ESL STATION

	ESL Station		Language Depot
	Grammar	Syntax/Writing	Punctuation	Vocabulary	Pronunciation	ESL Station

WORD FORM ACTIVITY

To understand the sense of a sentence well, it is necessary to understand the parts of speech and how a particular word relates to the other words in the sentence. The words that carry the most important information in a sentence are listed below. If you don't know these parts of speech, open the examples below and scroll down where necessary for good explanations of these parts of speech.

    • nouns (subjects or objects) [See Examples][Close Examples]

    • verbs (dynamic or stative) [See Examples][Close Examples]

    • Adjectives [See Examples][Close Examples]

    • Adverbs [See examples][Close Examples]

The grammar of the sentence is also important. For example, if you are choosing a verb, you need to know the time frame of the sentence and choose the appropriate verb tense and form. If you need a noun, you must read for singular or plural meaning and use the correct noun ending. You must also know the function and placement of adjectives and adverbs within the sentence.

Directions: Click the word that completes the sentence correctly. Green means your choice is correct; red, incorrect.

1. The landlord [evictsevicts /evictedevicted] two tenants because they had not [paying paying / paidpaid] their rent for several months.

2. When Lisa lost her job and couldn't pay her rent for two [monthsmonths / monthmonth], the landlord was very kind and allowed her to [deferreddefered / deferdefer] her payments for two months.

3. Not allowing undocumented residents to have a drivers license puts them in a(n) [tenabletenable / untenableuntenable] position. Such a law will only make it [necessarynecessary / necessitynecessity] for them to drive without a license.

4. The doctors said the baby would not live for more than two days. But the infant has been clinging [tenacioustenacious / tenaciouslytenaciously] to life for two weeks now.

5. After spending twenty-seven years as a political prisoner, Nelson Mandela [attainedattained / attainingattaining] not only his freedom but also worldwide renown as the leader of South Africa's democracy movement.

6. Although many [buildbuild / buildingsbuildings] in the downtown area are being [renovatedrenovated / renovationrenovation], the city is [retainingretaining / retainedretained] many [historichistoric / historyhistory] landmarks.

7. New [carcar / carscars] from Japan and Korea enter the port of Oakland in huge shipping [containercontainer /containerscontainers] on a regular basis.

8. The college has [havehave / hadhad ] to hire more custodians to [maintainsmaintains / maintain maintain] the new buildings.

9. Builders must reject building practices that are [inherentinherent / inherentlyinherently] wasteful and use alternative building materials in order to [sustainsustain / sustenancesustenance] the environment.

10. Sam wants to take an early course next semester, [preferablepreferable / preferablypreferably] one starting before eight in the morning.

11. Asian children are taught to respect and to show [deferdefer / deferencedeference] to their parents and grandparents.

12. Due to a serious leg [injuryinjury / injuredinjured], Bob got a month-long military [ deferreddeferred / defermentdeferment].