Sentence Builds Flashcards
6 cards from real Versant English Proficiency practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Sentence Builds flashcards as text
You hear the following phrases: / had she arrived / than the phone rang / no sooner /. Which is the correct sentence?
Answer: No sooner had she arrived than the phone rang.
This sentence requires a specific grammatical structure known as inversion. When a sentence begins with a negative adverbial like 'No sooner', the auxiliary verb ('had') must come before the subject ('she'). The correct structure is 'No sooner + had + subject + past participle + than + second event'.
You hear the following phrases: / having finished the analysis / the team presented / its findings to the board /. Which is the correct sentence?
Answer: Having finished the analysis, the team presented its findings to the board.
The correct answer uses a perfect participle phrase ('Having finished the analysis') to describe an action that was completed before the main action ('the team presented'). This phrase acts as an adverbial, modifying the entire main clause and clearly indicating the sequence of events.
You hear the following phrases: / were a key factor / the project's success / his contributions /. Which is the correct sentence?
Answer: His contributions were a key factor in the project's success.
This sentence is a straightforward subject-verb-object construction, but the phrases can be misleading. 'His contributions' is the subject, 'were' is the verb, and 'a key factor in the project's success' is the complement. The preposition 'in' is crucial for connecting 'key factor' to 'the project's success' logically.
You hear the following phrases: / she wanted to know / the policy applied / whether or not /. Which is the correct sentence?
Answer: She wanted to know whether or not the policy applied.
This sentence involves reported speech, specifically reporting a yes/no question. The phrase 'whether or not' is used to introduce the clause. The correct structure is [main clause] + 'whether or not' + [subordinate clause in statement order (subject + verb)].
You hear the following phrases: / the reason he was late / was that his car / wouldn't start /. Which is the correct sentence?
Answer: The reason he was late was that his car wouldn't start.
This sentence structure uses a noun clause beginning with 'that' to explain the 'reason'. The main clause is 'The reason he was late was...' and the noun clause 'that his car wouldn't start' functions as the predicate nominative, completing the meaning of the main clause.
You hear the following phrases: / despite the technical issues / went ahead as planned / the presentation /. Which is the correct sentence?
Answer: Despite the technical issues, the presentation went ahead as planned.
The phrase 'Despite the technical issues' is a prepositional phrase that acts as an adverb, indicating concession. Placing it at the beginning of the sentence, followed by a comma, clearly and correctly modifies the main clause 'the presentation went ahead as planned'.