NBT NBT Sentence Construction and Grammar 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly uses 'who' vs. 'whom'?
- Who did you speak with about the project? (Correct answer)
- Whom called the office this morning?
- To who should I address the letter?
- Whom do you think will win?
Correct answer: Who did you speak with about the project?
'Who' is used as a subject; 'whom' is used as an object — here 'who' is the object of the preposition 'with,' but informal usage accepts it.
Question 2: Identify the run-on sentence:
- I wanted to leave; however, I stayed.
- I wanted to leave, but I stayed.
- I wanted to leave I stayed anyway. (Correct answer)
- Although I wanted to leave, I stayed.
Correct answer: I wanted to leave I stayed anyway.
Two independent clauses joined with no punctuation or conjunction create a run-on sentence.
Question 3: Which option best combines these two sentences? 'The storm was severe. It caused widespread flooding.'
- The storm was severe, it caused widespread flooding.
- The storm was severe; consequently, it caused widespread flooding. (Correct answer)
- The storm was severe and widespread flooding was caused.
- The storm was severe, caused widespread flooding.
Correct answer: The storm was severe; consequently, it caused widespread flooding.
A conjunctive adverb ('consequently') with a semicolon correctly links two related independent clauses.
Question 4: Choose the sentence that correctly uses a colon:
- She bought: apples, bananas, and grapes.
- The list included: red, blue, and green.
- He had one goal: to finish the race. (Correct answer)
- They needed: to study more carefully.
Correct answer: He had one goal: to finish the race.
A colon follows a complete independent clause and introduces an explanation or list.
Question 5: Which sentence uses the correct verb tense sequence?
- By the time she arrived, he already left.
- By the time she arrives, he had already left.
- By the time she arrived, he had already left. (Correct answer)
- By the time she had arrived, he already leaves.
Correct answer: By the time she arrived, he had already left.
The past perfect ('had left') expresses an action completed before another past action ('arrived').
Question 6: Select the sentence that avoids a comma splice:
- The results were surprising, no one expected them.
- The results were surprising, they shocked everyone.
- The results were surprising; no one expected them. (Correct answer)
- The results were surprising, and no one did not expect them.
Correct answer: The results were surprising; no one expected them.
A comma splice is corrected by replacing the comma with a semicolon between two independent clauses.
Question 7: Which sentence uses 'less' and 'fewer' correctly?
- There are less students in the class today.
- There is fewer water in the bottle.
- She has fewer worries and less stress now. (Correct answer)
- We need less chairs and fewer time.
Correct answer: She has fewer worries and less stress now.
'Fewer' is used with countable nouns ('worries') and 'less' with uncountable nouns ('stress').
NBT NBT Sentence Construction and Grammar 5
Which sentence correctly uses 'who' vs. 'whom'?