HOW TO SOLVE STRUCTURE TEST FOR TOEFL
The Test
Of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL,
pronounced "toe-full") evaluates the potential success of an
individual to use and understand standard American English at a college level. The Structure
and Written Expression section contains sentences that test
your knowledge of important structural and grammatical elements of standard
written English.
The type of structure of TOEFL are so
many, as follow:
1. NOUNSà
A noun is
the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Whatever exists, we assume, can be
named, and that name is a noun. Categories Noun:
a) Compound
noun: A common noun is a noun that refers to
people or things in general. There
are several different types of compound noun, as follows:
·
Countable compound
nouns: address book
·
Uncountable compound
nouns: air conditioning
·
Singular compound
nouns: cost of living
·
Plural compound nouns:
armed forces
b) Countable
nouns: nouns are words which can be
counted. They have a singular form and a plural form. They usually refer to
things. Most countable nouns become plural by adding an ‘s’ at the end of the
word.
Example:
book ( I bought a book last week)
c) Collective
nouns: Collective nouns refer to groups of
people or things.
For example:
the jury is trying to make ecision
now ß
that can be follow with singular and plural verb
d) Uncountable
noun: nouns are words which cannot be counted. Therefore, they only have a
singular form. They have no plural forms.
For example:
I need a water (wrong)
I need some
water (right)
Example:
Who is Mr. Black? à He is my new neighbour
b) Possessive
adjective:
Example:
Singular ( This is my English dictionary)
Example:
Plural ( These are our dictionaries)
c) Possessive
pronouns: Possessive pronouns are used to indicate possession or ownership. Some occur as independent noun phrases: mine, yours, hers, ours, yours, theirs.
Example :
Singular (This dictionary is mine)
Example :
Plural (These English novels are ours)
d) Reflexive
Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns are used when a
person or thing acts on itself.
Example :
I enjoyed myself at the party last night
e) Indefinite
pronouns: Indefinite
pronouns, the largest group of pronouns, refer to one or more unspecified
persons or things.
Example :
I didn’t see anything when I entered the house last night.
f) Demonstrative
pronouns: Demonstrative
pronouns (in English, this, that and their plurals these, those) often distinguish their
targets by pointing or some other indication of position
Example:
This is a list of the new members.
3. HELPING VERBSà
Helping verbs have no meaning on their own. They
are necessary forthe grammatical structure of a sentence, but they do not tell
us very much alone.
a) TO
BE: AM, IS, ARE
Example :
I am an employee
b) TO
BE: WAS, WERE
Example :
I was an employee
c) TO
BE: BEING, BEEN
Example :
I will be very busy tomorrow morning.
d) TO
BE + USED TO + NOUN/VERB-ING
Example :
I am used to hot weather
Example :
He is used to having breakfast before leaving for office
e) THERE
IS – THERE ARE
Example :
There is a book on the table
Example :
There are five books on that table
4. TENSES
In grammar, tense is a category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the
situation takes place. Tense is the
grammaticalisation of time reference, often using three basic categories of
"before now", the past;
"now", the present; and "after now", the future :
a) Simple
Present Tense:
Example:
I study English on Monday and Thursday
b) Present
Continuos Tense:
Example:
He is looking for his pen in that room
c) Present
Perfect Tense:
Example:
We have occupied this house for 3 years
d) Present
Perfect Continuous
Example:
Diana has been working for this company for 7 months
e) Simple
Past Tense
Example:
We studied English last Tuesday afternoon.
f) Past
Continuous Tense
Example:
We were having breakfast at 7 o’clock this morning
g) Past
Perfect Tense
Example:
He had sold the car when I came too see it yesterday afternoon.
h) Past
Perfect Continuous
Example:
Dhiana had been typing the monthly report for 2 hours at 11 o’clock this
morning.
i)
Simple Future Tense
Example:
I will spend my holidays in Bali next month.
j)
Future Continuous Tense
Example:
I will be leaving for Surabaya by train if you come to my home at 7 o’clock
tomorrow afternoon
k) Future
Perfect Tense
Example:
They will have finished painting this building by the end of this month
l)
Future Perfect
Continuous
Example:
I will have been studying Englishfor there years by the time I am 25 years old
a) Position
Adjective: When adjectives come in a
noun phrase they are normally immediately before the noun. Some adjectives are
used alone after nouns.
Example: They live in a large house
(attributive position)
Their new house is
large (predicative position)
b) Function
Adjective:
Example: I still felt hungry after
dinner
c) Participle Adjective:
Example : I was very pleased when I met
her
d) Demonstrative
Adjective
Example: I am interested to buy this old
shoes
e) Formation
of Adjective:
Example:
·
Noun + y : anger – angry
·
Noun + ful : power – powerful
·
Noun + al : crime – criminal
·
Noun + ous : danger – dangerous
·
Noun + less : taste – tasteless
·
Verb + able : obtain – obtainable
·
Verb + ive : talk – talkative
·
Im + adjective : possible – impossible
·
Ir + adjective : regular – irregular
·
Un + adjective : able – unable
·
Il + adjective : legal – illegal
·
In + adjective : capable – incapable
f) Positive
Degree: The positive form is the
base form of the adjective.
Example: The man is as old as my father
g) Comparative
Degree: The comparative form expresses
a higher degree of some quality.
Example:
-
English book costs Rp 30.000,-
-
History book costs Rp 25.000,-
Ø The
english book is more expenxive than the history book.
Or
Ø The
history book is cheaper than the english book.
h) Superlative
Degree: The superlative form
expresses the highest degree.
Example:
-
The english book costs Rp 35.000,-
-
The history book costs Rp 25.000,-
-
The French book costs Rp 45.000,-
Ø The
history book is the cheapest of three books.
Or
Ø The
French book is the most expensive of the three books.
i)
Double Comparative
Example: As the police chased him, the
man run faster and faster.
j)
The Same as – The Same – Similar
Example: your dictionary is the same as
my dictionary 
6. MODAL AUXILIARYà A verb that combines with another verb to indicate mood or tense. A modal (also known as a modal auxiliary) expresses necessity, uncertainty, ability, or permission. The modal auxiliaries (or modals) include the following:
a) Can
– Could : I can translate this english novel into Indonesian.
b) May
– Might : You may come to my house if you have time.
c) Must
– Have To : I must help my parents in the garden every Sunday morning.
d) Shall
– Will : I’m very thirsty. I will drink a glass of water.
e) Should
– Ought To : We should respect our teachers.
f) Would
: What would you like to drink?
g) Needn’t
– Mustn’t : I needn’t have bought the apples because she had bought some.
h) Had
Better : You had better not leave this place before they come.
i)
Would Rather : We would rather take a
taxi.
j)
Used To : My little sister used to study
French.
7.QUESTION WORD: We use question words to ask certain types of questions (question
word questions). Categorise of
question word:
a) What
– Who(m) :
-
What book?
-
Who did you meet at the party last
night?
-
Whom did you meet at the party last night?
b) When
– Where :
-
When will your brother go to America?
-
Where do you study English?
c) Which
– Whose :
-
Which book do you want to take?
-
Whose umbrella did you borrow?
d) Why
– How :
-
Why do you study English?
-
How many students are there in that
room?
8. VERBSà Verbs are doing words. A verb can express
a physical action, a mental action, or a state of being. The verbs which express a state of being
are the ones which take a little practice to spot, but, actually, they are the
most common. The most common verb is the verb to be. There are several different types of verbs, as
follows:
a) Infinitive
: I was the first to come and the last to
leave.
b) Past
Form : He took my money in the
drawer.
c) Past
Participle : They have played for
almost two hours.
d) Present
Participles : Tommy is repairing his car in the garage.
e) Main
Verb : The tallest student in Jane’s class has long black hair and blue eyes.
f) Verb
+ To Infinitive : They decided not to continue the construction of the bridge.
g) Verb
+ Gerund : The man denied taking all the money in this drawer.
h) Verb
Phrase + Gerund : My father gave up smoking because of his doctor’s advice.
i)
Verb + Infinitive or Gerund : It was
beginning to rain when I left the office at 5 p.m yesterday.
9. ADVERBSà An adverb is a word that’s used to give information
about a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs can make the meaning of a
verb, adjective, or other adverb stronger or weaker. There are several
different types of adverbs, as follows:
a) Adverb
of Manner : He speaks honestly.
b) Adverb
of Frequency : She will never be late
in the afternoon.
c) Adverb
of Certainty : The man probably
knows the location of the accident.
10. PASSIVE VOICEà
Passive voice is used when the focus
is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is
performing the action.
a) Passive
Voice in All Tenses : His father is always helped (by John) in the garden
(simple present tense).
b) Passive
Form of Modals : This novel can be translated (by his brother) into Indonesia.
11.ARTICLESà The articles in English are the definite article the and the indefinite articles a and an (and
sometimes some). Use of the definite article
implies that the speaker assumes the listener knows the identity of the noun's referent.
a) Indefinite
Article a-an : A lion is a wild animal.
b) Definite
Article : She is the lady we met at the supermarket yesterday morning.
c) Zero
Article : Cat’s don’t like cold weather.
12.CONJUNCTIONSà
In grammar, a conjunction is
a part of speech that
connects words, sentences, phrases or clauses. A discourse connective is
a conjunction joining sentences. There are several different types of
conjunctions, as follows:
a) Co-ordinating
Conjunction: Coordinating
conjunctions, also called coordinators, are conjunctions that join, or coordinate, two or more items (such as words, main clauses,
or sentences) of equal syntactic importance.
Example : John and I are leaving early tomorrow morning.
b) Subordinating
Conjunction: Subordinating
conjunctions, also called subordinator, are conjunctions that
join an independent clause and
adependent clause.
Example : The man came after we had finished doing our job.
c) Correlative
Conjunction: Correlative conjunctions work
in pairs to join words and groups of words of equal weight in a sentence.
Example : Brenda is either a typist or a
secretary.
d) Compound
Conjunction
Example : He applied for a job in order that he could help his
parents.
13.PREPOSITIONSà
A preposition is a word such as after, in, to, on, and with. Prepositions are usually used in front of nouns or pronouns
and they show the relationship between the noun or pronoun and other words in a
sentence. They describe, for example:
a) Simple
Preposition: about, above, across, after, etc.
b) Compound
Preposition: despite, beyond, upon, besides, etc
c) Double
Preposition: inspite of, due to, as regards, next to, etc
d) Participal
Preposition: regarding, barring, pending, during, etc
e) Phrase
Preposition: instead of, on account of, in line with, etc
14.CONDITIONALà
Conditional Sentences are also known as
Conditional Clauses or If Clauses. They are used to express that the action in
the main clause (without if) can
only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled. There are three types of Conditional
Sentences.
a) Conditional
Clause Type 1: If I finish work early today, I will play tennis in the
afternoon.
b) Conditional
Clause Type 2: If I had much money I would by a new car
c) Conditional
Clause Type 3: If I had had much money,I would have bought a new car
d) As
If – As Though: He speak as if he were my superior / He speak as though he were
my superior.
e) Wish:
I wish she would tell me the secret.
15.INDIRECT SPEECHà
Indirect speech, also
called reported speech or indirect discourse, is a
means of expressing the content of statements, questions or other utterances, without quoting them explicitly as is done in direct speech.
a) Indirect
Speech – Statement
Direct: Jenni said, “I buy this
dictionary at a bookshop.”
Indirect: Jenni told me (that) she
bought this dictionary at a bookshop
b) Indirect
Speech – Question
Direct: John asked me, “do you still
take an English course?”
Indirect: John asked me if I still took
an English course.
c) Indirect
Speech – Question Words
Direct: He said, “when did you buy this
new car?”
Indirect: He asked me when I had bought
this new car
d) Indirect
Speech – Command
Direct: The instructor said, “lie down
on the grass?”
Indirect: The instructor told me to lie
down on the grass.
16.GERUNDà A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and
functions as a noun. The term verbal indicates that a gerund, like the
other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action
or a state of being. However, since a gerund functions as a noun, it occupies
some positions in a sentence that a noun ordinarily would.
a) Gerund
as subject : Running in the morning is good for health.
b) Gerund
as a complement: One of her hobbies is collecting foreign stamps.
c) Gerund
as an object: My father likes hunting in the forest.
d) Gerund
after preposition: He was not capable of doing the work.
e) Gerund
after possessive adjective: His leaving will make them sad.
f) Gerund
after certain verbs: We kept hoping he would come last night.
g) Gerund
after the verb go: We usually go to fishing on Saturday afternoon.
h) Passive
gerund: This old television set needs repairing
i)
Gerund to show prohibition: No smoking!
17.CAUSATIVEà The causative is a common structure in English. It is used
when one thing or person causes another thing or person to do something.
a) Causative
– Have: I have him repair the window.
b) Causative
– Get: I often get my little brother to clean his room.
c) Causative
– Make: The robber made the teller give him all the money in the drawer.
18.ADJECTIVE CLAUSEà
An adjective clause usually comes after the noun
it modifies and is
made up of several words which, like all clauses, will include a subject and a
verb.
a) Subject
pronoun: who – which – that
Example:
-
The couple have two boys and two
daughters.
-
They live next door.
Ø The
couple who live next door have two boys and two daughters.
Or
Ø The
couple that live next door have two boys and two daughters.
b) Object
pronoun: who – which – that
Example:
-
The man was my english teacher.
-
You saw him at the station last night.
Ø The
man who/whom you saw at the station last night was my english teacher.
Or
Ø The
man that you saw at the station last night was my english teacher.
c) Using
whose and where
Example:
-
The man is my next door neighbor.
-
His computer was stolen a few days ago.
Ø The
man whose computer was stolen a few days ago is my next door neighbor.
a) Question
word in noun clause:
Example: Where does he work? I don’t
know he works
b) Whether
– if in noun clause:
Example: Does she live in Jakarta? I don’t know
whether she live in Jakarta.
source :
1. en.wikipedia.org
2. Cyssco,
Dhanny R (2007). Comprehensive English
Grammar Preparation For TOEFL. Bekasi: Penerbit Kesaint Blanc.
3. http://www.wikihow.com/Study-for-the-TOEFL
