- Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence. The new manager is known for speaking directly, listening actively, and ________ feedback without hesitation.
Answer: giving constructive
When a sentence lists several actions connected with "and," those actions must follow the same grammatical pattern — this is called parallel structure. In this sentence, the manager is known for three things: speaking directly, listening actively, and giving feedback. Notice that the first two items both use the gerund form (verb + -ing), so the third item must match that same form.
That's why D, "giving constructive," is correct. It completes the parallel list naturally: speaking, listening, and giving — three gerunds in a row, all functioning as objects of the preposition "for."
A, "to give constructive," breaks the pattern by switching to an infinitive (to give). Mixing infinitives with gerunds in a parallel list creates an inconsistency the exam specifically tests for.
B, "she gives constructive," introduces a full subject-verb clause (she gives), which is grammatically incompatible with the gerund list. You can't smoothly connect a clause with "and" to two gerund phrases in this structure.
C, "the giving of constructive," uses a noun phrase rather than a gerund. While giving is technically present, the added article the and preposition of make it unnecessarily wordy and stylistically inconsistent with the other items.
A useful strategy: whenever you see a list in a sentence, identify the grammatical form of the first item, then check that every other item matches it exactly. On this exam, parallel structure questions often disguise the correct answer by making the wrong choices sound natural in isolation — always compare them against the rest of the list.
- Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence. The committee decided that the new policy would be reviewed ________ every six months.
Answer: thoroughly and carefully
When a sentence contains a verb like "reviewed," any words that describe how the action happens must be adverbs, not adjectives. This question is testing your ability to recognize parallel structure and correct adverb usage at the same time — two skills that frequently appear together on the ACCUPLACER ESL.
The verb "reviewed" needs words that modify it directly. "Thoroughly" and "carefully" are both adverbs, and they match each other grammatically — making choice B the correct answer. The phrase reads smoothly: "reviewed thoroughly and carefully." Both modifiers are in the same form, follow the same pattern, and correctly describe the verb.
Choice A fails because "thorough" is an adjective, not an adverb. Adjectives modify nouns, not verbs, so "reviewed thorough" is grammatically incorrect. Choice C mixes an adjective ("thorough") with an adverb ("carefully"), breaking both the grammar and the parallel structure — the two modifiers aren't in matching forms. Choice D is wordy and inconsistent: "in a thorough way" is an awkward prepositional phrase paired with the adverb "carefully," which again violates parallel structure. Even if you could argue it's technically passable, it's clunky and unnatural compared to the clean adverb pair in B.
A useful rule to remember: when two or more modifiers are joined by "and," they should be in the same grammatical form. If one ends in -ly, the other should too. Whenever you spot modifiers describing a verb, ask yourself: "Are these adverbs? Do they match each other?" That habit will catch most parallel structure errors quickly.
- Choose the best way to combine these two sentences into one. Marcus enjoys hiking in the mountains. He also likes to swim in the ocean.
Answer: Marcus enjoys hiking in the mountains, and he also likes swimming in the ocean.
When combining two sentences, you're being tested on parallel structure, clarity, and natural flow. The goal is to join ideas smoothly without creating grammatical errors or awkward phrasing.
Answer A is the strongest choice because it joins the two original sentences cleanly using the coordinating conjunction "and." Notice that both activities are expressed in the same grammatical form: "hiking" and "swimming" — both gerunds, both functioning as objects of "enjoys" and "likes." The sentence flows naturally and mirrors how a fluent English speaker would express the idea.
Here's why the other options fail. Answer B creates an unnecessary shift to passive voice ("swimming in the ocean is also liked by him"), which is awkward and overly wordy. Active voice — the subject does the action — is almost always clearer and more direct. Answer C uses "enjoys to hike," which is a common learner error. The verb enjoy must be followed by a gerund (the -ing form), not an infinitive. You enjoy hiking, not to hike. Answer D is a fragment/run-on hybrid — the clause "who enjoys hiking in the mountains" is a relative clause that needs to connect to a main verb, but instead the sentence just tacks on "and he also likes," creating a broken structure with no complete main clause attached to "Marcus."
A quick strategy to remember: when combining sentences, check that parallel ideas use parallel grammar forms, the sentence stays in active voice, and there's no structural break that leaves a clause hanging. These three checks will help you eliminate wrong answers quickly on sentence-combining questions.
- Choose the best way to combine these two sentences into one. The engineer explained the design clearly. The workers still found it difficult to follow her instructions.
Answer: The engineer explained the design clearly, yet the workers still found it difficult to follow her instructions.
When combining two sentences, the coordinating conjunction you choose must accurately reflect the logical relationship between the two ideas. Here, the first clause describes something positive (a clear explanation), and the second describes an unexpected negative outcome (workers still struggling). That contrast — especially when it's surprising — is the key signal for which conjunction to use.
The word yet signals contrast or contradiction, which is exactly what's happening: despite the engineer's clear explanation, the workers still struggled. This makes B the correct answer. The comma placement before the conjunction is also correct, following standard rules for joining two independent clauses.
A uses for, which means "because" — it implies the workers struggled as a result of the clear explanation, which makes no logical sense. C uses so, which indicates cause and effect — meaning the clear explanation caused the difficulty. That's backwards and illogical in this context. D simply places a comma between two independent clauses with no conjunction at all, creating what's called a comma splice, which is a grammatical error. You can't join two complete sentences with just a comma.
A helpful tip: on questions like this, mentally test each conjunction by asking, "Does this word accurately describe how these two ideas relate?" Words like yet, but, and however signal contrast. Words like so and for signal cause and effect. If the situation feels like a surprise or contradiction, reach for a contrast word. Spotting that logical mismatch will help you eliminate wrong answers quickly.
- Choose the best way to combine these two sentences into one. Yuki prepared carefully for the presentation. Her nervousness was still noticeable to the audience.
Answer: Yuki prepared carefully for the presentation, but her nervousness was still noticeable to the audience.
When combining two sentences, the key is choosing a connecting word (called a coordinating conjunction) that accurately reflects the logical relationship between the two ideas. Ask yourself: do these ideas agree, contrast, show cause-and-effect, or something else?
Here, the two ideas create a contrast: Yuki prepared carefully, which should reduce nervousness — yet her nervousness still showed. That "yet" or "still" signals a contradiction between what we'd expect and what actually happened. The word "but" is the conjunction that expresses this contrast, making A the correct answer. The sentence reads logically: careful preparation didn't eliminate the problem.
Option B uses "so," which signals a result or consequence. It would imply that because she prepared carefully, her nervousness showed — which is the opposite of logical and makes no sense in context. Option C uses "and," which simply links two equal, related ideas without showing any contrast. It suggests both things happened neutrally side by side, missing the tension between preparation and nervousness. Option D uses "because," which establishes a cause-and-effect relationship in the wrong direction — it claims her nervousness caused her careful preparation, which reverses the logic entirely.
A useful strategy: before choosing a conjunction, mentally paraphrase the relationship. If the ideas disagree or surprise you, use but or yet. If one causes the other, use so or because. If they simply coexist, use and. Matching the conjunction to the actual logical relationship is the skill this exam tests repeatedly.
- Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Painted in bright colors and ________ with intricate geometric patterns, the mural attracted tourists from around the world.
Answer: decorated
When a sentence contains a series of descriptive phrases before the main clause, all those phrases need to follow the same grammatical pattern — this is called parallel structure. Recognizing this pattern is the key to answering questions like this one.
Look at the sentence: it opens with "Painted in bright colors and ________ with intricate geometric patterns." The word "Painted" is a past participle used as a participial phrase modifying "the mural." For the sentence to be grammatically parallel, the second phrase must match that same form. That makes D) decorated the correct answer — "decorated" is also a past participle, creating a balanced pair: Painted...and decorated...
Here's why the other choices fail. A) "it was decorated" introduces a full subject-verb clause, which breaks the participial phrase structure and creates a grammatically awkward construction — you'd essentially have a clause wedged inside a phrase. B) "decorating" is a present participle, which suggests active, ongoing action. The mural isn't doing the decorating; it received the decoration, so an active form is logically and grammatically wrong. C) "to be decorated" is an infinitive phrase, which signals future intention or purpose — that meaning doesn't fit here and, again, breaks the parallel structure with "Painted."
A useful strategy: whenever you see a sentence where one descriptive phrase is already established, identify its grammatical form first, then match it. On this exam, parallel structure questions often disguise themselves in longer sentences — train yourself to strip away the extras and compare the core forms side by side.
- Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Running along the crowded platform, ________ nearly knocked over several passengers.
Answer: Fatima
When a sentence opens with a participial phrase (a verb-ending in -ing that describes an action), the very first noun after the comma must be the person or thing performing that action. This is called the dangling modifier rule, and it's one of the most frequently tested grammar concepts on this exam.
In this sentence, "Running along the crowded platform" describes someone actively running. Ask yourself: who is doing the running? That subject must appear immediately after the comma. Choice C, Fatima, places her directly after the comma, making it clear that Fatima is the one running — which makes perfect logical sense. She's running and nearly knocks over passengers. This is your correct answer.
Choice A, "the heavy suitcase of Fatima," is a classic dangling modifier trap. A suitcase cannot run on its own, so placing it as the subject creates an absurd, illogical sentence. Choice D makes the same mistake — "a heavy suitcase carried by Fatima" still puts the suitcase in the subject position, implying the suitcase itself was sprinting down the platform. Choice B, "it was Fatima who," is a cleft construction that technically names Fatima but inserts extra words between the participial phrase and its logical subject. This phrasing also sounds awkward and still weakens the direct connection the grammar rule requires.
Your study tip: whenever you see an -ing phrase at the start of a sentence, immediately identify who or what is performing that action, then check that it appears as the first noun after the comma. If it doesn't, the sentence has a dangling modifier error.
- Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence. The school counselor advised Amara not only to improve her study habits ________ to seek help from her tutors more regularly.
Answer: but also
When you see a sentence containing "not only," your first instinct should be to look for its paired partner. English uses certain correlative conjunctions — fixed two-part connectors that must work together. "Not only" is one half of a locked pair, and it always requires "but also" to complete it. This is the core concept being tested here.
The sentence structure is: advised Amara not only to improve her study habits ____ to seek help from her tutors. The phrase "not only...but also" signals that two parallel ideas are being connected with equal emphasis. Answer A, "but also," completes this fixed pairing perfectly, and the two actions — improving study habits and seeking help from tutors — remain grammatically parallel.
Here's why the other choices fall short. B, "and also," might sound natural in conversation, but it breaks the correlative conjunction rule — "not only" demands "but also," not a loose "and also." Using it creates a grammatically incomplete and non-idiomatic construction. C, "but instead," changes the meaning entirely — "instead" introduces a contrast or substitution, implying the counselor wants Amara to replace one habit with another, which contradicts the sentence's meaning of adding a second expectation. D, "as well as," is a connector that works in other contexts but cannot pair with "not only" — it lacks the required "but" that balances the structure.
Your study tip: memorize common correlative conjunction pairs — not only/but also, either/or, neither/nor, both/and. On the ACCUPLACER, if you spot one half of a pair in the sentence, scan the answer choices for its fixed partner.
- Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence. The documentary about climate change was both ________ and deeply troubling to many viewers.
Answer: informative
When a sentence uses the word "both" to connect two descriptions, you're looking at parallel structure — a grammar rule that requires the connected words or phrases to match in form. Here, the sentence reads "both ________ and deeply troubling," so whatever fills the blank must be grammatically parallel to "deeply troubling." Notice that "deeply troubling" is an adjective phrase (adjective modifying a noun or functioning as a predicate adjective). You need another adjective to match it.
C) informative is correct because it's a single adjective, perfectly parallel to "deeply troubling." The sentence flows naturally: "both informative and deeply troubling" — two adjectives joined by "and" after "both."
A) informing is a present participle, not a standard adjective in this context. While participles can sometimes act as adjectives (e.g., "an informing experience"), "informing" sounds unnatural and non-idiomatic here compared to the established adjective "informative." B) with much information is a prepositional phrase, which cannot be parallel to an adjective like "deeply troubling." Mixing an adjective with a prepositional phrase breaks parallel structure. D) to inform audiences is an infinitive phrase acting as a verb or noun — again, the wrong form to pair with an adjective.
A reliable strategy: whenever you see "both...and," "either...or," or "not only...but also" in a sentence, immediately identify the form of the word after "and/or/but also" and match it. These paired conjunctions are almost always testing parallel structure on the ACCUPLACER ESL exam.
- Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence. The professor told her students that they should read the chapter, take notes on the key ideas, and ________ their summaries by Friday.
Answer: submit
When a sentence lists actions connected by "and," all items in the list must follow the same grammatical pattern — this is called parallel structure. Spotting a list is your first clue to check for parallelism.
Look at what the professor already asked students to do: "read the chapter" and "take notes on the key ideas." Both verbs appear in their base form (also called the plain or infinitive form without "to"). The third item in the list must match that same structure, making C) submit the correct answer. The completed sentence reads: read… take notes… and submit — three base-form verbs working in perfect parallel.
Here's why the other options break that pattern. A) submitting is a present participle, which would clash with the base-form verbs already established in the list. You'd end up with "read… take notes… and submitting," which is grammatically inconsistent. B) to submit adds "to," creating an infinitive phrase rather than a simple base verb. While infinitives are common in English, mixing them into a list of bare verbs ("read… take notes… and to submit") disrupts the parallel flow. D) the submission of turns the verb into a noun phrase entirely, switching from action to object form, which completely breaks the parallel structure the sentence has built.
A quick strategy: whenever you see a list joined by "and" or "or," find the first item and identify its grammatical form. Then eliminate any answer that doesn't match that form exactly. Parallel structure questions are extremely common on grammar exams, so training your eye to spot lists will pay off consistently.
