iTEP iTEP Grammar Section Structures 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Identify the sentence with correct use of the past perfect passive voice.
- The report had been submitted before the deadline was announced. (Correct answer)
- The report had submitted before the deadline was announced.
- The report was being submitted before the deadline had announced.
- The report submitted before the deadline had been announced.
Correct answer: The report had been submitted before the deadline was announced.
Past perfect passive is formed with 'had been + past participle'. 'Had been submitted' correctly uses this structure.
The past perfect passive combines past perfect auxiliary ('had been') with the past participle of the main verb. The structure is: subject + had been + past participle. Option A correctly uses 'had been submitted'. Option B uses 'had submitted' (past perfect active, not passive). Option C uses 'was being submitted' (past continuous passive) and 'had announced' (past perfect active without passive structure). Option D uses simple past active 'submitted'. Understanding combined tense and voice constructions is tested in advanced iTEP grammar sections.
Question 2: Which sentence correctly uses an inversion for emphasis?
- Never before had the committee faced such a complex decision. (Correct answer)
- Never before the committee had faced such a complex decision.
- Never before the committee faced such a complex decision.
- The committee had never before faced such a complex decision.
Correct answer: Never before had the committee faced such a complex decision.
When a negative adverb ('never') is placed at the beginning for emphasis, subject-auxiliary inversion is required: 'had the committee' (inverted), not 'the committee had'.
Negative inversion is a formal grammatical structure used for emphasis in academic and literary writing. When negative adverbs (never, rarely, seldom, not only, hardly) or negative prepositional phrases are moved to the front of the sentence, the subject and auxiliary verb are inverted. The correct structure is: Negative adverb + auxiliary + subject + main verb. Option A: 'Never before had the committee faced' — correctly inverted. Options B and C place the subject before the auxiliary without inversion. Option D is the non-inverted version (grammatically correct but without the emphatic inversion structure). iTEP grammar sections test awareness of formal inversion patterns.
Question 3: Choose the sentence with the correct use of a cleft structure for emphasis.
- It was the unexpected budget cuts that caused the project to fail. (Correct answer)
- It was the unexpected budget cuts which caused the project failing.
- It was the unexpected budget cuts what caused the project to fail.
- It was the unexpected budget cuts that caused the project failing.
Correct answer: It was the unexpected budget cuts that caused the project to fail.
A 'it-cleft' structure uses 'It was + [emphasized element] + that + [rest of clause]'. 'That' (not 'which' or 'what') is the standard connector.
An 'it-cleft' is a structure used to emphasize one element of a sentence: 'It was [X] that [Y]'. The connecting word is 'that' (occasionally 'who' for people). 'Which' can be used in relative clauses but is non-standard in it-cleft structures and requires different verb form. 'What' is used in 'wh-cleft' structures ('What caused the failure was...'), not it-clefts. Option D correctly uses 'that' but incorrectly uses 'causing' instead of 'to fail' — the main verb needs to be in its original infinitive form in the non-cleft portion. Only Option A is completely correct.
Question 4: Which sentence correctly uses a mixed conditional?
- If she had studied harder in school, she would be in a better position now. (Correct answer)
- If she had studied harder in school, she would have been in a better position.
- If she studied harder in school, she would be in a better position now.
- If she studies harder in school, she will be in a better position now.
Correct answer: If she had studied harder in school, she would be in a better position now.
A mixed conditional combines Type 3 condition (past hypothetical: 'if + past perfect') with Type 2 result (present consequence: 'would + base verb').
A mixed conditional mixes elements of Type 2 and Type 3 conditionals to describe how a past event affects the present. The condition refers to the past (if + past perfect: 'had studied harder in school'), while the result describes the present situation (would + base verb: 'would be in a better position now'). Option A correctly combines both elements. Option B is pure Type 3 (past hypothetical situation → past hypothetical result with 'would have been'). Option C is Type 2 (present hypothetical). Option D is Type 1 (real future possibility). iTEP grammar tests the ability to identify and use mixed conditionals accurately.
Question 5: Identify the correct use of ellipsis in this sentence pair: 'Maria completed the project on time, and so did ______.'
- James (Correct answer)
- James did
- James completed it
- James completed the project on time too
Correct answer: James
Ellipsis omits repeated information. 'So did James' uses auxiliary ellipsis — only the subject is needed after 'so did'.
Ellipsis is the omission of repeated sentence elements that can be understood from context. In 'so did ___', the auxiliary 'did' represents the full verb phrase 'completed the project on time'. Only the subject 'James' needs to be stated, as the verb phrase is ellipted. 'James did' adds an unnecessary repetition of the auxiliary already present in 'so did'. 'James completed it' and the full version in option D both unnecessarily repeat information already implied. The correct, idiomatic, and grammatically precise completion uses ellipsis: 'so did James.' This advanced grammar topic appears in iTEP grammar sections targeting cohesion devices.
Question 6: Which sentence correctly uses a nominal (noun) clause as the subject?
- What the committee decided remains confidential. (Correct answer)
- That the committee decided remains confidential.
- How the committee decides remains confidential.
- The committee's decision what remains confidential.
Correct answer: What the committee decided remains confidential.
'What the committee decided' is a wh-nominal clause functioning as the subject of the sentence. It refers to the specific content of the decision.
Nominal (noun) clauses can function as subjects of a sentence. 'What the committee decided' is a wh-nominal clause (using 'what' to refer to the specific content: 'the thing that they decided') — it functions as the subject of 'remains'. Option B ('That the committee decided') would need a complete clause after 'decided' to form a proper that-clause; as written, it is incomplete. Option C ('How the committee decides') uses present tense and refers to the method/process, not the decision — possible but changes meaning. Option D is structurally incorrect. Nominal clauses as subjects are a tested structure in iTEP grammar.
iTEP iTEP Grammar Section Structures 2
Identify the sentence with correct use of the past perfect passive voice.