DLAB - Defense Language Aptitude Battery Grammar MCQ 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence demonstrates correct parallel structure?
- She enjoys hiking, to swim, and riding bikes.
- She enjoys hiking, swimming, and riding bikes. (Correct answer)
- She enjoys to hike, swimming, and to ride bikes.
- She enjoys hike, swim, and ride bikes.
Correct answer: She enjoys hiking, swimming, and riding bikes.
Parallel structure requires that items in a series use the same grammatical form. 'Hiking, swimming, and riding' are all gerunds (-ing forms), making the series grammatically consistent.
Question 2: Which sentence correctly uses a misplaced modifier?
- Running quickly, the finish line came into view.
- I almost drove my children to school every day.
- The professor only teaches graduate students on Tuesdays.
- She saw the dog walking down the street. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: She saw the dog walking down the street.
'She saw the dog walking down the street' is the clearest example of a misplaced modifier — 'walking down the street' ambiguously modifies 'dog' when it likely describes 'she.' The other options contain their own errors but this one best illustrates the classic misplaced modifier problem for DLAB purposes.
Question 3: Which sentence correctly uses pronoun-antecedent agreement?
- Everyone must bring their own lunch to the meeting. (Correct answer)
- The committee announced their decision yesterday.
- Each of the soldiers cleaned their rifle before inspection.
- Neither of the officers forgot their badge.
Correct answer: Everyone must bring their own lunch to the meeting.
'Everyone' is a singular indefinite pronoun, but modern standard usage accepts 'their' as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. However, 'The committee' takes a singular pronoun ('its'), and 'Each' and 'Neither' are also singular and pair with 'his or her' in formal grammar — making option A the most broadly accepted answer.
Question 4: Which of the following is a correctly punctuated compound sentence?
- The soldier trained hard he passed the exam easily.
- The soldier trained hard, he passed the exam easily.
- The soldier trained hard; he passed the exam easily. (Correct answer)
- The soldier trained hard and, he passed the exam easily.
Correct answer: The soldier trained hard; he passed the exam easily.
Two independent clauses must be joined by a semicolon, a coordinating conjunction with a comma, or a period. Option A is a run-on, option B is a comma splice, and option D incorrectly places a comma after a coordinating conjunction.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly uses the future perfect tense?
- By Friday, she will finish the report.
- By Friday, she will have finished the report. (Correct answer)
- By Friday, she would finish the report.
- By Friday, she has finished the report.
Correct answer: By Friday, she will have finished the report.
The future perfect tense ('will have + past participle') expresses an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future. 'Will have finished' correctly indicates the report's completion will precede Friday.
Question 6: Which sentence uses an active voice construction?
- The base was secured by the platoon at dawn.
- Mistakes were made during the drill.
- The sergeant issued new orders to the squad. (Correct answer)
- The bridge had been destroyed by enemy forces.
Correct answer: The sergeant issued new orders to the squad.
In active voice, the subject performs the action. 'The sergeant issued new orders' has the subject (sergeant) performing the verb (issued). The other options all use passive constructions where the subject receives or is acted upon.
DLAB - Defense Language Aptitude Battery Grammar MCQ 1
Which sentence demonstrates correct parallel structure?