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Sentence Structure Trivia Quiz

You may know the different clauses and classifications of sentence structure in the English language, but how well can you apply them? American terminology for grammar is used throughout.

A multiple-choice quiz by danceswithcows. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
danceswithcows

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
232,059

Updated
Dec 10 22

# Qns
20

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
11 / 20

Plays
687

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 20

1. The distinguishing characteristic of a clause is that it contains which of the following? Hint

A finite verb

A verb (in general)

A subject

A subject complement

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Question 2 of 20

2. Identify the adverb clause in this sentence: "Vladimir, who behaves very badly, stole cookies when his mother wasn't looking." Hint

who behaves very badly

when his mother wasn't looking

Vladimir stole cookies

Vladimir, who behaves very badly

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Question 3 of 20

3. Identify the adjective clause in this sentence: "Given the choice of four answers, you will hopefully choose the one that is correct." Hint

that is correct

Given the choice of four answers

you will hopefully choose

Given the choice

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Question 4 of 20

4. Identify the independent (main) clause in this sentence: "Humphrey collects spiders with the aid of tweezers that can pinch well." Hint

Humphrey collects spiders

Humphrey collects spiders....that can pinch well

that can pinch well

Humphrey collects spiders with the aid of tweezers

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Question 5 of 20

5. Separate the independent (main) clause from the subordinate clause in this sentence: "A cow produces milk, which is necessary for dunking cookies." Hint

A cow produces milk (independent)/which is necessary for dunking cookies (subordinate).

A cow produces milk (subordinate),/which is necessary for dunking cookies (independent).

A cow produces milk which (independent)/ is necessary for dunking cookies (subordinate).

A cow produces milk which is(independent)/ necessary for dunking cookies (subordinate).

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Question 6 of 20

6. Identify the subordinate clause in this sentence: "Flying over the spikes, Gregory burped. Hint

Gregory burped

Flying

There is no subordinate clause

Flying over the spikes

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Question 7 of 20

7. Identify this clause as either independent (main) or subordinate: "Frederick's video contains the code"

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 8 of 20

8. Identify the number of subordinate clauses in this sentence: "Barging in the door, the husband was shocked to find his wife exercising to Richard Simmons videos." Hint

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Question 9 of 20

9. Identify the subordinate clause in this sentence and determine whether it functions as an adjective clause or adverb clause: "I love porcupines because they are spikey." Hint

because they are spikey (adjective)

because they are spikey (adverb)

I love porcupines (adjective)

I love porcupines (adverb)

10. Determine the number of independent clauses in this sentence "Fiona enjoys waltzing with Reginaldo by day, and she delights in her midnight clubbing with Ted, who is very romantic, by night. Hint

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Question 11 of 20

11. For the remainder of this quiz, we will be examining sentence structure. Identify the following sentences as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex: "The bikers rejoiced and celebrated because they defeated their rival gang in a gardening competition." Hint

Simple

Complex

Compound

Compound-Complex

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Question 12 of 20

12. This sentence is compound: "The jellyfish and the squid attacked the predator, which had charged mercilessly."

True

False

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Question 13 of 20

13. Identify the sentence as Simple, Compound, Complex, or Compound-Complex: "The alien army wanted to defeat the enemy that had insulted them, but they were melted by lasers." Hint

Simple

Complex

Compound

Compound-Complex

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Question 14 of 20

14. Identify this sentence as either Simple, Compound, Complex, or Compound-Complex: "Not being sane, Penelope signed up to take part in a very dangerous chainsaw juggling contest." Hint

Simple

Complex

Compound

Compound-Complex

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Question 15 of 20

15. Identify the type of sentence structure in this sentence: "Grandma has many musical interests, and her listening sessions run the gamut from Bach to Usher." Hint

Compound-Complex

Simple

Compound

Complex

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Question 16 of 20

16. Identify the subordinate clause in this sentence as well as the sentence structure type: "Dr. Ed Mok Mou Gu, a Chemistry professor, enjoys lab experiments that are very hands on, and his family hopes to take a vacation to Spain soon." Hint

soon (Complex)

that are very hands on (Complex)

that are very hands on (Compound-Complex)

a Chemistry professor (Compound-Complex)

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Question 17 of 20

17. Identify the type of sentence structure: "Because Alonso is crazy, he believes that he is a knight." Hint

Simple

Complex

Compound

Compound-Complex

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Question 18 of 20

18. Identify the type of sentence structure in this sentence: "I had hoped to make a statue, but I lack the marble." Hint

Simple

Compound

Complex

Compound-Complex

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Question 19 of 20

19. Identify the type of sentence structure: "While you are killing ninjas, it is important to consider the consequences." Hint

Compound-Complex

Simple

Complex

Compound

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Question 20 of 20

20. Identify the type of sentence structure: "Did you know that that ugly old woman could play the bassoon so well?" Hint

Compound

Complex

Simple

Compound-Complex

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The distinguishing characteristic of a clause is that it contains which of the following?

Answer: A finite verb

A finite verb is any verb that is in a tense. A finite verb is the basis of every clause. Participles (present and past, like seeing, seen) and infinitives are NOT finite verbs and cannot form the basis of a clause.

2. Identify the adverb clause in this sentence: "Vladimir, who behaves very badly, stole cookies when his mother wasn't looking."

Answer: when his mother wasn't looking

An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that has the function of an adverb. That is, it modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. In this example, the phrase "when his mother wasn't looking" modifies the verb "stole".

3. Identify the adjective clause in this sentence: "Given the choice of four answers, you will hopefully choose the one that is correct."

Answer: that is correct

Subordinate clauses can have adjectival functions in a sentence. In this case, the adjective clause "that is correct" modifies the implied but omitted noun "answer" (after "one"). "Given the choice of four answers" is a participial phrase.

4. Identify the independent (main) clause in this sentence: "Humphrey collects spiders with the aid of tweezers that can pinch well."

Answer: Humphrey collects spiders with the aid of tweezers

An independent (or main) clause expresses a complete thought (a subject and a verb). Subordinate (or dependent) clauses have both a subject and a verb, but do not express a complete thought. In this example "Humphrey collects spiders with the aid of tweezers" is a complete thought, and the subordinate clause "that can pinch well" further describes the tweezers.

5. Separate the independent (main) clause from the subordinate clause in this sentence: "A cow produces milk, which is necessary for dunking cookies."

Answer: A cow produces milk (independent)/which is necessary for dunking cookies (subordinate).

The clause "A cow produces milk" expresses a complete thought, a characteristic unique to independent clauses; "which is necessary for dunking cookies" does not express a complete thought, rendering it a subordinate clause.

6. Identify the subordinate clause in this sentence: "Flying over the spikes, Gregory burped.

Answer: There is no subordinate clause

The phrase "Flying over the spikes" is a participial phrase. Unlike clauses, verbal phrases do not have a finite verb.

7. Identify this clause as either independent (main) or subordinate: "Frederick's video contains the code"

Answer: independent

This clause can stand on its own as a sentence, and is therefore an independent clause.

8. Identify the number of subordinate clauses in this sentence: "Barging in the door, the husband was shocked to find his wife exercising to Richard Simmons videos."

Answer: 0

The phrase "Barging in the door" is a verbal phrase, so it is not a subordinate clause. The phrase "The husband was shocked to find his wife exercising to Richard Simmons videos" is an independent clause. After dissecting this sentence, you can see that it lacks subordinate clauses.

9. Identify the subordinate clause in this sentence and determine whether it functions as an adjective clause or adverb clause: "I love porcupines because they are spikey."

Answer: because they are spikey (adverb)

In this example, the subordinate clause "because they are spikey" answers the question of why the speaker loves porcupines. Therefore, it is an adverb modifying the verb "love".

10. Determine the number of independent clauses in this sentence "Fiona enjoys waltzing with Reginaldo by day, and she delights in her midnight clubbing with Ted, who is very romantic, by night.

Answer: 2

The clauses "Fiona enjoys waltzing with Reginaldo by day" and "she delights in her midnight clubbing with Ted by night" are both separate thoughts in spite of being joined by the conjunction and. This means that there are two independent clauses in the entire sentence.

The clause "who is very romantic" is a subordinate clause modifying "Ted" and thus does not add to the total of independent clauses.

Answer: Complex

A complex sentence is defined as a sentence with one independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses. "The bikers rejoiced and celebrated" is the independent clause in this sentence; "because they defeated their rival gang in a gardening competition" cannot stand alone as a sentence, and therefore is a subordinate clause. This combination classifies the sentence as complex.

12. This sentence is compound: "The jellyfish and the squid attacked the predator, which had charged mercilessly."

Answer: False

This sentence is not compound because it does not contain a second independent clause. This particular example contains only one independent clause ("The jellyfish and the squid attacked the predator") and one subordinate clause ("which had mercilessly charged"), which means this sentence is complex.

13. Identify the sentence as Simple, Compound, Complex, or Compound-Complex: "The alien army wanted to defeat the enemy that had insulted them, but they were melted by lasers."

Answer: Compound-Complex

A compound-complex sentence is defined as one that contains two independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause modifying them. The clauses "The alien army wanted to defeat the enemy" and "but melted them with lasers" are both independent clauses. The clause "that had insulted them" is a subordinate clause.

14. Identify this sentence as either Simple, Compound, Complex, or Compound-Complex: "Not being sane, Penelope signed up to take part in a very dangerous chainsaw juggling contest."

Answer: Simple

Simple sentences contain a single independent clause and no subordinate clauses modifying it. The phrase "not being sane" is a verbal phrase and does not qualify as a subordinate clause. The same applies to "to take part in ..." which lacks a finite verb. The remainder of the sentence contains no subordinate clauses and thus is classified as simple.

15. Identify the type of sentence structure in this sentence: "Grandma has many musical interests, and her listening sessions run the gamut from Bach to Usher."

Answer: Compound

Compound sentences contain two independent clauses and no subordinate clauses. As we can see, there are no subordinate clauses in this sentence, only two independent clauses joined by the conjunction "and".

Answer: that are very hands on (Compound-Complex)

This particular sentence contains two independent clauses, meaning that the sentence must be either compound or compound-complex. Upon further examination, we can see this compound sentence contains the subordinate clause "that are very hands on" meaning that this sentence is compound-complex.

17. Identify the type of sentence structure: "Because Alonso is crazy, he believes that he is a knight."

Answer: Complex

As we know, a complex sentence is a sentence with one or more subordinate clauses modifying a single independent clause. In this sentence, there are actually two subordinate clauses ("Because Alonso is crazy" and "that he is a knight"). Even though there is more than one subordinate clause, it does not affect the classification.

18. Identify the type of sentence structure in this sentence: "I had hoped to make a statue, but I lack the marble."

Answer: Compound

In this sentence, there are no subordinate clauses, but there are two independent clauses joined by the conjunction "but".

19. Identify the type of sentence structure: "While you are killing ninjas, it is important to consider the consequences."

Answer: Complex

We know that a complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause. "While you are killing ninjas" is the subordinate clause to the remainder of the sentence's independent clause, which means this sentence is complex.

20. Identify the type of sentence structure: "Did you know that that ugly old woman could play the bassoon so well?"

Answer: Complex

Don't be confused by the question format. There are two finite verbs and two clauses. The first is the main clause "Did you know" and the second is the subordinate noun clause "that that ugly old woman could play the bassoon so well."

Source: Author danceswithcows

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