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GCSE · Grammar

Y11.7 GCSE Exam Style Grammar Questions

Calculators not allowed · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. This paper mixes grammar, punctuation, register, vocabulary and technical-accuracy questions in exam style, drawing together everything covered across the Year 10-11 grammar series. In this pack, where a dash is needed to mark off extra information in a sentence, it is printed as a hyphen with a space on each side ( - ), in line with house style.

Read each sentence below. For each part, state whether it is a simple, compound, complex or compound-complex sentence.

(a)'The bell rang loudly.'(1)

(b)'The bell rang loudly, and the students filed out of the hall.'(1)

(c)'Although the bell rang loudly, several students carried on working.'(1)

(d)'The bell rang loudly, and although several students carried on working, most filed out of the hall.'(1)

(e)'The teacher and the technician tested the projector and the speakers.'(1)

(Total for Question 1 is 5 marks)

Here are eight statements about grammar and technical accuracy. Choose the FOUR statements that are TRUE.
A. A relative clause introduced by 'which' and marked off by a pair of commas usually adds extra, removable information (it is non-defining).
B. 'We was' is an accepted form of Standard English in formal writing.
C. Switching tense partway through a piece of narrative writing, with no clear reason, is a technical accuracy error.
D. A comma splice is the grammatically correct way to join two complete sentences.
E. The prefix 'sub-' generally means 'under' or 'below', as in 'submarine'.
F. A fronted subordinate clause should never be followed by a comma.
G. A rhetorical question is a technique used in persuasive writing to make the reader consider a point without expecting a literal answer.
H. An apostrophe should always be added before the 's' whenever a noun is simply made plural.

(Total for Question 2 is 4 marks)

State the grammatical function of the apostrophe in EACH of the following sentences.

(a)'The student's essay impressed the examiner.'(1)

(b)'The students' essays impressed the examiner.'(1)

(c)'I'll finish the essay tonight.'(1)

(Total for Question 3 is 3 marks)

State the meaning of the underlined prefix or suffix in each word below.

(a)the prefix 'in-' in 'inaccurate'(1)

(b)the prefix 'trans-' in 'transcribe'(1)

(c)the suffix '-ology' in 'psychology'(1)

(d)the suffix '-ise' in 'modernise'(1)

(Total for Question 4 is 4 marks)

State whether the register of each phrase below is formal or informal.

(a)'kids these days just don't care about anything'(1)

(b)'young people today frequently display limited engagement with civic responsibility'(1)

(c)'honestly, it's gonna be totally epic'(1)

(Total for Question 5 is 3 marks)

Rewrite each sentence below in Standard English.

(a)'I never done nothing wrong.'(1)

(b)'They was late again.'(1)

(c)'Me and him went to the shop.'(1)

(Total for Question 6 is 3 marks)

Look at these two sentences.
Sentence 1: 'The candidates who arrived late were not allowed extra time.'
Sentence 2: 'My sister, who arrived late, was not allowed extra time.'

(a)Which sentence contains a non-defining relative clause?(1)

(b)Explain how you know, using the comma test.(1)

(Total for Question 7 is 2 marks)

State the verb tense used in each sentence below.

(a)'She has finished her coursework.'(1)

(b)'She had finished her coursework before the deadline.'(1)

(c)'She finishes her coursework tonight.'(1)

(Total for Question 8 is 3 marks)

Name the persuasive technique used in each example below.

(a)'Have you ever stopped to wonder how much plastic we throw away each day?'(1)

(b)'We need cleaner streets, safer parks and healthier air.'(1)

(c)'You know as well as I do that change starts with us.'(1)

(d)'Every single day, another species disappears forever.'(1)

(Total for Question 9 is 4 marks)

Combine each pair of simple sentences into one sentence, using the method named in each part.

(a)Combine using a semicolon: 'The results were announced. The whole school cheered.'(2)

(b)Combine using a subordinating conjunction, with the subordinate clause fronted: 'The rain became heavier. The match was abandoned.'(2)

(c)Combine using a non-defining relative clause, punctuated correctly: 'The head of year praised the team. The head of year had watched every match.'(2)

(d)Combine into one sentence, opening with a present participle (-ing) non-finite clause: 'Maya checked her results online. She rushed to tell her friends.'(2)

(Total for Question 10 is 8 marks)

Add the missing punctuation to this sentence so that it correctly shows direct speech: are you ready to go asked leah checking her watch

(Total for Question 11 is 3 marks)

Add the missing punctuation named in each part.

(a)Add a colon: 'The kit list was clear waterproofs, boots and a torch.'(1)

(b)Add the missing comma(s): 'The stall sold bread cheese and olives.'(1)

(c)Add a pair of dashes ( - ) to mark the extra information as parenthesis: 'The final whistle which nobody had expected so soon brought the game to an end.'(1)

(Total for Question 12 is 3 marks)

Rewrite this sentence in formal Standard English, suitable for a school report: 'yeah basically the results were sound and everyone was buzzing'

(Total for Question 13 is 3 marks)

Rewrite this passage, correcting the three tense errors so that the verbs are consistently in the past tense: 'Yesterday, Sam walks to school and meets his friend Tom. They talked about the match and eat their lunch together.'

(Total for Question 14 is 3 marks)

Form a new word using the prefix or suffix named in each part.

(a)Add the prefix 'mis-' to 'understand' to make a word meaning 'to understand wrongly'.(1)

(b)Add the suffix '-ness' to 'kind' to make a noun.(1)

(c)Add the prefix 'inter-' to 'national' to make a word meaning 'between nations'.(1)

(Total for Question 15 is 3 marks)

Identify and correct the punctuation error in this sentence: 'The two team's captains shook hands before kick-off.'

(Total for Question 16 is 2 marks)

Identify and correct the punctuation error in this sentence: 'The whistle blew, the players stopped immediately.'

(Total for Question 17 is 2 marks)

Identify and correct the punctuation error in this sentence: 'Because the coach arrived late. The warm-up was rushed.'

(Total for Question 18 is 2 marks)

Identify and correct the tense error in this sentence: 'She trains every morning and then went for a swim.'

(Total for Question 19 is 2 marks)

Below is a paragraph with several errors of capitalisation, punctuation, apostrophes and spelling. Rewrite it correctly, correcting every error you can find.

'the head boy who everyone respected always spoke clearly, he never used slang in assembly's. he new how important good grammar is for every student.'

(Total for Question 20 is 6 marks)

Write a short paragraph (approximately 90-110 words) for a school newsletter, encouraging students to attend a revision workshop before their exams.
Your paragraph must include: one semicolon, one relative clause (defining or non-defining, correctly punctuated), one fronted subordinate clause, and one correctly used apostrophe (possessive or contraction). Underline and label each of these four features clearly in your answer.

(Total for Question 21 is 12 marks)

Write the opening (approximately 150-200 words) of a persuasive speech to your school on why students should take grammar and technical accuracy seriously, deliberately varying your sentence and clause structures for effect.
(10 marks are available for the content and organisation of your answer, and 6 marks for the technical accuracy of your writing.)

(Total for Question 22 is 16 marks)

Mark scheme · Y11.7 GCSE Exam Style Grammar Questions

Question 1

(a) B1 simple sentence (cao)
(a) Answer: Simple sentence
(b) B1 compound sentence (cao)
(b) Answer: Compound sentence
(c) B1 complex sentence (cao)
(c) Answer: Complex sentence
(d) B1 compound-complex sentence (cao)
(d) Answer: Compound-complex sentence
(e) B1 simple sentence (cao)
(e) Answer: Simple sentence

Question 2

B1 A selected (true)
B1 C selected (true)
B1 E selected (true)
B1 G selected (true)
Answer: A, C, E and G are true. B is false ('we was' is a non-standard dialect form; Standard English requires 'we were'); D is false (a comma splice is a punctuation error, not a correct join); F is false (a fronted subordinate clause is usually followed by a comma); H is false (a simple plural never takes an apostrophe).

Question 3

(a) B1 singular possession (the essay belongs to one student)
(a) Answer: singular possession
(b) B1 plural possession (the essays belong to more than one student)
(b) Answer: plural possession
(c) B1 contraction/omission (apostrophe replaces the missing letters in 'I will')
(c) Answer: contraction (of 'I will')

Question 4

(a) B1 'not', giving 'not accurate' (oe); other examples: informal, invisible
(a) Answer: 'not' (inaccurate = not accurate)
(b) B1 'across' or 'beyond' (oe); other examples: transport, transatlantic
(b) Answer: 'across' or 'beyond' (transcribe = to write across/over into another form)
(c) B1 'the study of' (oe); other examples: biology, geology
(c) Answer: 'the study of' (psychology = the study of the mind)
(d) B1 'to make or become' (turns an adjective/noun into a verb) (oe); other examples: realise, sympathise
(d) Answer: 'to make or become' (modernise = to make modern)

Question 5

(a) B1 informal (cao)
(a) Answer: Informal
(b) B1 formal (cao)
(b) Answer: Formal
(c) B1 informal (cao)
(c) Answer: Informal

Question 6

(a) B1 removes the double negative, e.g. 'I never did anything wrong.' or 'I did nothing wrong.' (oe)
(a) Answer: I never did anything wrong. (Also correct: I did nothing wrong.)
(b) B1 'They were late again.' (cao)
(b) Answer: They were late again.
(c) B1 'He and I went to the shop.' (cao)
(c) Answer: He and I went to the shop.

Question 7

(a) B1 Sentence 2 (cao)
(a) Answer: Sentence 2
(b) B1 explains that removing the clause from Sentence 2 still leaves a complete, unambiguous sentence ('My sister was not allowed extra time'), whereas removing it from Sentence 1 would leave the reference unclear (which candidates?), oe
(b) Answer: Removing 'who arrived late' from Sentence 2 leaves 'My sister was not allowed extra time', which is still complete and clear, so the clause is only extra detail; removing it from Sentence 1 would leave 'The candidates were not allowed extra time', which loses the information about which candidates is meant.

Question 8

(a) B1 present perfect (cao)
(a) Answer: Present perfect
(b) B1 past perfect (cao)
(b) Answer: Past perfect
(c) B1 present simple, used to refer to a planned/scheduled future event (oe)
(c) Answer: Present simple (used with future meaning)

Question 9

(a) B1 rhetorical question (cao)
(a) Answer: Rhetorical question
(b) B1 triad / rule of three (oe)
(b) Answer: Triad (rule of three)
(c) B1 direct address (oe)
(c) Answer: Direct address
(d) B1 emotive language (oe)
(d) Answer: Emotive language

Question 10

(a) B1 a semicolon (not a comma or coordinating conjunction) is used to join the two clauses
(a) B1 both clauses remain grammatically complete and unchanged in meaning, cao
(a) Answer: The results were announced; the whole school cheered.
(b) B1 an appropriate subordinating conjunction is used to join the two clauses (e.g. because, as, since), oe
(b) B1 correct comma placed after the fronted subordinate clause, cao
(b) Answer: Because the rain became heavier, the match was abandoned.
(c) B1 correct relative pronoun 'who' used to replace the repeated noun phrase
(c) B1 correct pair of commas placed immediately before 'who' and after 'match', cao
(c) Answer: The head of year, who had watched every match, praised the team.
(d) B1 correctly formed -ing non-finite clause replacing the first simple sentence (e.g. 'Checking her results online')
(d) B1 correct comma placed after the fronted non-finite clause, with the subject of the main clause matching the implied subject of the participle, cao
(d) Answer: Checking her results online, Maya rushed to tell her friends.

Question 11

B1 inverted commas correctly opened and closed around the spoken words only
B1 capital letter for the first word of the spoken sentence, with the question mark placed inside the closing inverted comma
B1 capital letter for the proper noun 'Leah' and a comma placed correctly before the participle phrase, with a full stop at the very end, cao
Answer: 'Are you ready to go?' asked Leah, checking her watch.

Question 12

(a) B1 colon placed immediately after 'clear', before the list, cao
(a) Answer: The kit list was clear: waterproofs, boots and a torch.
(b) B1 comma correctly placed after 'bread', cao (a further comma after 'cheese', immediately before 'and', is also accepted as a stylistic choice)
(b) Answer: The stall sold bread, cheese and olives.
(c) B1 both dashes correctly placed, immediately before 'which' and immediately after 'soon', cao
(c) Answer: The final whistle - which nobody had expected so soon - brought the game to an end.

Question 13

B1 removes the informal discourse markers 'yeah' and 'basically'
B1 replaces the informal/slang vocabulary (e.g. 'buzzing') with formal vocabulary, oe
B1 resulting sentence is grammatically complete, accurately punctuated, and consistent in Standard English throughout, cao
Answer: The results were pleasing, and everyone was delighted.

Question 14

B1 'walks' corrected to 'walked'
B1 'meets' corrected to 'met'
B1 'eat' corrected to 'ate', cao
Answer: Yesterday, Sam walked to school and met his friend Tom. They talked about the match and ate their lunch together.

Question 15

(a) B1 misunderstand (cao)
(a) Answer: misunderstand
(b) B1 kindness (cao)
(b) Answer: kindness
(c) B1 international (cao)
(c) Answer: international

Question 16

B1 identifies that 'team's' wrongly uses a singular possessive apostrophe when two teams are meant
B1 correct rewrite: 'The two teams' captains shook hands before kick-off.', cao
Answer: The two teams' captains shook hands before kick-off.

Question 17

B1 identifies the comma splice joining two independent clauses
B1 correct rewrite using a full stop, semicolon or coordinating conjunction, e.g. 'The whistle blew; the players stopped immediately.' or 'The whistle blew, and the players stopped immediately.' (oe)
Answer: The whistle blew; the players stopped immediately.

Question 18

B1 identifies that 'Because the coach arrived late' is a subordinate clause wrongly punctuated as a complete sentence (a sentence fragment)
B1 gives a correctly punctuated rewrite joining it to the main clause with a comma, cao
Answer: Because the coach arrived late, the warm-up was rushed.

Question 19

B1 identifies the unexplained shift from present tense ('trains') to past tense ('went')
B1 gives a correctly rewritten sentence with the tense made consistent throughout, e.g. 'She trains every morning and then goes for a swim.' or 'She trained every morning and then went for a swim.' (oe)
Answer: She trains every morning and then goes for a swim.

Question 20

Level 0 (0): No accurate corrections made; errors remain uncorrected or new errors introduced.
Level 1 (1-2): One or two errors corrected (e.g. the opening capital letter or the homophone), with limited overall accuracy.
Level 2 (3-4): Most errors corrected, including the homophone and at least one sentence/clause-boundary fix, with generally secure punctuation.
Level 3 (5-6): All six errors corrected accurately, demonstrating secure control of sentence demarcation, relative clauses, apostrophes and homophones throughout.
Indicative content:
- Capital letter added for 'The' at the start of the sentence
- A pair of commas correctly added around the non-defining relative clause 'who everyone respected'
- The comma splice between 'spoke clearly' and 'he never used slang in assembly's' corrected with a semicolon, full stop or coordinating conjunction
- The wrongly placed apostrophe in 'assembly's' corrected to the simple plural 'assemblies' (no apostrophe needed)
- Capital letter added for 'He' at the start of the new sentence
- 'new' corrected to 'knew' (homophone: past tense of 'know', not 'novel/recent')

Question 21

Content and organisation (AO5)
- Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited description of the workshop, with little sense of a persuasive, encouraging register or clear organisation.
- Level 2 (3-4): Some engaging description of the workshop, with a developing sense of audience and purpose; ideas are mostly sequenced clearly.
- Level 3 (5-6): Clear, convincing and well-organised writing that engages a student audience, with a consistently appropriate register for a school newsletter.
Technical accuracy (required features) (AO6)
- Level 1 (1-2): One or two of the four required features are present, and these may be used inaccurately.
- Level 2 (3-4): Most of the four required features are present and mostly used accurately, with occasional errors.
- Level 3 (5-6): All four required features are present, clearly marked and used accurately and effectively, alongside a controlled range of other sentence forms and accurate spelling throughout.

Question 22

Content and organisation (AO5)
- Level 1 (1-3): Simple, limited vocabulary. Simple structure, sometimes unclear. Little or no deliberate variation of clause structure for effect.
- Level 2 (4-6): Some attempt to vary sentence and clause structure for effect, with some success. Some evidence of organisation and awareness of audience and purpose.
- Level 3 (7-8): Clear, controlled variation of clause structure to build a persuasive argument. Generally effective organisation across the response, with increasingly sophisticated vocabulary.
- Level 4 (9-10): Convincing and inventive variation of clause structure, deliberately shifting between short main clauses and longer, subordinated or non-finite clause chains to shape a compelling, well-organised persuasive opening.
Technical accuracy (range and control of sentence forms) (AO6)
- Level 1 (1-2): Occasional accurate use of subordinate, relative or non-finite clauses. Simple sentence structures attempted, with limited variety.
- Level 2 (3-4): A reasonable range of fronted subordinate, relative and non-finite clauses used, mostly accurately punctuated, with some errors.
- Level 3 (5-6): A wide, controlled range of fronted subordinate, relative and non-finite clauses used accurately and precisely for effect, with consistently accurate spelling and punctuation throughout.

GCSE Exam Style Grammar Questions - Worksheets, Questions and Revision