English Grammar Test

[Sergeant]

I am helping my friend with her English Grammar test AKA doing it for her because she speaks French and is studying biology and the English teacher is giving tests that are even driving me insane.

So I want to know your opinions or answers to the following questions that are making me doubt my English skills LOL.

1. I still don't know what would be the best solution. (is this sentence grammatically correct?)

2. I would buy that car if it .... less expensive.
a. Was
b. Is
c. Had been
d. None of the above

3. WHich question is about a future arrangement?
a. What are you doing next Monday afternoon?
b. What do you do next Monday afternoon?
c. What will you do next Monday afternoon?

4. Is the following sentence grammatically correct? "We didn't speak during the meal."
a. yes
b. no

5. In which sentence(s) is the use of the article correct?
a. Are you aware of the impact that you have on the environment?
b. It seems that global warming mainly results from the human activities.
c. Cattle breeding generates more greenhouse gases than the transportation.

6. Are the following sentences grammatically correct? "I have always wanted to visit Japan. Now that I have the chance, I have decided to take it."
a. Yes
b. no

7. Complete the sentence. I met Anna a few days ago She [X].
a. just came back from holidays 2 days earlier.
b. has just come back from holiday 2 days earlier.
c. was just coming back from holiday 2 days earlier.
d. none of the above.



Some seem so obvious yet also seem too obvious and therefore are making me unsure if they're correct or not. HELP.

[Inkidu]

I am helping my friend with her English Grammar test AKA doing it for her because she speaks French and is studying biology and the English teacher is giving tests that are even driving me insane.

So I want to know your opinions or answers to the following questions that are making me doubt my English skills LOL.

1. I still don't know what would be the best solution. (is this sentence grammatically correct?)

The sentence is not incorrect, but it's clunky. Plus, what standard of correct are we using. It could be considered grammatically incorrect for the use of a contraction.

A better sentence would be: "I still don't know what the best solution would be." The original sentence dangles a modifier, but it's not wrong per se.

2. I would buy that car if it .... less expensive.
a. Was
b. Is
c. Had been
d. None of the above

A. Was

Was is the most correct. In order to use had been you would have had to phrase the sentence: I would have bought that car if it had been less expensive. You're telling the person in the here and now you would buy the car if the price was lower.

3. WHich question is about a future arrangement?

a. What are you doing next Monday afternoon?
b. What do you do next Monday afternoon?
c. What will you do next Monday afternoon?

Technically all of them, but I feel that A. What are you doing next Monday afternoon is the standard question if you were wanting to make an arrangement. 

4. Is the following sentence grammatically correct? "We didn't speak during the meal."
a. yes
b. no

A. Yes.

Unless you're using very formal academic language the contraction is not a problem. But it has a subject and verb and the preposition has an object so it's fine.

5. In which sentence(s) is the use of the article correct?
a. Are you aware of the impact that you have on the environment?
b. It seems that global warming mainly results from the human activities.
c. Cattle breeding generates more greenhouse gases than the transportation.

A. In the other two sentences the use of the article the is superfluous.

6. Are the following sentences grammatically correct? "I have always wanted to visit Japan. Now that I have the chance, I have decided to take it."
a. Yes
b. no

A. Yes. The first sentence is fine, the second sentence looks like it'd trip you up with the comma but Now that I have the chance is an introductory clause and can be set off from the rest of the sentence.

7. Complete the sentence. I met Anna a few days ago She [X].
a. just came back from holidays 2 days earlier.
b. has just come back from holiday 2 days earlier.
c. was just coming back from holiday 2 days earlier.
d. none of the above.

the um... the sentence is wrong. It should be, "I met Anna a few days ago, she [X]"

I'd say c, "I met Anna a few days days ago, she was just coming back from holiday two days earlier."

Though again, if strict grammar is being adhered to d is the correct answer. You should not put a numeral 2 into a sentence it should be spelled out.

Some seem so obvious yet also seem too obvious and therefore are making me unsure if they're correct or not. HELP.

That's my best guess with whatever I remember from my bachelors in English, so please double check, but I've got some serious questions for the test maker.

[Sergeant]

The sentence is not incorrect, but it's clunky. Plus, what standard of correct are we using. It could be considered grammatically incorrect for the use of a contraction.

A better sentence would be: "I still don't know what the best solution would be." The original sentence dangles a modifier, but it's not wrong per see.

I had the same reaction. I would never say it like that, but I think it's not completely wrong either and some MIGHT consider it correct. "I still don't know what the best solution would be." Is how I would say it as well.

A. Was

Was is the most correct. In order to use had been you would have had to phrase the sentence: I would have bought that car if it had been less expensive. You're telling the person in the here and now you would buy the car if the price was lower.

Agreed.

Technically all of them, but I feel that A. What are you doing next Monday afternoon is the standard question if you were wanting to make an arrangement. 

I chose c. But I think the weird questions before this one fried my brain and I can now clearly see A sounds most right. If it was c, maybe "What will you be doing next Monday?" would make it correct?

A. Yes.

Unless you're using very formal academic language the contraction is not a problem. But it has a subject and verb and the preposition has an object so it's fine.

This I was sure of until my partner made me second guess it. Thanks.

A. Yes. The first sentence is fine, the second sentence looks like it'd trip you up with the comma but Now that I have the chance is an introductory clause and can be set off from the rest of the sentence.

I said it was correct too, but then my partner said he thought the 'I have decided to take it' was incorrect and that it should just be 'I decided to take it.' What do you think?

the um... the sentence is wrong. It should be, "I met Anna a few days ago, she [X]"

I'd say c, "I met Anna a few days days ago, she was just coming back from holiday two days earlier."

Though again, if strict grammar is being adhered to d is the correct answer. You should not put a numeral 2 into a sentence it should be spelled out.

Yeah sorry, he did write "I met Anna a few days ago. She [X]" My mistake when copying it. He also wrote out the number two, I was just lazy yesterday hahaha.
And I had put c as well, but again my partner didn't agree. He thinks 'She had just come back' would be the correct answer. But I think c works too unless I'm missing a huge grammatical error in it?

That's my best guess with whatever I remember from my bachelors in English, so please double check, but I've got some serious questions for the test maker.

This is the third test I've taken of him and I want to smash him through a wall. I'll let you know the results when we receive them! Thanks for your feedback Inkidu!

[Inkidu]

No actually the one on Japan.

Now that I have the chance, I have decided to take it. It agrees better.

Now that I have the chance, I decided to take it.

It's not wrong per se to use the second one, but using have keeps it in better agreement with the first clause.

There's nothing that jumps out at me as specifically wrong with using have again.

It's not like using the proper possessives with gerunds where it changes the entire meaning of the sentence.

Swimming got him into college.

His swimming got him into college.

We both know what those mean, but one clearly says that it was the act of swimming into the college and the other says it was his ability to swim that got him a scholarship.

[Sekah]

1. I still don't know what would be the best solution. (is this sentence grammatically correct?)

2. I would buy that car if it .... less expensive.
a. Was
b. Is
c. Had been
d. None of the above

3. WHich question is about a future arrangement?
a. What are you doing next Monday afternoon?
b. What do you do next Monday afternoon?
c. What will you do next Monday afternoon?

4. Is the following sentence grammatically correct? "We didn't speak during the meal."
a. yes
b. no

5. In which sentence(s) is the use of the article correct?
a. Are you aware of the impact that you have on the environment?
b. It seems that global warming mainly results from the human activities.
c. Cattle breeding generates more greenhouse gases than the transportation.

6. Are the following sentences grammatically correct? "I have always wanted to visit Japan. Now that I have the chance, I have decided to take it."
a. Yes
b. no

7. Complete the sentence. I met Anna a few days ago She [X].
a. just came back from holidays 2 days earlier.
b. has just come back from holiday 2 days earlier.
c. was just coming back from holiday 2 days earlier.
d. none of the above.


I don't actually know competent a grammarian your teacher is. They dropped a period at one point and some of the sentences sound like an alien wrote them regardless of what they were trying to teach. But if they are, then I'll give you the answers:

2. d, none of the above. This sentence is in the subjunctive, which means it deals with a thought, wish, hope, conditional idea (would, should, etc.), or supposition. When that's the case, you can't use was - you have to use were for 'to be.' So the grammatically correct sentence is I would buy that car if it were less expensive.

3. c. What will you do next Monday afternoon?

A is the colloquial answer, but c is the grammatically correct one. A uses the present continuous, the to be -ing formation, which is always present tense, but colloquially is used as future tense in conversation. A is only acceptable in dialogue or informal writing. C is what's expected in formal, grammatically correct writing, if your boss and/or professor has a stick right up their ass, which it seems like this one does.

4. I suspect this uses some arcane rule of grammar even I don't know, or this professor is teaching formal English where contractions are not to be used, but I'm going to go with A, correct.

5. A, though I wonder what the hell a teacher who's so obsessed with grammar is doing adding an unnecessary "that" to a sentence, haha. If they have a stick up their ass and are quizzing ESL
learners on the subjunctive and the present continuous, I feel perfectly fine criticizing them for not knowing one of the primary rules of clear, concise writing.

6. B, no. As Inkidu said. It's unnecessary repetition of have.

7. C. Also, dude forgot a period, randomly capitalized "She," and made a bunch of other messes.

[TeamVelma]

There is always a difference between the language as it is used i.e. what is considered acceptable by the general public, and what the books on grammar say should be happening.  Plus there's the quirks that English has picked up over the years, like the someone collecting seashells on a beach and refusing to drop any of them even though their hands are full.   And regarding French and English there's this...

https://youtu.be/dUnGvH8fUUc Tom Scott's Why Shakespeare Could Never Have Been French

So, rules be dammed I, as a native British English speaker, will judge this on the subjective criteria of 'does it sound 'right'' and this being The Internet^TM means my opinion is the correct one :-D


1. I still don't know what would be the best solution. It's OK, bit clunky though.  For preference I would go for
I still don't know what the best solution is.

2. I would buy that car if it .... less expensive.
a. Was
b. Is
c. Had been
d. None of the above

It depends am I looking at a car to buy right now, if so its [a], if I'm telling someone later why I didn't by the car then it's [c]

3. Which question is about a future arrangement?
a. What are you doing next Monday afternoon?
b. What do you do next Monday afternoon?
c. What will you do next Monday afternoon?

It's [a].  Of [c] if you change it to What will you be doing next Monday afternoon?

4. Is the following sentence grammatically correct? "We didn't speak during the meal."
a. yes
b. no
[a] sounds fine to me.

5. In which sentence(s) is the use of the article correct?
a. Are you aware of the impact that you have on the environment?
b. It seems that global warming mainly results from the human activities.
c. Cattle breeding generates more greenhouse gases than the transportation.
[a]

6. Are the following sentences grammatically correct? "I have always wanted to visit Japan. Now that I have the chance, I have decided to take it."
a. Yes
b. no
[a]

7. Complete the sentence. I met Anna a few days ago She [X].
a. just came back from her holidays 2 days earlier.
b. had just come back from holiday 2 days earlier.
c. was just coming back from her holiday 2 days earlier.
d. none of the above.
[d] added in bold the things that 'fix' them according to my ear

Invariably there will be a English grammar enthusiast now throwing rocks at the screen having read my reply.