TOEFL GRAMMAR POINTS

Parts of a Sentence Noun Phrase

1. Countable and Non-countable Nouns
Subject Many much
Mary and I went to the restaurant yesterday A large number of a large amount of
It rains quite often here (a) few (a) few
Fewer….than less …than
Verb
They hate spinach 2. A and An (Indefinite Article)
Jane is very tall A baseball, an umbrella, a university,
an honest person
Complements
John will buy a cake tomorrow 3. The (Definite Article)
He wants to drink some water =indicate stg we already know about or
specific, ex: the earth is round
Modifier
John will buy a cake tomorrow 4. Other
John buys the cake at the market Another pencil: one more pencil
The other pencil: the last pencil present
Other pencils: plural (more pencils)
Other water, the other water (UC)

Verb Phrase Subject-Verb Agreement

1. Simple present: he walks to school ed The elevator works very well

2. Simple past: he walked to school yst The elevators work very well
3. Present Progressive: he’s walking to The boys are studying
school now The study of languages is interesting
4. Past progressive: he was walking to The view varies from time to time
school when he saw Jane The actress, along with her manager, is going to
5. Present perfect: he has walked to school the party tonight
several times (Other signals: for/since, Mr Robins, accompanied by his wife, is arriving
yet/already, just tonight
John has lived there for 20 years The actress and her manager are going to the
John has lived there since 1990 party tonight
We haven’t written our report yet
We has already read the entire book
6. Past perfect: He had walked to school
before he hurt his foot

Words that always Take Singular Can take either a singular or plural
Anybody who has lost his….
Everybody who has… None of the counterfeit money has been found
If either of you takes a vacation now. … None of the students have finished it yet
Nobody works harder than John No problem is harder to solve than this one
does No problems are harder to solve

Gerunds as Subject Neither John nor his friends are going to…
Either John or his friends are going to…
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Knowing her makes him what he is Either John or Bill is going to ….
Dieting is very popular today Neither John or Bill is going to …
Being cordial is one of his greatest assets
Writing letters makes him happy

A number of/the number of Plural Nouns

A number of students are going to …. The pants, a pair of pants, the pair of scissors, the
The number of days in a week is seven pliers, the pair of pliers, glasses

Pronoun Verbs + To Infinitive

• Subject pronoun: I, we, he, she, it, they,
you Agree, attempt, claim, decide, demand, desire,
• Complement/Object pronoun: me, us, expect, fail, forget, hesitate, hope, intend, learn,
him, her, it, them, you need, offer, plan, prepare, pretend, refuse, seem,
• Possesive pronoun: my, our, his, her, its, strive, tend, want, wish
their, your
• Possessive adjective: mine, ours, his, hers, Verbs + Gerund
its, theirs, yours Admit, appreciate, avoid, can’t help, consider,
• Reflexive pronoun: myself, ourselves, delay, deny, enjoy, finish, mind, miss, postpone,
himself, herself, itself, themselves, practice, quit, recall, report, resent, resist,
yourself, yourselves resume, risk, suggest

Verbs + Infinitive/Gerund
Pronouns before the gerund or infinitive Begin, can’t stand, continue, dread, hate, like,
start, love, prefer, regret, try
Allow, ask, beg, convince, expect, instruct,
invite, order, permit, persuade, prepare, Verbs + preposition followed by gerund
promise, remind, urge, want Approve of, be better off, count on, depend on,
give up, insist on, keep on, put off, rely on,
• John asked Mary to call her succeed in, think about, think of, worry about,
object to, look forward to, confess to
• John asked Mary calling her
• We ordered him to appear in the court
Adjectives + preposition followed by gerund
Accustomed to, afraid to, capable of, fond of,
However, before the gerund, a noun or
intent on, interested in, successful in, tired of
pronoun must appear in the possessive form.
Adjectives followed by infinitive
• We understand your not being able to stay Anxious, boring, dangerous, hard, eager, easy,
longer good, strange, pleased, prepared, ready, able,
• He regrets her leaving usual, common, difficult
• We are looking forward to their coming
next year
• We don’t approve of John’s buying this
house

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 The Verb ‘Need’ In Need of

• Animate Subject Jill is in need of money

John needs to paint his house The roof is in need of repair
My friends need to learn English The organization was in need of volunteers

• Inanimate Subject
The grass needs cutting
The grass needs to be cut

Yes-No Questions Information Questions

Subject Question
Auxilary Who
Be + subject + verb + verb + (compl) + (mod)
Do, does, did What
E.g: Who opened the door?
What happened last night?

Complement Question
Embedded Questions Whom aux
+ do, does + S + V + (Mod)
“one which is included in a sentence or What did
another questions” E.g: Whom does Ahmad know from Eng?
What did George buy at the store?
S + Verb (phrase) + Q. Word + S + V
When, Where, How, and Why Questions
• We haven’t ascertained where the meeting When
will take place Where aux, be + S + (V) + ….
• The authorities cannot figure out why the How do, does, did
plane landed at the wrong airport Why
• I wonder when she goes to Bandung For Examples:
• When did John move to Jacksonville?
Aux + S + V + Q. Word + S + V • Where does Mohammad live?
• Do you know where he went? • How did Maria get to school?Why did
• Could you tell me what time it is George leave so early?

Questions Tag Affirmative Agreement

• There are only 28 days in Feb, aren’t • I am happy and you are too
there? • I am happy and so are you
• It’s raining now, isn’t it? • They will go and you will too
• It isn’t raining now, is it? • They will go and so will you
• You and I talked with the prof, didn’t we? • John goes to the school and my sister does
• British: you have 2 children, haven’t you? too
American: don’t you? • John goes to the school and so does my sister

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 Negative Agreement ‘Either’ “Neither’ Negation

• I didn’t see Mary this morning, and John • John is not rich
didn’t either • Sandra is not going to Hawaii
• I didn’t see Mary this morning, and • Mark has not seen Bill
neither did John • Mary cannot leave now
• John hasn’t seen the new movie yet, and I • Isaac did not go to class
haven’t either • They do not want to leave now
• John hasn’t seen the new movie yet, and • We will not go to the movie
neither have I
Some/Any Hardly, rarely, barely, seldom
Some: affirmative sentences (Almost not at all or almost nothing)
Any: negative sentences and questions
• John rarely comes to class on time
• John has some money • John hardly studied last night
• John doesn’t have any money • She scarcely remembers the accident
• Does John have any money? • We seldom see photos of these animals
• Jane barely arrived on time

Commands Modal Auxilaries

• Close the door! (positive command) 1. Modal + simple be

• Don’t close the door! (negative command) 2. Modal + have + past part
• John told Mary to close the door (indirect
command) • John would like to leave
• John told Mary not to close the door • John would have gone to the party
(negative indirect command)

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 The Examples of Modal Auxilaries
Could/May/Might (Possibility)
Would:
When David was young, he would swim once It might rain tomorrow
a day It could rain tomorrow
It might rain tomorrow
Used to
He used to smoke but now he doesn’t Should
• A recommendation
To be Used to/Get used to: Henry should study tonight
• John is used to swimming everyday • Expectation
• John got used to swimming everyday It should rain tomorrow
• He is accustomed to swimming ed
Should, had better, ought to, be supposed to
Would rather • John should study tonight
• John would rather drink Coca cola than • John had better study tonight
orange juice (present) • John ought to study tonight
• John prefers drinking Coca Cola to • John is supposed to study tonight
drinking orange juices
• John would rather have gone to class Must
yesterday than today (past) • One must endorse a check before one cashes
• I would rather that you call me tomorrow it
• George must call his insurance agent today
Would like
• Would you like to dance with me? Have to
• I would like to visit Japan George has to call his insurance agent
• Hey would like to study at the university

Could/may/might + perfective Should + Perfective

“obligation that was supposed to occur in the
“possibility in the past time” past, but it did not occur”

• It may have rained last night • John should have gone to the post office this
• The cause of death could have been morning
bacteria • Maria shouldn’t have called John last night
• John might have gone to the movies • The policeman should have made a report
yesterday about the bulgary

Must + Perfective Conditional Sentences

“logial conclusion in the past” • If I study hard, I will pass the exam
• If I studied hard, I would pass the exam
The grass is wet. So, you say: it must have • If I had studied hard, I would have passed the
rained last night exam

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 Hope/Wish As if/As though
• We hope that they will come (we don’t
know if they are coming) • The old lady dresses as if it were winter even
• We wish that they could come (they are in the summer
not coming, present) • He acts as though he were rich
• We wish that they had come yesterday • Jeff looked as if he had seen a ghost
(they didn’t come, past tense) yesterday
• I wish that you would stop saying that • He looks as if he has finished the test
(present)
•
Adjectives Adjectives with Linking
Qusiashcompno (Copulative) Verbs
(Quality, size, age, shape, color, origin,
material, participle, noun) “Special category of verbs that connects subject
with the complements”
An expensive big old circle red Australian
cotton handmade bag Be, become, remain, stay, appear, seem, sound,
feel, look. smell, taste
Adverbs
• Mary feels bad about her test grade
• John is reading carefully • Children become tired quite easily
• Rita drank too much coffee • They were sorry to see us leave
• He was driving fast • The flowers smell sweet
• I play tennis very well • The soup tastes good

Comparisons Unequal Comparison

“indicate degrees of difference with “Comparatives”
adjectives and adverbs”
• John’s grades are higher than his sister’s
Equal Comparison (adjective)
• He is not as tall as his father • He speaks English more fluently than I
• He is not so tall as his father (adverb)
• My house is as high as his • Harry’s watch is far more expensive than
• My house is the same height as his mine (intensified with far)
• Their teacher is different from ours (the • The movie we saw last night was much less
opposite) interesting than the one on television
(intensified with much)
Superlatives • A watermelon is much sweeter than a lemon
“Three or more entities are compared” • I have more books than she (C. Noun)
• Feb has fewer days than March (C Noun)
• John is the tallest boy in the family • Their job allows them less freedom than ours
• Deana is the shortest of the three sisters does (UC Noun)
• These shoes are the least expensive of all • Harvey is the smarter of the two boys
• Of the three shirts, this one is the most • Of the two shirts, this one is the prettier
comfortable
Multiple number comparatives
No Sooner “half, twice, three times, etc”
“appears at the beginning of a sentence, the
word than must introduce the second clause” • This encyclopedia costs twice as much as the

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 other one (not twice more than)
• No sooner had we started out for • Jerome has half as many records now as I
California than it started to rain (not: half more records than..)
• No sooner will he arrive than he will want
to leave Double Comparatives
• No sooner had she entered the building • The hotter it is, the more miserable I feel
than she felt the presence of somebody • The higher we flew, the worse Edna felt
else • The bigger they are, the harder they fall
• The sooner you take your medicine, the
better you will feel
Nouns functioning as Adjectives Enough with adj, adverb, and nouns
(Hyphenated Adjectives)
Adjective/Adverb + enough
• We took a tour that lasted five weeks She speaks English well enough to be an
• We took a five-week tour interpreter
• That student wrote a report that was ten It is not cold enough to wear a heavy jacket
pages long
• That student wrote a ten-page report Enough + Noun
• This is a four-wheel car Do you have enough sugar for the cake?
Because/Because of Purpose and Result (So that)

• Jan was worried because it had started to • He studied very hard so that he could pass
rain the test
• Jan was worried because of the rain • Will you let me know about the party so that
I can make plans to attend

Cause and Effect (so, such) Passive Voice

• The soprano sang so well that she • A great deal of property is destroyed by
received a standing ovation hurricanes each year
• Terry ran so fast that he broke the • Thirty houses were destroyed by the tornado
previous speed record • Several new proposals are being considered
• It was such a hot day that we decided to by the committee
stay indoors • Several new proposals were being considered
• It was so hot a day that we decided to stay by the committee
indoors • Some new equipment has been ordered by
the company
Causative Verbs • Some new equipment had been ordered by
“to indicate that one person causes a second the company before the strike began
person to do something for the first person” • These contracts should be signed by the
manager today
• I have a man repair my computer • The presidents should have been called this
• I have my computer repaired morning
• I get him to go to the party
• I get my homeworks done
• I let him drive my new car

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• I make them do their jobs
• John helped Mary wash the dishes
• Jorge helped the woman to find a taxi

Relative Pronoun Optional Relative Clause Reduction

• The men who are in this room are angry • Before relative clauses in the passive voice
• The men whom I don’t like are angry This is the value obtained from the research
• The men to whom the walking is talking
are angry • Before prepositional phrase
The breaker on the counter is mine
Whose
James, whose father is the president of the • Before progressive (continuous) verb
company has received a promotion structures
John found a cat whose leg was broken The girl running down the street might be in
trouble

Optional That Obligatory That

Say tell think believe mention declare report state

• John said that he was leaving next week The mayor declared that on June the first He
• John said he was leaving next week would announce the results of the search
• Henry thinks that she is beautiful
• Henry thinks she is beautiful

That Clause Subjunctive That

“reversible”
The simple form of the verb when used after
It is well known that many residents of third certain verbs indicating that one person wants
world countries are dying another person to do something
Or
That many residents of third world countries advise, ask, command, decree, demand, insist,
are dying is well known move, order, prefer, propose, recommend,
request, require, stipulate, suggest, urge
Inclusive
Not only….but also • The judge insisted that the jury return a
verdict immediately
• Robert is not only talented but also • We urge that he leave now
handsome • The university requires that all its student
• Beth plays not only the guitar but also the take this course
violin
• He writes not only correctly but also And also for these verbs:
neatly Advised, necessary, recommended, urgent,

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 As well as important, obligatory, required, imperative,
mandatory, proposed, suggested
• Robert is talented as well as handsome
• Beth plays the guitar as well as the violin • It is necessary that he find the books
• He writes correctly as well as neatly • It was urgent that she leave at once
• Marta excels in math as well as in science • It is important that he forget the election
• The teacher, as well as her students, is
going to the concert
• My cousins, as well as Tim, have a test
Both….and Know/Know how

• Robert is both talented and handsome • Bill knows how to play tennis well
• Beth plays both the guitar and the violin • Maggie and her sister know how to prepare
• He writes both correctly and neatly Chinese food
• Paul Anka both plays the piano and • I didn’t know that you were going to France
composes music

Despite/Inspite of Although, even though, though

Despite/Inspite of + noun phrase Although, even though, though + S + Verb +

(complement)
• Despite his physical handicap, he has
become a successful businessman Although he has physical handicap, he has
become a successful businessman
• In spite of his physical handicap, he has
become a successful businessman

Rise Raise
“to get up, move up under one’s own power,
increase” “to lift or elevate an object, or to increase
something”
• The sun rises early in the summer
• When the bell rings, the students rise from • The students raise their hands in class
their seats • The crane raised the car out of the lake

Lie Lay
“to rest, repose, or to be situated in a place” “to put somebody or something in a surface”

• If the children are tired they should lie • Don’t lay your clothes on the bed
down for a nap • The enemy soldiers laid down their weapons
• Maria Elena lay on the beach for three and surrendered
hours

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 Sit Set
“to take a seat” “to put somebody or something on a surface or
in a place”
We are going to sit in the fifth row at the
opera • The little girl helps her father set the table
They have sat in the same position for two • The carpenters set their tools
hours

10 | T O E F L GRAMMAR POINTS -SUMMARIZED FROM BARRON’S TOEFL