Grammar Detectives
Identify the sentence as simple, compound, or complex. Explain using clauses.
Layla and Noor checked their answers and closed their books.
Simple: one independent clause with a compound subject and two actions.
Rewrite the complete sentence correctly:
The printer stopped working, we emailed the document.
“The printer stopped working, so we emailed the document.” A full stop or semicolon between the clauses is also acceptable.
A — erratic: unpredictable or inconsistent.
Identify the sentence as simple, compound, or complex. Explain using clauses.
The microphone stopped working, yet the speaker continued.
Compound: two independent clauses joined by “yet.”
Rewrite the complete sentence correctly:
After the lesson ended we compared our notes.
“After the lesson ended, we compared our notes.”
The advertisement promised impossible results and used invented evidence. Its claims were _____.
A. circumspect
B. spurious
C. cumbersome
B — spurious: false or not genuine.
Identify the sentence as simple, compound, or complex. Explain using clauses.
Although the instructions seemed confusing, we completed the task.
Complex: a dependent clause beginning with “although” plus an independent clause.
Rewrite the complete sentence correctly:
I wanted to volunteer but, I felt nervous.
“I wanted to volunteer, but I felt nervous.”
The director gave a _____ response: ‘Try again.’
A. unbridled
B. mediocre
C. terse
C — terse: brief and abrupt.
Identify the dependent clause:
Before the competition began, the teams tested their equipment.
“Before the competition began.”
Rewrite the complete sentence correctly. Add your own independent clause:
Although the question looked easy.
Example: “Although the question looked easy, I checked my answer carefully.” Accept any suitable independent clause.
The enormous costume was _____, making it difficult to move through the doorway.
Word bank: admonish • cumbersome • dilemma • circumspect • salvage
cumbersome
We had practised carefully, _____ we felt confident.
A. but
B. so
C. or
Explain the relationship between the two clauses.
B — so: the second clause expresses a result.
Answer both questions.
1. Amal faced a _____: attend her cousin’s celebration or play in the school final.
2. The teacher had to _____ the students for running with scissors.
Word bank: admonish • cumbersome • dilemma • circumspect • salvage
1. dilemma
2. admonish