TOEFL Grammar Practice Test

“Why should I take this TOEFL Grammar Practice Test?” you ask.  Even though the TOEFL hasn’t a grammar section, you need to show good grammar control on the speaking and writing portions of the exam.  Therefore, this practice test was developed by Michael Buckhoff. Buckhoff is the founder, owner, and materials writer for STEALTH, “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT. This practice test will test your grammar competency in 23 specific areas. 

First of all, you will complete the 23 question grammar test and check your answers.  Second of all you will have a chance to review the answers that you missed by typing in some key words into Google. Third of all, you will have the chance to complete a free TOEFL speaking practice test. Finally, you will be able to complete a writing practice test. Michael Buckhoff will provide you audio and written comments. He will give you an estimated score of 0-30 points on the speaking and writing practice test that you send him.

You can use these scores to estimate how close you are to scoring 100.

If you score 19/23 points or higher on the grammar practice test and if you score 25/30 points or higher on the speaking and writing practice tests on this web page, you should have a good chance of scoring 100+ on the TOEFL iBT.  These practice tests are free. Good luck!

TOEFL Grammar Practice Test
TOEFL Grammar Practice Test

TOEFL Grammar Practice Test: Complete the test. Check the answers. 

  1. Which bolded word is incorrect in the following sentence?

The athletics department at University of California, Riverside has decide to implement an extracurricular program in the following sports: baseball, softball, soccer, and basketball for both men and women.

2.  Which sentence is not correctly written?

A. John  Rodriguez, who living in San Bernardino right now, just completed his undergraduate degree in accounting.

B. John  Rodriguez lives in San Bernardino right now, and he just completed his undergraduate degree in accounting.

C. A resident of San Bernardino right now, John Rodriguez just completed his undergraduate degree in accounting.

D. Living in San Bernardino right now,  John Rodriguez just completed his undergraduate degree in accounting.

3. Which bolded word or words  is incorrectly written?

At the game yesterday, spectators enough attended the game so that the sports venue made a profit of more than 30%, with all the proceeds benefitting breast cancer patients in the greater San Bernardino area.

4. Which answer correctly completes the sentence?

Not only has Ryan finished his biology degree, ________________ his graduate degree in the same subject.

A. but has also started

B. he has also started

C. but he has also started

D. and he has started

5.   Which bolded word is incorrectly written?

Neither the other students nor Larry are going to attend the seminar.

6. Which sentence is incorrectly written?

A. I had completed by undergraduate studies by 2018.

B.  I will have completed my studies by the same time next year.

C. I completed all my prerequisites last June so that I could start my graduate studies.

D. I have finished my undergraduate studies at UCLA in 2017.

7.   Which answer most correctly completes the sentence?

__________________appears larger on the horizon than it does overhead is merely an optical illusion.

A. The moon

B. The moon which

C.  That the moon

D. Does the moon

8.   Which answers most correctly completes the sentence?

The automobile____________ engine was overhauled last year has been running perfectly ever since.

A. that engine

B. which engine

C. in which

D. whose engine 

9. Which bolded word needs to be rewritten in order for the sentence to be correct?

Last week the teacher discussed common societal misconceptions associating with older workers.

10.  Identify which answer correctly completes the sentence.

________________and the other students had prepared well for the Physics, they performed poorly on the astro-dynamics section.

A. Kentaro

B. Although Kentaro

C. Because Kentaro

D. However, Kentaro

11.  Which answer best rewrites the following correctly written sentence?

Because the bridge has been retrofitted,  it can withstand an 8.0 or weaker earthquake with little or no damage.

A. Because the bridge has been retrofitted, so it can withstand an 8.0 or weaker earthquake with little or no damage.

B. Having been retrofitted,  the bridge can withstand an 8.0 or weaker earthquake with little or no damage.

C. The bridge has been retrofitted, therefore, it can withstand an 8.0 or weaker earthquake with little or no damage.

D. The bridge which has been retrofitted  it can withstand an 8.0 or weaker earthquake with little or no damage.

12. Which bolded word needs to be re-written in order for the sentence to be correct?

To help us complete the required course material by the end of the term, our professor assigned us several homeworks.

13. Which bolded word is incorrectly written?

When explaining why the United States lost its neutral status and entered World War II, the professor illustrated this criteria as being important factors.

14. Administrators at the college learned_________online web sites to write their papers in Professor Jones expository writing class.

A. about the students’ paying

B. about the students paid

C. why did the students pay

D. about the students’ pay

15.   Which bolded word needs to be rewritten in order for the sentence to be correct?

Most meetings scheduled by the coach well before the first basketball game so that all the athletes will know what will be expected of them.

16.  Identify which bolded word needs to be rewritten in order for the sentence to be correct.

The students in anthropology class went on trip to Machu Pichu, Peru to study the ruins of the ancient Mayans.

17. Which bolded word needs to be rewritten in order for the sentence to be correct?

Professor Chen’s students learned that the research paper due date will be postponed for two weeks so that everyone in the class had more time to  conduct research.

18.  Which bolded word needs to be changed in order for the sentence to be correct?

Having competently control with delivery, language-use, and topic development, Lata scored perfectly on the speaking section of the TOEFL iBT.

Google “word order for adjective and adverb modifiers” and “distinguishing between adjective and adverbs”

19.  Which words needs to be rewritten in order for the sentence to be correct?

Susan is intelligenter than Ron, but Ahmed is the smartest of all the students at the university.

20.   Which answer correctly completes the sentence?

_______________many decorated houses in my neighborhood during Christmastime.

A. There is always

B. There are always

C. Are always

D. It is always

21.  Which sentence is more appropriate or grammatically correct in academic writing?

A. Human activities such as auto and factory emissions are polluting our atmosphere, however, these so-called greenhouse gases are causing our climate to warm.

B. Because human activities such as auto and factory emissions are polluting our atmosphere, so these so-called greenhouse gases are causing our climate to warm.

C. Human activities such as auto and factory emissions are polluting our atmosphere; therefore, these so-called greenhouse gases are causing our climate to warm.

D. Human activities such as auto and factory emissions are polluting our atmosphere. These so-called greenhouse gases are causing our climate to warm.

22.   Identify which bolded word should be rewritten in order for the sentence to be correct.

Most students who register to take the TOEFL iBT are accustomed reading from a computer screen.

23.   Which bolded word needs to be changed in order for the sentence to be correct?

Studying in groups helps me to concentrate better when I am preparing for exams. In addition, you can get your studies done faster by studying in groups. 

 

TOEFL Grammar Practice Test: Review your incorrect answers.

For each question, I listed some topics that you can study. That way you can strengthen your weaknesses. Using Google, copy the key words from the answers you missed. Then find a relevant web page that will help you understand the grammar with which you are having difficulty.

1. Google “using word forms correctly in English grammar” or “using adjectives, adverbs, verbs, and nouns correctly in English grammar”

2. Google “missing  be verb in adjective clauses,” “essential parts of independent and dependent clauses in English grammar”

3. Google “word order with adjective + enough,” “word order with enough + noun,” and “word order problems with ESL students”

4. Google “Not only + but also parallel structures,” “making paired conjunctions parallel in your sentences, ” and “parallelism and academic writing” 

5. Google “subject-verb agreement with neither/nor,” “unusual subject-verb agreement rules in English grammar,”  and “common subject-verb agreement problems among ESL writers” 

6. Google “present perfect tense versus the simple past in English grammar,” “common ESL problems with present perfect tense,” “rules for using the simple past verb tense”

7. Google “how to use noun clauses as subjects,” “word order of noun clauses in yes/no questions,” and “forming noun clauses in English grammar”

8. Google “using whose in adjective clauses,” “common problems with adjective clauses with ESL writers and speakers,” “various connectors used to form adjective clauses”

9. Google “using reduced adjective clauses with active or passive meaning” and “common ESL Problems with reduced adjective clauses”

10. Google “how to form adverb clauses of unexpected result,” “forming adverb clauses,” “common adverb clause connectors,” and “common ESL writing errors with adverb clauses”

11. Google “reducing adverb clauses showing cause-effect,” “reducing adverb clauses with active and passive meanings,” and “common ESL errors with reducing adverb clauses”

12. Google “understanding count and non-count nouns,” “common ESL errors with singular or plural nouns,” and “list of non-count nouns in English grammar”

13.  Google “singular and plural demonstrative adjectives,” “irregular stem changing plural nouns,” and “problems with pronoun agreement in academic writing”

14. Google “using possessive words + gerund phrase,” “using gerunds and infinitives in writing and speaking,” and “common ESL errors with gerunds and infinitives”

15. Google “recognizing active and passive voice structures,” “forming the passive voice in English grammar,” “common ESL errors with passive voice”

16.  Google “article usage in English grammar,” “using a, an, the before count and un-count nouns”

17. Google “present and past tense modal usage” and “common ESL errors with modal auxiliary verbs”

18. Google “word order for adjective and adverb modifiers” and “distinguishing between adjective and adverbs”

19. Google “forming superlative and comparative adjectives” and “comparative and superlative formations with longer adjectives”

20. Google “subject-verb agreement with ‘there’ and ‘it’ sentence constructions” and “common ESL errors with ‘there’ and ‘it’ sentence structures”

21. Google “Appropriate use of transition or connecting words,”  “common writing errors with transition words,” and “using transition words to show a logical relationships between ideas”

22. Google “Common ESL errors in writing with prepositions” and “an extensive list of verbs which take prepositions”

23.  Google “Awkward point of view shifts in writing” and “choosing the appropriate point of view in TOEFL speaking and writing”

TOEFL Grammar Practice Test: Complete a free TOEFL speaking practice test

Now that you know some of your strengths and weaknesses in your grammar, you can  now complete a free TOEFL speaking practice test.

  • You will learn any possible delivery problems that you may be having.
  • I will comment on how well you are using both vocabulary and grammar.
  • You will get feedback on how effectively you are organizing and supporting your ideas.
  • I will score your response from 0-30 points according to the TOEFL iBT rubrics

Get your smartphone ready to record. 

Click to see the speaking prompt and take about 15 seconds to prepare your response. 

Then make a 45 second recording. 

Save your audio recording “firstnameTOEFLspeakingpracticetest.” 

Attach the speaking file and e-mail me with the following message:

mbuckhoff@aol.com

Title:  Free TOEFL Speaking Practice Test

Body: 

Michael,

Attached is my free TOEFL speaking practice test. Please listen to, evaluate, and score my practice test so I can know what I need to do to improve my speaking skills. My response is based on the following prompt: What time do you prefer to take classes: in the morning, afternoon, or evening? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

Thanks,

First name and last name

TOEFL Grammar Practice Test: Complete a free TOEFL writing practice test

Taking a grammar diagnostic test and completing a speaking practice test will give you a good idea on how advanced your English proficiency is.  In addition, completing a writing practice test will give you the last picture you need of your overall academic English proficiency.

When you are ready to complete this independent writing practice, click to see the prompt. Take about 30 minutes to respond to the task. Then email me a copy of the writing prompt. I will use the TOEFL independent writing rubrics to score this task. 

Title: Free TOEFL Writing Practice Test

Body:

Michael,

Attached to this e-mail is my free TOEFL indpependent writing practice test. Please score this practice test from 0-30 points and let me know at least three changes I need to make to my writing in order to score higher.

My response was based on the following writing prompt: What is the most important factor in choosing which university you want to attend? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

Thanks,

First name 

TOEFL Grammar Practice Test: My scores are low on these practice tests. What do I do?

Fortunately, I have several TOEFL courses that will give you the practice you need to improve your English.  Go to TOEFL Course Plans and take a few minutes to learn about which personalized learning path will work best for you.

8 thoughts on “TOEFL Grammar Practice Test”

  1. Pingback: TOEFL Bank of Practice Questions - Better TOEFL Scores Blog

  2. Today, I learned, “Common ESL errors in writing with prepositions” and “verbs which take prepositions”

  3. Brikenda Shala

    I learned today something I didn’t know before, like “subject-verb agreement with neither/nor,” “unusual subject-verb agreement rules in English grammar,” and “common subject-verb agreement problems among ESL writers” ! I liked how everything was described here

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