Sentence Structure and Syntax Flashcards

Choose the option that correctly completes the sentence: "Not until the final results were published ___ how badly the negotiations had gone."

Answer: did she realise

When a sentence starts with a restrictive negative expression such as 'Not until...', the main clause needs subject-auxiliary inversion. In the past simple the auxiliary 'did' goes before the subject and the main verb stays in its base form: 'did she realise'. 'She realised' and 'she did realise' keep normal word order. 'Realised she' inverts the lexical verb, which modern English does not allow.

Which sentence is grammatically and logically well-formed?

Answer: Having been delayed by fog for six hours, most of the passengers missed their connecting flight.

The implied subject of an introductory participle clause has to match the subject of the main clause. The passengers were delayed by fog, so 'most of the passengers' must be the main-clause subject. The other options make the flight, the gerund 'missing', or the dummy 'it' the subject, which leaves the participle dangling.

Choose the option that correctly completes this mixed conditional: "___ the engineers' warning last year, we would not be facing such costly repairs now."

Answer: Had we heeded

The condition is about the past ('last year') and the result is about the present ('now'), so this is a mixed conditional. The if-clause needs the past perfect, and with inversion that becomes 'Had we heeded' (= If we had heeded). 'Were we to heed' refers to a hypothetical future. 'Should we have heeded' is not a standard inverted conditional form. 'Did we heed' cannot replace 'if' through inversion.

Choose the option that correctly completes the pseudo-cleft sentence: "When the manager rejected his proposal, all he did was ___ the door behind him without a word."

Answer: slam

In a pseudo-cleft built on the verb 'do' (All he did was... / What she does is...), the focused part after 'be' is normally a bare infinitive, even when the sentence is in the past: 'all he did was slam'. The tense is already carried by 'did', so 'slammed' repeats it. 'Slamming' is the wrong form after 'do'. 'To have slammed' adds a perfect aspect that does not belong here.

Choose the option that correctly completes the formal sentence: "The review committee recommended that the funding proposal ___ in full before the end of the quarter."

Answer: be resubmitted

Verbs of suggestion or demand, such as recommend, insist, require and propose, take the mandative subjunctive in formal English. That means the base form of the verb for every subject and with no tense shift: 'that the proposal be resubmitted'. 'Was resubmitted' reports a past fact rather than a recommendation. 'Resubmits' is active and indicative. 'To be resubmitted' cannot follow a 'that' clause.

Choose the option that correctly completes the sentence using ellipsis: "I'd genuinely like to help you move house this weekend, but I'm not sure I'll be able ___."

Answer: to

English allows the verb phrase after the infinitive marker to be left out when it repeats an earlier one. The 'to' stays and stands for the whole phrase: 'I'll be able to [help you move house]'. 'Able it' and 'able so' are ungrammatical because 'be able' needs an infinitive. 'To do' leaves the transitive verb 'do' without an object, so you would need 'to do so' or 'to do it'.