Chapter
The Written Expression Questions
Written expression questions that test your knowledge of the correct way to express yourself in English writing appear on both the paper TOEFL test and the computer TOEFL test. Each question consists of one sentence in which four words or groups of words have been underlined. You must choose the underlined word or group of words that is not correct. Look at an example of a written expression question from the paper TOEFL test.
Example from the Paper TOEFL® Test
A (A) nerve is actually (B) many nerve fiber (C) bound together (D).
In this example, you should notice that the plural quantifier many is accompanied by the singular noun fiber. Many should be accompanied by the plural noun fibers. You should choose answer (C) because answer (C) is not correct.
Now, look at an example of a written expression question from the computer TOEFL test.
Example from the Computer TOEFL® Test
Venus emits very intense radio waves of thermally origin.
In this example, you should notice that the adverb thermally is used to describe the noun origin. The adjective thermal should be used to describe the noun. You should click on the word thermally to answer this question because thermally is not correct.
PROCEDURES FOR THE WRITTEN EXPRESSION QUESTIONS
(Paper TOEFL® Test and Computer TOEFL® Tests)
- First, look at the underlined words or groups of words.
You want to see if you can spot which of the four answer choices is not correct. - If you have been unable to find the error by looking only at the four underlined expressions, then read the complete sentence.
Often an underlined expression is incorrect because of something in another part of the sentence.
Next, you should move on to the language skills. The following language skills will help you to implement the appropriate strategies and procedures in written expression questions on both the paper TOEFL test and the computer TOEFL test.
Topics
Problems With Subject/verb Agreement
Subject/verb agreement is simple: if the subject of a sentence is singular, then the verb must be singular; if the subject of the sentence is plural, then the verb must be plural. An s on a verb usually indicates that a verb is singular, while an s on a noun usually indicates that the noun is plural. (Do not forget irregular plurals of nouns, such as women, children, and people.) The boy walks to school. The boys walk to school. In the first example, the singular subject boy requires a singular verb, walks. In the second example, the plural subject boys requires a plural verb, walk. Although this might seem quite simple, there are a few situations on the TOEFL test when subject/verb agreement can be a little tricky. You should be careful of subject/verb agreement in the following situations: after prepositional phrases, after expressions of quantity, after inverted verbs, and after certain words, such as anybody, everything, no one, something, each, and every.
Problems With Parallel Structure
In good English an attempt should be made to make the language as even and balanced as possible. This balance is called “parallel structure.” You can achieve parallel structure by making the forms of words as similar as possible. The following is an example of a sentence that is not parallel: I like to sing and dancing.✱ The problem in this sentence is not the expression to sing, and the problem is not the word dancing. The expression to sing is correct by itself, and the word dancing is correct by itself. Both of the following sentences are correct: I like to sing. I like dancing. The problem in the incorrect example is that to sing and dancing are joined together in one sentence with and. They are different forms where it is possible to have similar forms; therefore, the example is not parallel.It can be corrected in two different ways: we can make the first expression like the second, or we can make the second expression like the first. I like to sing and to dance. I like singing and dancing. There are several situations in which you should be particularly careful of parallel structure. Parallel structures are required in the following situations: with coordinate conjunctions, such as and, but, or or; with paired conjunctions, such as both ... and, either ... or, neither ... nor, not only ... but also; and with comparisons.
Problems With Adjectives And Adverbs
Many different problems with adjectives and adverbs are possible in written expression questions on the TOEFL test. To identify these problems, you must first be able to recognize adjectives and adverbs. Often adverbs are formed by adding -ly to adjectives, and these -ly adverbs are very easy to recognize. The following examples show adverbs that are formed by adding -ly to adjectives: Adjective: recent, Adverb: recently Adjective: public, Adverb: publicly Adjective: evident, Adverb: evidently Tentu, ini adalah tulisan dari gambar tersebut, dengan bagian diagram panah yang sudah dimodifikasi ke dalam bentuk tulisan deskriptif. However, there are many adverbs in English that do not end in -ly. These adverbs can be recognized from their meanings. They can describe when something happens (often, soon, later), how something happens (fast, hard, well), or where something happens (here, there, nowhere). There are three skills involving adjectives and adverbs that will help you on written expression questions on the TOEFL test: (1) knowing when to use adjectives and adverbs, (2) using adjectives rather than adverbs after linking verbs, and (3) positioning adjectives and adverbs correctly.
More Problems With Adjectives
The previous section dealt with various problems related to both adjectives and adverbs. This section deals with a few problems that are related only to adjectives: (1) -ly adjectives, (2) predicate adjectives, and (3) -ed and -ing adjectives.
Problems With Articles
Articles are very difficult to learn because there are many rules, many exceptions, and many special cases. It is possible, however, to learn a few rules that will help you to use articles correctly much of the time. Nouns in English can be either countable or uncountable. If a noun is countable, it must be either singular or plural. In addition to these general types of nouns, there are two types of articles: definite (specific) and indefinite (general). Article Usage with Noun Types INDEFINITE (General) Countable Singular: a dollar, an apple Countable Plural: _______ dollars, _______ apples Uncountable: _______ money, _______ juice DEFINITE (Specific) Countable Singular: the dollar, the apple Countable Plural: the dollars, the apples Uncountable: the money, the juice
Problems With Prepositions
Prepositions can be used in two ways: in a literal way and in an idiomatic way. In the literal use, the preposition means exactly what you expect. The boy ran up the hill. She went in the house. In the first example, the preposition up means that the boy went in the direction up rather than down. In the second example, the preposition in means that she went into rather than out of the house. In the idiomatic use, which is what appears most often on the TOEFL test, the preposition appears in an idiomatic expression; that is, its meaning in this expression has nothing to do with the literal meaning. I call up my friend. He succeeded in passing the course. In the first example, the word up has nothing to do with the direction up. To call up someone means to telephone someone. In the second example, the word in has nothing to do with the meaning of into or inside; it is simply idiomatic that the word in is used after the verb succeed. It is impossible to list all potential idiomatic expressions with their prepositions because there are so many expressions that could appear on the TOEFL test. However, in this chapter you can practice recognizing problems with prepositions in TOEFL-type questions. Then, when you are working in written expression questions on the TOEFL test, you should be aware that idiomatic errors with prepositions are common in that section. There are two common types of problems with prepositions that you should expect: (1) incorrect prepositions and (2) omitted prepositions.
Problems With Usage
In English certain groups of words have similar uses, and these words are sometimes confused in written expression questions on the TOEFL test. Although various usage problems are possible on the TOEFL test, the following problems are the most common: (1) when to use make and do; (2) when to use like, unlike, and alike; and (3) when to use other, another, and others.
Problems With Comparatives And Superlatives
Sentences with incorrect comparatives and superlatives can appear on the TOEFL test. It is therefore important for you to know how to do the following: (1) form the comparative and superlative correctly; (2) use the comparative and superlative correctly; and (3) use the irregular -er, -er structure that has been appearing frequently on the TOEFL test.
Problems With The Form Of The Verb
It is common in written expression questions on the TOEFL test for the verbs to be formed incorrectly. Therefore, you should check the form of the verb carefully. You should be familiar with the following verb forms: the base form, the present tense, the present participle, the past, and the past participle. The following are examples of each of these verb forms as they are used in this text: BASE FORM walk hear cook sing come begin PRESENT walk(s) hear(s) cook(s) sing(s) come(s) begin(s) PRESENT PARTICIPLE walking hearing cooking singing coming beginning PAST walked heard cooked sang came began PAST PARTICIPLE walked heard cooked sung come began You should be particularly aware of the following three problematic situations with verbs because they are the most common and the easiest to correct: (1) check what comes after have; (2) check what comes after be; and (3) check what comes after will, would, and other modals. NOTE: A more complete list of verb forms and an exercise to practice their use are included at the back of the text in Appendix F. You may want to complete this exercise before you continue with skills 30 through 32.
Problems With The Use Of The Verb
Many different problems in using the correct verb tense are possible in English. However, four specific problems occur frequently on the TOEFL test, so you need to pay careful attention to these four: (1) knowing when to use the past with the present, (2) using had and have correctly, (3) using the correct tense with time expressions, and (4) using the correct tense with will and would.
Problems With Passive Verbs
Sentences in which the error is an incorrect passive are common in written expression questions on the TOEFL test. You therefore need to be able to recognize the correct form of the passive and to be able to determine when a passive verb rather than an active verb is needed in a sentence. The difference between an active and a passive verb is that the subject in an active sentence does the action of the verb, and the subject in a passive sentence receives the action of the verb. To convert a sentence from active to passive, two changes must be made. (1) The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence, while the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. (2) The verb in the passive sentence is formed by putting the helping verb be in the same form as the verb in the active sentence and then adding the past participle of this verb. Margaret wrote the letter. The letter was written by Margaret. The first example is an active sentence. To convert this active sentence to a passive sentence, you must first make the subject of the active sentence, Margaret, the object of the passive sentence with by. The object of the active sentence, letter, becomes the subject of the passive sentence. Next, the passive verb can be formed. Because wrote is in the past tense in the active sentence, the past tense of be (was) is used in the passive sentence. Then the verb wrote in the active sentence is changed to the past participle written in the passive sentence. It should be noted that in a passive sentence, by + object does not need to be included to have a complete sentence. The following are both examples of correct sentences. The letter was written yesterday by Margaret. The letter was written yesterday. Notice that these passive sentences are correct if by Margaret is included (as in the first example) or if by Margaret is omitted (as in the second example).
Problems With Nouns
The same types of problems with nouns appear often in written expression questions on the TOEFL test. You should be familiar with these problems so that you will recognize them easily. You should be able to do the following: (1) use the correct singular or plural noun, (2) distinguish countable and uncountable nouns, (3) recognize irregular singular and plural nouns, and (4) distinguish the person from the thing.
Problems With Pronouns
Pronouns are words, such as he, she, or it, that take the place of nouns. When you see a pronoun in written expression questions on the TOEFL test, you need to check that it serves the correct function in the sentence (as a subject or object, for example) and that it agrees with the noun it is replacing. The following pronoun problems are the most common on the TOEFL test: (1) distinguishing subject and object pronouns, (2) distinguishing possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives, and (3) checking pronoun reference for agreement.