STRUCTURE
SENTENCES
WITH ONE CLAUSE
Some sentences in English have just one subject and
verb, and it is very important for you to find the subject and verb in these
sentences. In some sentences it is easy to find the subject and verb. However, certain structures, such as objects
of prepositions, appositives, and participles, can cause confusion in locating
the subject and verb because each of these structures can look like a subject
or verb. The object of the prepositions can be mistaken for a subject.
Therefore, you should be able to do the following in
sentences with one subject and verb :
1)
Be sure the
sentence has a subject and a verb.
2)
Be careful of
objects of prepositions.
3)
Be careful of
appositives.
4)
Be careful of
present participles.
5)
Be careful of
past participles.
STRATEGIES FOR THE STRUCTURE QUESTIONS
1.
First study the sentence. Your purpose is to determine what is needed to
complete the sentence correctly.
2.
Then study each answer based on how well it completes
the sentence. Eliminate
answers that do not complete the sentence correctly.
3.
Do not try to eliminate incorrect answers by looking
only at the answers. The incorrect
answers are generally correct by themselves. The incorrect answers are
generally incorrect only when used to complete the sentence.
4.
Never leave any answers blank. Be sure to answer each question even if you are
unsure of the correct response.
5.
Do not spend too much time on the Structures
questions. Be sure to leave adequate
time for the Written Expression questions.
SKILL 1 : BE SURE THE SENTENCE HAS A SUBJECT AND A
VERB
You know
that sentence in English should have a subject and a verb. The most common
types of problems that you will encounter in the Structure section of the TOEFL
test have to do with subjects and verbs: perhaps the sentences is missing
either the subject or the verb or both, or perhaps the sentence has an extra
subject or verb.
Example :
Engineers
_____ for the work on the new space program.
A.
Necessary
B.
Are needed
C.
Hopefully
D.
Next month
In this
example you should notice immediately that the sentence has a subject
(Engineers), and that there is no verb. Because the answer B, Are needed, is a verb, it is the best
answer. Answers A, C and D are not verbs, so they are not correct.
SKILL 2: BE CAREFUL OF OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS
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. Exams 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.
Example:
With his
friend _____ found the movie theater.
A.
Has
B.
He
C.
Later
D.
When
In this
example you should look first for the subject and the verb. You should notice
the verb found and should also notive
that there is no subject. Do not think that friend
is the subject; friend is the
object of the preposition with, and
one noun cannot be both a subject and an object at the same time. Because a
subject is needed in this sentence, answer B (He) is the best answer. Answers
A, C, and D are not correct because they cannot be subjects.
SKILL 3: BE CAREFUL OF APPOSITIVES
Apposites
can cause confusion in the Structure section of the TOEFL test because an
appositive can be mistaken for the subject of a sentence. An appositive is a
noun that comes before or after another noun and has the same meaning.
Sally,
the best student in the class,
got an A on the exam.
In the
sentence, Sally is the subject and the best student in the class can easily
be recognized as an appositive phrase because of the noun student and because of
the commas. The sentence say that Sally
and the best student in the class are
the same person. Note that if you leave out the appositive phrase, the sentence
still makes sense (Sally got an A on the
exam).
Example:
______
George, is attending the lecture.
A.
Right now
B.
Happily
C.
Because of the
time
D.
My friend
In this
example you should recognize from the commas that George is not the subject of the sentence. George is an appositive. Because this sentence still needs a
subject, the best answers is D (My friend). Answers A, B, and C are incorrect
because the are not subjects.
SKILL 4: BE CAREFUL OF PRESENT PARTICIPLES
A present
participle is the – ing form of the
verb (talking, playing). In the
Structure section of the TOEFL test a present participle can cause confusion
because it can be either a part of the verb or an adjective. It si part of the
verb when it is preceded by some form of the verb be.
The man is talking to his friend has a
beard.
In this
sentence talking is part of the verb
because it is accompanied by is. A
present participle is an adjective when it is not accompanied by some form of
the verb be.
The man talking to his friend has a beard.
In this
sentence talking is an adjective and
not part of the verb because it is accompanied by some form of be. The verb in this sentence is has.
Example:
The child ______
playing in the yard.
A.
Now
B.
Is
C.
He
D.
Was
In this
example, if you look at only the first words of the sentence, it appears that
child is the subject and playing is
part of the verb. If you think that playing
is part of the verb, you might choose answer B (Is) or D (Was) to complete
the verb. However, these two answers are incorrect because playing is not part of the verb. You should recognize that playing is participal adjevtive rather
than a verb, because there is another verb in the sentence (Is). In this
sentence there is a complete subject (Child) and a complete verb (Is), so this
sentence does not need another subject or verb. The best here is A.
SKILL 5: BE CAREFUL OF PAST PARTICIPLES
Past
participles can cause confusion in the Structure section of the TOEFL test
because a past participle can be either an adjective or part of a verb. The
past participles is the form of the verb that appears with have or be. It often ends
in –ed, but there also many irregular
past participles in English.
The family has purchased a television.
The
television purchased yesterday
was expensive.
In the
first sentence the past participle purchased
is part of the verb because it is accompanied by has. In the second sentence purchased
is an adjective rather than a verb because it is not accompanied by a form
of be or have (and there is a verb, appeared,
later in the sentence).
Example:
The
packages ____ mailed at the post office will arrive Monday.
A.
Have
B.
Were
C.
Them
D.
Just
In this
example, if you look only at the first few words of the sentence, it appears
that packages is the subject and mailed is either complete verb or a past
participle that needs helping verb. But if you look further in the sentence,
you will see that the verb is will
arrive. You will then recognize that mailed
is an adjective and does not need a helping verb such as have or were. Answer C, is incorrect because there is no need for the
object them. Answer D is the best
answer to this question.
TOEFL EXERCISE (Skills 1-5) : Choose the letter of the word or group of words that
best completes the sentence.
1. The Batteries in Cordless handhold
Vaccum cleaners _____ hundred of Time
A. Can be recharged
B. Recharging
C. Rehearing
D. Was recharged
Answer in the sentence, the best
answer is A (Can be recharged) because the structure of sentence is correct.
2. Birds make nest in trees ______ hide their young in the leave and brances.
A. Can where they
B. Where they can
C. Where can they
D. Where can
Answer in the sentence, after
relative prounoun where is pronoun for this subject, because ststement it’s not
to capital, the best answer is B (Where they
can).
3. A dolphin six _____ length can more as fast as a ship.
A. Fot in
B. Feet in
C. Foot of
D. Feet of
Answer in the sentence, feet plural for six, so the best answer is B (Feet in).
4. The earth spins on its axis and _____ 23 hours, 56 minutes, and of 9 seconds for one
complete rptation.
A. Need
B. Needed
C. Needing
D. Needs
Answer in the sentence, agreement with the subject ‘ the
earth ‘ same meaning with verb ‘ spins ‘ so the best answer is D (Needs).
5. The air we breath _____
oxygen,
carbondioxide, and trace amounts of several other gases.
A. consisting of nitrogen
B. consist of nitrogen
C. consists of nitrogen
D. to consist from nitrogen
In the sentence, subject verb
agreement for “the air” and consists, phrasal verb consists followed by of, the best
answer is C (consists of nitrogen).
6. It was not until she had arrived
home ______ rememmbered her appointment with the
doctor.
A. When she
B. That she
C. And she
D. She
In the sentence, the best relative
pronoun is that, the best answer is B (That she).
7. The people at the party worried
about susan, because none was aware _____ she had gone.
A. Where that
B. Of where
C. Of the place where
D. The place
In the
sentence, “aware’’ followed by of and where has shown place of . the best
answer is B (Of where).
8. In general by the second year of
production the price of new price of technology _____ significantly.
A. Will decreased
B. Has decreased
C. Will have decroased
D. Will has decreased
In the sentence, “will have” used before particple for
description future with second year of production, the best answer is C (Will have decreased).
9. Hawkeye was the character ______
James Fenimore cooper created for the last of the mohicans.
A. Who
B. Whom
C. Which
D. Whose
In the sentence, whom is compement
from subject cooper and verb created, the best answer is B (Whom).
10. It is ______ that i’d like to go on picnic
A. A lovely day as
B. Too lovely a day
C. So lovely day
D. Such a lovely day
In the sentence, such as followed by
adjective and noun on frase couse, so followed by adjective : a, and noun. The
best answer is D (such a
lovely day).
TOEFL EXERCISE (Skills 1-5) : Underline the subjects once and the
verbs twice in each of following sentences. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I).
1. Last week went fishing for
trout at the nearby mountain lake. (I)
2. A schedule of the day’s events can
be obtained at the front desk. (C)
3.The interviews by radio
broadcasters were carried live by the station. (C)
4. In the last possible moment
before takeoff took his seat in the airplane. (I)
5. The son of the previous owner,
the new owner is undertaking some fairly broad changes in
management policy. (C)
6. Last semester, a friend graduated
cum laude from the university. (I)
7. Those travelers are
completing their trip on Delta
should report to Gate Three. (I)
8. The companies offering the lowest price will have
the most customers. (C)
9. The money was
offered by the client was not accepted. (I)
10. The car listed in the
advertisement had already stalled.
(C)