MLAT Grammatical Structure & Syntax Recognition 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Choose the sentence that avoids a dangling modifier.
- After finishing the exam, the students left the room. (Correct answer)
- After finishing the exam, the room was empty.
- Having completed the test, silence filled the hall.
- To pass the test, practice must be done daily.
Correct answer: After finishing the exam, the students left the room.
Only in option A does the subject ('the students') logically perform the action in the modifier ('After finishing the exam').
Question 2: In 'The faster you drive, the greater the risk,' what syntactic pattern is used?
- Correlative comparative construction (Correct answer)
- Parallel infinitive structure
- Conditional subordination
- Appositive expansion
Correct answer: Correlative comparative construction
The 'the…the…' pattern is a correlative comparative construction expressing proportional relationships.
Question 3: Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?
- He almost drove his children to school every day. (Correct answer)
- She nearly missed the entire concert.
- The dog only bit the mail carrier twice.
- They barely survived the harsh winter.
Correct answer: He almost drove his children to school every day.
'Almost' is misplaced; it modifies 'drove' instead of 'every day'—meaning he nearly didn't drive at all, not that he drove on most days.
Question 4: What is the grammatical term for 'her singing' in 'We appreciated her singing'?
- Gerund phrase functioning as direct object (Correct answer)
- Present participle modifying 'her'
- Infinitive phrase as object complement
- Nominative absolute
Correct answer: Gerund phrase functioning as direct object
'Her singing' is a gerund phrase (noun function) serving as the direct object of 'appreciated.'
Question 5: Identify the sentence with correct parallel structure.
- She likes hiking, swimming, and cycling. (Correct answer)
- She likes to hike, swimming, and to cycle.
- She likes hiking, to swim, and cycling.
- She likes to hike, swim, and cycling.
Correct answer: She likes hiking, swimming, and cycling.
All three activities use the gerund (-ing) form, maintaining grammatical parallelism.
Question 6: In 'It is important that he arrive on time,' what mood is the verb 'arrive'?
- Subjunctive (Correct answer)
- Indicative
- Imperative
- Conditional
Correct answer: Subjunctive
The base form 'arrive' (instead of 'arrives') signals the subjunctive mood used in 'that' clauses after expressions of importance or necessity.
Question 7: What is the function of the colon in: 'She had one goal: to win the championship.'?
- To introduce a noun phrase that explains 'goal' (Correct answer)
- To separate two independent clauses of equal weight
- To signal a parenthetical aside
- To introduce a list of multiple items
Correct answer: To introduce a noun phrase that explains 'goal'
Here the colon introduces an appositive noun phrase that renames and clarifies the preceding noun 'goal.'
MLAT Grammatical Structure & Syntax Recognition 3
Choose the sentence that avoids a dangling modifier.