GRAMMAR 1A MOCK EXAM – KEY
80,5 punten: normering 70%  24,5 fouten of score 56 is een 5,5
1) Articles. Put in ‘a’ / ‘an’ / ‘–’ (= no article) and give the grammar rule.
7,5 punten: ½ voor antwoord, 1 voor regel
1. They appointed him ……… general manager at the age of 23.
–; no article is used when the position can be held by one person at a time
2. You can’t go there without ……… visa.
a; we use the indefinite article after without
3. At ……… request of my parents, I visit them twice a month.
the; the definite article is used in this expression
4. What ……… strange haircuts teenagers have these days.
–; no indefinite article (after what) before plural (or uncountable) nouns
5. Please do not use your tray as ………. ashtray.
An; we use the indefinite article after as (before a noun starting with a vowel sound)
2) Fill in the correct forms of the nouns and the adjectives (comparative and superlative forms).if
there are more possibilities, please give them all.
11 punten; bij twee vormen voor elk ½ punt.
1. The (poppy) in that flower shop are (expensive) than in this one.
Poppies; more expensive
2. (Sheep) are (boring) animals in the world.
Sheep; most boring
3. If you want to keep your (tooth) healthy and strong, you need to start eating
(wholesome) food than you do now.
Teeth; wholesomer / more wholesome
4. Greece has met with severe (stadium) of economic (crisis)
Stadiums/stadia; crises
5. (DVD) are hardly used by teachers anymore, since the Cloud provides a (suitable)
teaching device now.
DVDs; more suitable
6. I never heard a (stupid) thing in my life.
Stupider/more stupid
3) The genitive. Complete the news story with expressions from the box. Don’t forget to add /’s/ or
/’/. The first answer has been given.
8 punten
a man
the other children
children
girls
the shopkeeper
Josie and Cara
their grandmother 
local people
their grandparents
POLICE LOOKING FOR TWO YOUNG GIRLS
The two girls disappeared from their grandmother’s garden in Ilkley yesterday evening.
Josie and Cara Sharp, aged 7 and 9, were staying at (1) ………………………………… for a week.
They were in Ilkley for a (2) ………………………………… theatre course. The police have asked
the course teachers for (3) ………………………………… names and addresses, and they have
also put (4) ………………………………… photos on local television. The two (5)
………………………………… mother, Mrs Jenna Sharp, has appeared on TV as well. A
shopkeeper thinks she saw Josie and Cara getting into (6) ………………………………… car;
police officers have asked for (7) ………………………………… help with a photofit picture of the
man. The police have also got (8) ………………………………… help in looking for the girls near
the town.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
their grandparents’
children’s
the other children’s
Josie and Cara’s
girls’
a man’s
local people’s
the shopkeeper’s (evt. 7 en 8 omgedraaid)
4) In the news story, you have used different types of genitive. For numbers 1, 2 and 3, in
assignment 3 above write down the type of genitive you used. 3 punten
1. local genitive
2. classifying genitive
3. specifying genitive
5) The genitive. Choose the correct form and explain your choice.
7,5 punten: ½ voor antwoord, 1 voor regel
1. She is a John’s friend / a friend of John / a friend of John’s.
a friend of John’s: the double genitive is used when the head is preceded by an indefinite
article
2. Please do not put your cup on the chair’s arm / the arm of the chair.
the arm of the chair: things take an of-phrase
3. That was a really good idea of Maggie / Maggie’s.
Maggie’s: the double genitive is used when the head is preceded by a demonstrative
pronoun / indefinite article
4. My cat’s / My cats’ toys are ridiculously expensive. She is a high-maintenance pet.
my cat’s: ’s is used after singular personal nouns (she refers back to one cat)
5. Fear? He does not know the meaning of the word / the word’s meaning.
the meaning of the word: things take an of-phrase
6) Adjectives and adverbs. Choose the right words and explain your choice.
5 punten: ½ voor antwoord, ½ voor regel
1. I have got three sisters. Jane’s the older / elder / eldest.
eldest: when referring to family relationships, we use elder/eldest; here, the superlative
form should be used
2. Do you feel better then / than / as yesterday?
than: we use than after comparatives
3. The doctors are going to do further / farther / furthest / farthest tests.
further: when used figuratively (not referring to distance), we use further
4. This hotel is the worse / worse / worst / the worst I’ve stayed in.
the worst: we use the + the superlative of the adjective meaning ‘compared to anything
else’
5. More / How more / The more I listen to him, the boreder / how boreder / the more bored I
become.
The more, the more bored: we use the + comparative, the + comparative for parallel
increase (bored takes more and most, as an exception to the one-syllable rule)
7) Adverbs. Copy the sentences below and fill in the correct form of the adverb (a). Also, explain
what type of adverb it is (b) and what word or phrase in the sentence it refers to (c).
7 ½ punten: steeds ½ voor a, b en c
Example: He visits his parents. (regular)
a. He regularly visits his parents.
b. adverb of frequency
c. refers to the verb ‘visits’
1. a. The author writes really beautiful novels.
The author really writes beautiful novels.
b. adverb of degree / manner / comment
c. refers to the adjective beautiful /verb writes
2. a. Surprisingly, our neighbours have spent their fortune on a new yacht.
Our neighbours have spent their fortune on a surprisingly new yacht
Our neighbours have surprisingly spent their fortune on a new yacht
b. adverb of comment / ‘degree’ / manner
c. refers to the whole sentence / the adjective new / the verb spent
3. a. You will probably know that becoming a teacher is not easy.
You will know that becoming a teacher is probably not easy.
b. adverb of probability / ‘degree’
c. refers to the verb know / the adjective easy
4. a. Recently, interest rates have been increased.
Interest rates have recently been increased.
Interest rates have been increased recently.
b. adverb of time
c. refers to the entire sentence / the verb increased / the verb increased
5. a. He arrived extremely soon after I had phoned for help.
b. adverb of degree
c. refers to the adverb soon
8) Numerals: fill in the gaps in the diary entry below by translating the words in between
brackets. If the numbers are written in full then also write them in full in English; if they are
in numbers then please give the English number.
8 punten
………………………………. (1. dinsdag, 30 oktober)
Almost at the end of this test I will now start at the ………. (2. achtste) assignment; it is
about numerals and it seems that are quite some difference between Dutch and English.
We had to study……….. (3. tientallen) rules. I think that ………. (4. drie negende) of the
rules concern these differences and one can go wrong in at least ………. (5. honderdvijftig)
cases. I vaguely remember that my teacher at secondary school taught us about a ……….
(6. vijftien – nul) score in tennis. If I am not careful now this might be my ………. (7. 22ste)
error in this exam. But then again, at least ………. (8. 150.000) students must have suffered
similar doubts before me. So let’s now finish the last two assignments of this test.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Tuesday, 30 October / October 30 / 30th October / October 30th
Eighth
Dozens of
Three ninths
a/one hundred and fifty
fifteen – love
22nd
150,000
9) Error analysis. The sentences below may contain one mistake or they may be correct. For each
number, copy the incorrect word(s) and give the correct version or state that the sentence is
correct. Also give the rule.
18 punten; 1 voor de corrective en 1 voor de regel of voor correct
1. My father goes frequently abroad.
goes frequently  frequently goes / goes frequently abroad  goes abroad frequently
adverb of frequency precedes the verb, if there is only one verb / or it takes end position
2. According to my neighbour it is permissible to kill thiefs if you catch them.
Thiefs  thieves
The plural of thief is thieves
3. You can’t go out into the rain without a coat!
Correct
4. My business partner and I always meet for the lunch.
For the lunch  for lunch
meals do not get a definite article when used in general
5. I bought two pairs of tights to go with that new dress.
correct
6. Grammar is a subject that you need to study systematicly.
Systematicly  systematically
adjectives ending in –ic take ically when changed into an adverb
7. Two fifths of our students has chosen to go and study abroad for a year.
Has  have
When fractions are followed by a plural noun the verb is also plural
8. The autumn is Gerrit Hiemstra’s favourite season.
The autumn  autumn
Seasons do not take a definite article when used in general
9. The police is working very hard to find the person who posted tweets about a new Project X.
Is working  are working
Police always takes a plural verb
10. That novelist has just started to write his fourty-ninth novel.
Fourty-ninth  forty-ninth
40 is spelled without the u
10) Revision of all chapters. Decide for these statements whether they are true or false: write
down T for true or F for false. 5 punten, per item ½
1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. F
6. F
7. T
8. T
9. T
10. F
In de opdrachten 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 en 9 wordt ook naar de regel gevraagd: 43 ½ punten uit 78 (iets
minder dan 60%)