Grammar Foundations Examination

Volume 1

Student ______Date __/__/__

  • Articles
  • Adjectives and Adverbs
  • Countable and Uncountable Nouns
  • Writing Numbers
  • Prepositions


In the following phrases, supply either a or an:

1. ____ bingo game

2. ____ idiot

3. ____ good job

4. ____ rotten plum

5. ____ used fork

6. ____ uncle

7. ____ historian

8. ____ apple

9. ____ hair

10. ____ artichoke

11. ____ horrible movie

12. ____ opera

13. ____ fine opera

14. ____ television

15. ____ earthquake

16. ____ icicle

17. ____ plant

18. ____ eggplant

19. ____ honorable discharge

20. ____ intelligent man


Directions: Fill in the blank with the appropriate article, a, an, or the, or leave the space blank if no article is needed.

1. I want ____ apple from that basket.

2. ____ church on the corner is progressive.

3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese.

4. I borrowed ____ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.

5. One of the students said, "____ professor is late today."

6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball.

7. I bought ____ umbrella to go out in the rain.

8. My daughter is learning to play ____ violin at her school.

9. Please give me ____ cake that is on the counter.

10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town.

11. Albany is the capital of ____ New York State.

12. My husband's family speaks ____ Polish.

13. ____ apple a day keeps the doctor away.

14. ____ ink in my pen is red.

15. Our neighbors have ____ cat and ____ dog.


Choose the correct item from the choices in the parentheses:

1. He (correct, correctly) defined the terms. The answer sounded (correctly, correct).

2. She (quickly, quick) adjusted the fees. She adapted (quick, quickly) to any situation.

3. He measured the floor (exact, exactly). They proved to be (perfectly, perfect) (exact, exactly) measurements.

4. The stillness of the tomb was (awfully, awful). The tomb was (awfully, awful) still.

5. It was a (dangerously, dangerous) lake to swim in. The man was (dangerous, dangerously) drunk. The gas smelled (dangerously, dangerous).

6. She performed (magnificent, magnificently). It was a (magnificent, magnificently) beautiful performance.

7. Her voice sounds (beautifully, beautiful). She sang the song (exact, exactly) as it was written. We heard it (perfectly, perfect).

8. He was a very (sensibly, sensible) person. He acted very (sensible, sensibly).

9. Mike wrote too (slow, slowly) on the exam. He always writes (slow, slowly).

10. Talk (softly, soft) or don't talk at all. The music played (softly, soft).

11. Andrea knows the material very (good, well). She always treats us (good, well).

12. You must send payments (regular, regularly). We deal on a (strictly, strict) cash basis.


In the following sentences, cross out the incorrect words and write in the correct form in the blanks. If the sentence is correct as it is, write "correct" in the blank.

1. Terrence plays quarterback as well as Brian.______

2. The game hadn't hardly begun before it started to rain.______

3. This was sure a mild winter.______

4. Jane behaves more pleasant than Joan.______

5. When you are a parent, you will think different about children.______

6. I felt badly about not having done good on my final exams.______

7. Whether you win is not near as important as how you play.______

8. Asian music often sounds oddly to Western listeners.______

9. Does your car run well enough to enter the race?______

10. I felt safely enough to go out at night on my own.______

11. You can see the distant mountains clear with these binoculars.______

12. Our team was real sharp last Saturday afternoon during the game.______

Correct any errors in number usage in the following sentences by writing the correction to the left of the sentence. If the sentence is correct, mark C on the line to the left.

______/ 1. / 351 people attended the performance.
______/ 2. / There were one hundred and thirty-five pieces in the puzzle.
______/ 3. / Class started at eight-thirty A.M. in Room Twenty.
______/ 4. / In the sixties there were sit-ins at 100's of colleges.
______/ 5. / Every afternoon at two o'clock the chimes rang.
______/ 6. / The stock deal, which involved $4.5 billion, paid a twelve and a half percent dividend.
______/ 7. / The Lafayette television station is Channel Eighteen.
______/ 8. / They needed eight ten-foot poles for the construction.
______/ 9. / The vote was 126 in favor of the action and only sixteen opposed.
______/ 10. / The assignment was to read chapter 6, pages 31-39.
______/ 11. / Only fifty percent of high school students go on to college.
______/ 12. / We were assigned a report of about 10 pages in length.


Complete the following sentences with the correct preposition: at, in, or on.

1. Will you wait for me _____ the bus stop?

2. Jane is _____ her bedroom.

3. Daria's books are laying _____ the floor.

4. The girls didn't want to spend a long time _____ the carnival.

5. I let the cat sit _____ my lap, but then suddenly it jumped _____ my face!

6. Do you live _____ the city or _____ the country?

7. Trent arrived _____ the school just in time.

8. The rancher built a fence to keep his cows _____ the pasture.

9. Kevin and Mack are out practicing _____ the football field.

10. From afar, Heathcliff could see a light _____ the window.

11. The old house had so much grime _____ the windows that Bradley could hardly see inside.

12. The shepherd boy grazed his flock _____ the grassy hillside.

13. The audience threw tomatoes _____ the terrible comedian.

14. Wrestling isn't real; those guys _____ the ring are just pretending.

15. David works _____ the field of network administration, while Marty works _____ web design.

16. The car stalled and got stuck _____ the street.

17. Audrey lives _____ Third Street.

18. If William doesn't make any money on his book, he'll be out _____ the street.


Complete the following sentences with the correct preposition: to, toward, on, onto, in, or into. Some sentences may have more than one possible correct answer

1. Anna has returned ______her home town.

2. The dog jumped ______the lake.

3. Are the boys still swimming ______the pool?

4. Thomas fell ______the floor.

5. The plane landed ______the runway.

6. We drove _____ the river for an hour, but turned north before we reached it.

7. The kids climbed ______the monkey bars.

8. Joanna got ______Fred's car.

9. The baby spilled his cereal ______the floor.

10. We cried to the man on the ladder, "Hang ______!"

11. I just called ______say I love you.

12. Matthew and Michelle moved the table ______the dining room.

13. Allan left your keys ______the table.

14. Dr. Karper apologized for interrupting us, and told us to carry ______with our discussion.

15. I'd like ______ask you a question.

16. Pat drove Mike ______the airport.

17. Glenn almost fell ______the river.

18. The waitress noticed that there was no more Diet Pepsi ______Marty's glass.

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