Test your grammar for Delta
Before you start a Delta course, and certainly before you take
the Module One examination or try for Module Two, you need to be
sure that your knowledge of English grammar is up to the challenge.
If English is not your first language and you have learned it in a
formal grammar-based way, you are probably fine but if English is
your first language or you have not formally learned the grammar
(e.g., if you have acquired English as a second (third, fourth etc.)
language rather than learned it) you probably need to do a bit of
work.
There is an exemplified glossary of simple grammar terms in the CELTA /
initial training section of this site. If you would like to
look at that first, click
here (new tab).
Alternatively, there is a much fuller (and longer) glossary of
grammar, lexis and phonology which also contains links to guides on
this site for more detail and study. Get that
here.
Here's what to do:
- Take the test by clicking on the link below.
- At the end of the test, make a note of your score and use
the button:
to come back to this page. - Use the data below to check what grammar you should be learning / studying / revising for Delta.
| First | Start the test | and make sure you make a note of your score at the end |
| Second | Check your score | and see the right answers as well as some advice |
| All the links in the following open in a new tab. | |
| Below 60% |
That's pretty poor. You need to do three things very
soon:
If you don't know the difference between a subject
and an object or your complement from your elbow, it may
be wise to do the
course in language analysis |
| 60 to 80% |
That's not awful – some of the questions were quite
hard – but not really good enough, either. You
need to get hold of a good reference grammar, rather than
one designed for your students. There is a list of these sorts of grammars on this site. You could usefully go to the guides for teachers on in-service courses on this site and select areas you don't know much about, plan a lesson in that area and teach it. |
| Over 80% | That's a pretty good score. There are probably some areas of grammar you need to learn about (cleft sentences, perhaps?) so you could usefully go to the guides for teachers on in-service courses on this site and select areas you don't know much about, plan a lesson in that area and teach it. |
Here is a list of the right answers to each of the questions
and a link to take you to the relevant guide for that area.
Obviously, a 25-question test can't cover everything but it is a
place to start.
You might also usefully look at
the A-Z index
to see if there are any other mysterious (to you) areas.
There is
a more searching 50-item
test here which covers some of the same ground but also some
different areas.
It, too, has a key and some suggested links as below.
| No. | Question and right answer | Link |
| 1 |
In this sentence, I'd like two slices of cake, please., the word cake is a mass noun made countable with a partitive |
Go here |
| 2 |
In this sentence, They'll have been driving all night.,
the tense is future perfect progressive |
Go here |
| 3 |
In this sentence, I think it's dead easy.,
the word dead is an intensifying adverbial |
Go here |
| 4 |
In this sentence, I seldom enjoy his company.,
the word seldom is an adverb of time |
Go here |
| 5 |
In this sentence, Technically, it's called a
grommet., the word technically is a viewpoint adjunct |
Go here |
| 6 |
In this sentence, He looks exhausted., the word
looks is a copular verb |
Go here |
| 7 |
This sentence, The hotel was what she enjoyed most. is a reversed wh-cleft |
Go here |
| 8 |
This sentence, Mary didn't believe him although he seemed
very sure. is a complex sentence |
Go here |
| 9 |
In this sentence, Mary didn't believe him although
he seemed very sure., the word although is a subordinating conjunction |
Go here |
| 10 |
In this sentence, It was important that he be
there., the word be is in the subjunctive mood |
Go here |
| 11 |
This phrase, the government's policy is an example of a descriptive genitive |
Go here |
| 12 |
In this sentence, She daren't phone her mother.,
the word dare is a semi-modal auxiliary verb |
Go here |
| 13 |
In this sentence, She needs more time., the word
need is a lexical or main verb |
|
| 14 |
Prepositions can be described as a closed class of function words |
Go here |
| 15 |
In this sentence, I am loving this., the word
love is an opinion verb used dynamically |
Go here |
| 16 |
This sentence, At the first meeting, which was held
yesterday, the chair invited comments from everyone.
contains a non-defining relative clause |
Go here |
| 17 |
This sentence, She liked the car he arrived in. contains a relative clause with omitted relative pronoun because it stands for the object |
|
| 18 |
In this sentence, I thought long and hard about not
telling you., the word telling is a gerund |
Go here |
| 19 |
In I gave it to him. we have three types of pronoun: nominative, accusative and dative |
Go here |
| 20 |
In The old house with a thatched roof,
the words old and thatched are,
respectively an adjective and a classifier |
Go here |
| 21 |
She spoke to the man behind the bar. is ambiguous
because the prepositional phrase can be acting as a noun post-modifier or an adverbial |
Go here |
| 22 |
We prefer to say: It's a shame that it's raining.
instead of That it's raining is a shame because English conforms to end weighting |
Go here |
| 23 |
In the question: Do you know where John is living now?,
the clause where John is living now is a nominalised clause acting as the object of the verb |
Go here |
| 24 |
How many non-finite verb forms are there in English? What
are they? Three: gerund, participle and infinitive |
Go here |
| 25 |
In the question: Will you do half this work?, the
word half is a pre-determiner |
Go here |