medicine.

3. In the summer the trip to the mountains is our favorite trip.

4. In the morning after the concert was tired.

5. The directions to the exercise on page 20 unclear.

PARARELL STRUCTURE
Parallel structure in English refers to the use of similar grammar constructions in a sentence or
clause.
Sentence Pair A:
1. I like to eat apples and drinking apple juice too.
2. I like to eat apples and to drink apple juice too.
Sentence Pair B:
1. I am taking the bus and went to school.
2. I took the bus and went to school.
Sentence Pair C:
1. The raccoon and skunks are animals found primarily in North America.
2. The raccoon and skunk are animals found primarily in North America.