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Structure question is the question where a
part of the sentence is blank. You need to
choose the answer that completes the
sentence in a grammatically correct way
• 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
• Never leave any answers blank. Be sure to answer each question even if you are
unsure of the correct response.
• Do not spend too much time on the Structure questions.
You know that a 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 sentence is missing
either the subject or the verb or both, or perhaps the sentence
has an extra subject or verb.
Example:
____________was backed up for miles on the
freeway.
(A) Yesterday
(B) In the morning
(C) Traffic
(D) Cars
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”.
An object of a preposition can cause confusion in the Structure
section of the TOEFL.
Example:
With his friend ___________ found the movie theater.
(A) has
(B) he
(C) later
(D) when
Appositives 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.”
Student here is the appositive of Sally.
Example:
___________, George, is attending the lecture.
(A) Right now
(B) Happily
(C) Because of the time
(D) My friend
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 is part of the verb when it is preceded by some form
of the verb be.
The man is talking to his friend.
VERB
The man talking to his friend has a beard.
ADJECTIVE
The following example shows how a present participle can be
confused with the verb in the Structure section of the TOEFL
test.
The child ______________ playing in the yard is my son.
(A) now
(B) is
(C) he
(D) was
Past participles can cause confusion in the Structure section of the
TOEFL test because a past participle can be either an adjective or
a part of a verb. The past participle is the form of the verb that
appears with have or be. It often ends in -ed, but there are also
many irregular past participles in English.
The family has purchased a television. The television purchased yesterday was expensive.
VERB ADJECTIVE
The poem was written by Paul. The poem written by Paul appeared in the magazine.
VERB ADJECTIVE
The following example shows how a past participle can be
confused with the verb in
the structure section of the TOEFL test.
The packages ________ mailed at the post office will arrive Monday.
(A) have
(B) were
(C) them
(D) just
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 a 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.
When you have two clauses in an English sentence, you must
connect the two clauses correctly. One way to connect two
clauses is to use and, but, or, so, of yet between the clauses.
• Tom is singing, and Paul is dancing.
• Tom is tall, but Paul is short.
• Tom must write the letter, or Paul will do it.
• Tom told a joke, so Paul laughed.
• Tom is tired, yet he is not going to sleep.
Example
A power failure occurred, ________ the lamps went out.
(A) then
(B) so
(C) later
(D) next
Sentences with adverb clauses have two basic patterns in
English. Study the clauses and connectors in the following
sentences:
• I will sign the check before you leave.
• Before you leave, I will sign the check.
• Teresa went inside because it was raining.
• Because it was raining, Teresa went inside.
Example:
___________ was late, I missed the appointment.
(A) I
(B) Because
(C) The train
(D) Since he
A noun clause is a clause that functions as a noun; because the
noun clause is a noun, it is used in a sentence as either an
object of a verb, an object of a preposition, or the subject of the
sentence.
• I know when he will arrive.
NOUN CLAUSE AS OBJECT OF VERB
• I am concerned about when he will arrive.
NOUN CLAUSE ASOBJECT OF PREPOSITION
• When he will arrive is not important.
NOUN CLASS AS SUBJECT
Example
_____________ was late caused many problems.
(A) That he
(B) The driver
(C) There
(D) Because
An adjective clause is a clause that describes a noun. Because
the clause is an adjective, it is positioned directly after the
noun that it describes.
• The woman is filling the glass that she put on the table.
Adjective clause
• The glass that she put on the table contains milk.
Adjective clause
Example:
The gift __________ selected for the bride was rather expensive.
(A) because
(B) was
(C) since
(D) which we
