Here are some free sentence skills questions to help prepare for the writing part of the CPT English Test.
The first type of the sentence skills exercise on this website assesses your English language level in the area of sentence correction.
In other words, the sentence correction exercises check your knowledge of correct sentence structure.
To answer questions on the writing test, you need to identify errors in grammar, construction, style, punctuation, or capitalization.
You will also see test questions that ask you to choose the word or phrase that correctly completes the sentence.
Sentence Skills Questions with Answers and Explanations:
Here are some sample sentence skills exercises and explanations.
You may also like our online CPT Practice Exams.
Instructions: Look at the highlighted phrases in the questions below. Then choose the phrase that correctly completes the sentence provided.
1. Near a small river, at the bottom of the canyon we discovered a cave.
A. river, at the bottom of the canyon we discovered a cave.
B. river at the bottom of the canyon we discovered a cave.
C. river at the bottom of the canyon, we discovered a cave.
D. river, at the bottom of the canyon, we discovered, a cave.
2. Who did the interview panel select for the job?
A. Who did the interview panel select
B. Whom did the interview panel select
C. Who the interview panel selected
D. Whom the interview panel selected
3. They played the song “Always and Forever” at their wedding reception.
A. the song “Always and Forever”
B. the song, “Always and Forever,”
C. the song “Always and Forever,”
D. the song “Always and Forever”,
4. He lost his scholarship, as a consequence of his poor grades.
A. scholarship, as a consequence of his poor grades.
B. scholarship as a consequence of his poor grades.
C. scholarship, as a consequence his poor grades.
D. scholarship, as a consequence of, his poor grades.
5. If I was a millionaire, I would give money to charity.
A. If I was a millionaire, I would give
B. If I was a millionaire, I will give
C. If I were a millionaire, I would give
D. If I were a millionaire, I will give
Sentence Skills Questions – Answers and Explanations:
1. The correct answer is C.
The prepositional phrase “Near a small river at the bottom of the canyon” describes the location of the people when they made their discovery. So the prepositional phrase must be followed by “we.” Since the prepositional phrase is at the beginning of the sentence, the complete phrase needs to be followed with a comma. Note that you need to put in only one comma at the end of such prepositional phrases.
2. The correct answer is B.
This question tests your knowledge of “who” and “whom.” Remember to use “who” when the person you are talking about is doing the action, but to use “whom” when the person is receiving an action. In this sentence, the candidate is receiving the action of being selected. So the question should begin with “whom.” The auxiliary verb “did” needs to come directly after “whom” to have the correct word order for this type of question.
3. The correct answer is A.
The phrase “Always and Forever” is an example of a restrictive modifier. Restrictive modifiers are clauses or phrases that provide essential information in order to identify the subject. In other words, without the phrase “Always and Forever” in this sentence, we would not know exactly which song they played at their wedding. So the phrase conveys essential information. Note that restrictive modifiers should not be preceded or followed by commas.
4. The correct answer is B.
In this sentence, the word “as” functions as a subordinating conjunction. Commas should not be placed before subordinating conjunctions. Other examples of subordinating conjunctions are “because” and “since.”
5. The correct answer is C.
If you are talking about yourself in an imaginary situation, you need to use “were” instead of “was.” This is known as the subjunctive. In the other half of the sentence, you need to use the verb “would” when you are describing an imaginary situation.