Chapter

The Structure Questions

Multiple-choice questions that test your knowledge of the correct structure of English sentences appear on both the paper TOEFL test and the computer TOEFL test. Look at an example of a structure question from the paper TOEFL test.

Example from the Paper TOEFL® Test

A camel ____ 30 gallons of water in ten minutes.

(A) can drink

(B) it can drink

(C) a large drink of

(D) with a drink of

In this example, you should notice that the sentence has a subject camel but needs a verb. Answer (A) is the correct answer because it contains the verb can drink. Answer (B) is incorrect because it has the extra subject it, and answers (C) and (D) are incorrect because they do not have verbs. You should therefore choose answer (A).

Now, look at an example of a structure question from the computer TOEFL test.

Example from the Computer TOEFL® Test

____ a firefighting specialist from Texas, has dealt with numerous major fires worldwide.

Red Adair is
For Read Adair
Red Adair
In Red Adair's life

In this first example, you should notice that the sentence has a verb has dealt but needs a subject. The comma in front of the verb has indicates that specialist is an appositive and is not the subject. The third answer is the best answer because it contains the subject Red Adair. The first answer has an extra verb, and the second and fourth answers contain prepositional phrases, so these answers are incorrect. You should click on the third answer to this question.

PROCEDURES FOR THE STRUCTURE QUESTIONS

(Paper TOEFL® Test and Computer TOEFL® Test)

First, study the sentence. Your purpose is to determine what is needed to complete the sentence correctly.
Then study each answer based on how well it completes the sentence. Eliminate answers that do not complete the sentence correctly.
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.

Now, you should move on to the language skills. The following language skills will help you to implement these strategies and procedures in the structure questions of both the paper TOEFL test and the computer TOEFL test.

Topics

Sentence With One Clause

This topic group covers the most fundamental building block of English: the simple sentence, also known as a single clause. Before you can analyze complex structures, you must be able to confirm that every sentence has the two essential components it needs to be complete: a Subject and a Verb. A primary strategy on the TOEFL test is to present sentences where the subject or verb is missing, or where "distractors" are used to confuse the test-taker. In this section, you will master the foundational skills needed to identify these core components correctly. You will learn to: Find the Subject and Verb: Quickly verify that both a complete subject and a complete verb are present in the sentence. Avoid Subject Traps: Learn to identify and ignore Objects of Prepositions and Appositives. These are phrases that are often placed near the subject to trick you into thinking they are the subject. Avoid Verb Traps: Learn to distinguish a true sentence verb from Present Participles (verb-ing) and Past Participles (verb-ed/en), which often look like verbs but are functioning as adjectives.

Sentences With Multiple Clauses

Many sentences in English have more than one clause. (A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb.) Whenever you find a sentence on the TOEFL test with more than one clause, you need to make sure that every subject has a verb and every verb has subject. Next you need to check that the various clauses in the sentence are correctly joined. There are various ways to join clauses in English. Certain patterns appear frequently in English and on the TOEFL test. You should be very familiar with these patterns.

More Sentences With Multiple Clauses

As we saw in Skills 6 through 8, many sentences in English have more than one clause. In Skills 9 through 12, we will see more patterns for connecting the clauses in sentences with multiple clauses. Because these patterns appear frequently in English and on the TOEFL test, you should be very familiar with them.

Sentences With Reduced Clauses

It is possible in English for a clause to appear in a complete form or in a reduced form. My friend should be on the train which is arriving at the station now. Although it was not really difficult, the exam took a lot of time. The first sentence shows an adjective clause in its complete form, which is arriving at the station now, and in its reduced form, arriving at the station now. The second sentence shows an adverb clause in its complete form, although it was not really difficult, and its reduced form, although not really difficult. The two types of clauses that can reduce in English are: (!) adjective clauses and (2) adverb clauses. It is important to become familiar with these reduced clauses because they appear frequently on the TOEFL test.

Sentences With Inverted Subjects And Verbs

Subjects and verbs are inverted in a variety of situations in English. Inverted subjects and verbs occur most often in the formation of a question. To form a question with a helping verb (be, have, can, could, will, would, etc.), the subject and helping verb are inverted. He can go to the movies. Can he go to the movies? You would tell me the truth. Would you tell me the truth? She was sick yesterday. Was she sick yesterday? To form a question when there is no helping verb in the sentence, the helping verb do is used. He goes to the movies. Does he go to the movies? You told me the truth. Did you tell me the truth? There are many other situations in English when subjects and verbs are inverted, but if you just remember this method of inverting subjects and verbs, you will be able to handle the other situations. The most common problems with inverted subjects and verbs on the TOEFL test occur in the following situations: with question words such as what, when, where, why, and how; after some place expressions; after negative expressions; in some conditionals; and after some comparisons.