HESI Grammar Practice Test 2
Which punctuation mark would correctly fill in the blank space? After standing in the rain for nearly half an hour _____ Dawn decided she was not going to wait on Mike any longer.
Explanation:
A comma is the correct answer. In this sentence, the word “after” is a common starter word for the introductory clause and should be followed by a comma. A clause is a group of words that contain both a subject and a predicate and help to form a sentence. Other common starter words that require a comma after the introductory clause include when, while, although, and since.
The instructor asked a question to the student, but she couldn't hear him since he responded so _____________.
Explanation:
Adverbs provide a response to the query "how?" Choice D is incorrect since it is illogical if the teacher could hardly hear the student. Choices A and C are incorrect because they do not correctly or properly finish the statement.
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Explanation:
This choice presents the information in the clearest and most concise manner. Modifiers, such as “fervently,” should be placed adjacent to the verb they modify. The other two versions of the sentence do not accomplish this.
What would be considered the dependent clause in this sentence? “The students could finally see the bus, which was running 15 minutes behind schedule.”
Explanation:
“which was running 15 minutes behind schedule” is correct. The dependent clause in a sentence is the part which cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and functions a noun, adjective, or adverb.
What is the correct way to write the missing words in this sentence? The children learned that the ____ is sometimes considered a turning point of the war.
Explanation:
The Siege of Vicksburg was a battle in the American Civil War and it is considered a proper noun. Proper nouns are people, places, organizations, and sometimes things and they must be capitalized. Prepositions (words like as, at, by, for, in, of, on, per, and to), are not typically capitalized unless they begin a sentence.
Which of these sentences contains a dependent clause?
Explanation:
“Although she is hungry, she is not going to eat.” is correct. A dependent clause begins with words such as although, since, if, when, and because. A dependent clause cannot stand on its own, so it may also be referred to as a “weak” clause.
The _____________ is playing the piano she received on her 8th birthday.
Explanation:
The verb is is singular. As a result, the topic should also be singular. Option B is incorrect since it is plural. Choice D does not correspond to the gender indicated by the usage of "her," and choice C is wrong since a woman would not be celebrating her eighth birthday.
Which of these sentences contains an active verb tense?
Explanation:
This is the correct answer because active tense is when the subject of the sentence is performing the action. Passive verb tense shows the receiver of the action as the subject and is used in the other three choices.
What is the correct form of the missing words? The red car in the parking lot belonged to Sarah Jones. James knew that ____ car was new and fast.
Explanation:
Apostrophes show possession and one is needed here to show that the car belongs to Sarah Jones. Different references give various recommendations for doing this with words that end in s. Both of the versions in this answer choice are listed as correct methods by certain grammar authorities.
Sarah Jone’s would mean that Sarah Jone owns the car.
Adding es to Jones would simply make Jones plural.
Which transition best completes this sentence correctly? Sarah did not realize until after she arrived in New York that she had left her ball gown at home; ____, she was fortunate enough to find a shop that rented them by the evening.
Explanation:
However is the correct answer because ‘however’ indicates that the relationship between two independent clauses is one of contrast or opposition. In this example, the first independent clause is a negative one, while the second is the positive that contrasts it.
Despite the extra preparation, my brother's soccer team performed ____________ in the competition than they had the week before.
Explanation:
Worse is being used to compare how the team performed in the current competition to how they performed in the previous one last week.
What is the simple predicate in this sentence? Heather never speaks to her anymore.
Explanation:
“Speaks” is correct. A simple predicate is the complete verb in the sentence.
Joy learned a new song to play on the guitar, and it sounds ____________.
Explanation:
Choice 3 is an adverb, whereas options B and C make a comparison, which is not needed by this phrase.
Which one is the correct verb form to use in this sentence? My shower ___ a leak Friday night.
Explanation:
The action occurred in the past, therefore, sprang would be used because it is the simple past tense of the word spring. You would only use sprung if it was preceded by have, had, or has, as in “I noticed that my shower had sprung a leak.”
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Explanation:
This is the most concise way to express this direction. The word carefully should describe how you wash the baby and not describe the soap used. Carefully should also be as close to the action word, wash, as possible.
What is the correct way to write the missing words in this sentence? Cara chose to study Jupiter, Saturn, ____ for her science project.
Explanation:
Both “Neptune” and “Sun” are capitalized in this sentence because they are proper nouns. Proper nouns are always capitalized and they include name-specific people, places, organizations, and things.
Note: If you were talking about suns, in general, of which there are many in the universe, you would not capitalize the word sun. Example: “Each solar system revolves around a sun.” Then, you would not be talking about any particular sun. But, when you use the article the before sun, it indicates one particular sun and that is capitalized.