1.
A pair of commas can be used to separate words or groups of words and to
clarify the meaning of a sentence. Insert a pair of commas to clarify each sentence
below.
a) My dog, who is very fat, eats six tins of Chum per day.
b) The black horse, however, carried the plough without any struggle.
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2. Insert a colon in the appropriate place in the sentence below.
I have three aims in life: success (whatever the cost), a family and global travel.
3. The sentence below is written in the active voice.
The gale blew the pedestrian over.
Which sentence is the passive form of the sentence above? Tick one.
The pedestrian was blown over by the gale.
The gale caused the pedestrian to blow over.
In the gale, the pedestrian blew over.
Because it was gale-force conditions, the pedestrian blew over.
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4. Use a connective or connective phrase to complete the sentence below.
Even though / although / despite the fact that David Villa was so proven a
goalscorer, he lacked confidence in his own ability.
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5. Complete the table by inserting a synonym and an antonym.
One has been done for you.
Word Synonym Antonym
broad wide narrow
victory win / success defeat / loss
fearless brave / dauntless scared / petrified
lethargically sleepily / slowly / drowsily energetically / rapidly
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6. Use the prepositions in the boxes to complete the sentences below.
from with at to
Use each preposition once.
He’ll be there _____at________ four o’clock.
My two sons are very different ____from_________ one another.
My new house is similar ________to_____ my old one.
The lake was deep compared ____with_________ the rivers that fed it.
7. A semi-colon can be used to separate two main clauses that are related.
Insert a semi-colon in the correct place in the sentence below.
Looked at from one angle, Thor is a positive role-model; viewed from a different
perspective, he’s a brutal Nordic god.
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8. Write the contraction of each pair of underlined words in the brackets
underneath.
Let us go to see the new Harry Potter film; it has been well reviewed.
[ Let’s ] [ it’s ]
You should not be late or you will miss the opening titles.
[ shouldn’t ] [ you’ll ]
We are going to love it!
[ We’re ]
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9. Expand the noun into a noun phrase by adding words before and after the noun.
One has been done for you.
Noun Noun Phrase
the chart the pie chart on the clipboard
the pelican The blue pelican on the shore
the courage The noble courage of the ancient Celts
The Government The intrusive Government of the USA
10. Put a tick in each row to show the type of adverb.
adverb of adverb of time adverb of adverb of place
manner frequency
beyond /
often /
yesterday /
silently /
inside /
never /
seldom /
hastily /
underneath /
11.Complete this table of verbs and their infinitive forms. One has been done for
you.
present tense past tense infinitive form
he runs he ran to run
we are we were to be
she has she had to have
they go they went to go
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12. This sentence is written in the personal form.
It takes him a lot of effort to lift that suitcase.
Which sentence below is a correct impersonal form of the sentence? Tick one.
His suitcase is heavy.
Lifting that suitcase takes a lot of effort.
To lift that suitcase takes him a lot of effort.
He finds lifting that suitcase effortless.
13. Write an example of each type of noun in the boxes below.
Abstract noun Collective noun Common noun Proper noun
fear team table Manchester
14. Rewrite the sentence below, changing the verbs to past tense.
The Black Prince brings chaos to the land and stands on the necks of his enemies.
The Black Prince brought chaos to the land and stood on the necks of his
enemies.
15. Put a tick in each row to show the type of pronoun underlined in each sentence.
Relative Personal Possessive
pronoun pronoun pronoun
Is she taking hers with her? /
At Parc Asterix there are dodgems, /
which are their favourite ride.
Lucas remembered where he had /
left the treasure.
16. This sentence is made up of two clauses: a main clause (MC) and a
subordinate clause (SC).
MC -----------------> SC___________________SC <------------------------------- MC
Judith’s brother, who is much older than she is, always looked out for her.
Add a subordinate clause to the sentence below.
Snow leopards, one of the world’s rarest felines ,
remain at risk from those who stand to gain most from their death: poachers.
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17. Circle the correct form of the verb in each set of brackets.
The boy and girl ( represent / represents ) different teams.
Either of them ( was / were ) suitable for the job.
Everyone ( has / have ) different views on this tricky question.
Each of you ( is / are ) welcome to disagree on this.
Neither of your brothers ( enjoy /enjoys) hot chocolate.
Both your teachers ( is / are ) relaxed about zip-wires.
All boys (need / needs) to face their own dragons at some point.
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18. Put a tick in each row to show the type of connective underlined in each
sentence.
Subordinating Co-ordinating
connective connective
I won’t know my results until I get them in the /
post.
He’ll be happy when he finishes his project. /
I was cold set but the others were warm. /
Typically, Ben or Molly sort things out between /
them.
Although the snow was deep, the car kept /
going.
19. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
Tick one.
She realised after seeing the CCTV footage that the robbery, really had happened.
She realised after seeing, the CCTV footage, that the robbery really had happened.
She realised, after seeing the CCTV footage, that the robbery really had happened.
She realised after, seeing the CCTV footage, that the robbery really had happened.
20. The noun phrase has been underlined in the sentence below.
The confused judge shouted at the jury.
Which combination of words does the noun phrase contain? Tick one.
Noun, verb and adjective
Noun, adverb and adjective
Article, verb and noun
Article, adjective and noun
21. Complete these word families. The first one has been done for you.
antidote antibody antibiotic anticlockwise
telescope televise telepathy television
miscalculate misdemeanour misnomer mistake / mislead
monolithic monopoly monocle monochrome
exodus exoskeleton expatriate external
22. Rewrite the sentence below in the active voice.
The bull elk’s carcass was ripped to pieces by the wolf pack.
The wolf pack ripped the bulk elk’s carcass to pieces.