Introduction to TOEFL Grammar
Understanding grammar for TOEFL will help you achieve your desired scores on the test. Besides, a firm grasp of the essential grammatical rules and principles will be beneficial for all four sections of the exam. This includes reading, writing, listening, and speaking, as each assesses your understanding and application of different grammar functions.
One must first aim at learning and understanding the grammar rules for TOEFL, see or hear the usage, try using them yourself, and finally correct your errors. Besides, there are ample TOEFL writing mock test that are available online, which will help you improve. However, before jumping on to that, let us first learn about the essential TOEFL grammar skills and rules. These will assist you in navigating the different challenges in the exam and improving your test scores.
Essential Grammar Rules for the TOEFL Exam
To master and ace the TOEFL exam, one must be familiar with the fundamental Grammar rules for TOEFL. These include subject-verb agreement, tenses, pronouns, articles, modals, sentence structure, and a lot more. Here are a few essential rules for TOEFL grammar that will help you write and speak clearly. Moreover, learning these rules will also help in boosting your scores for the TOEFL exam and improve your accuracy.
Subject-Verb Agreement
- Ensure that the subject and verb in a sentence agree in number (singular or plural).
- Example: ‘She sings’ (singular) and ‘They sing’ (plural).
Verb Tenses
- Understanding and correctly using the different tenses (past, present, future) is essential. Stay consistent with tense usage to convey the correct time frame of actions.
- Example: ‘I ate yesterday’ (past), ‘I eat every day’ (present), and ‘I will eat tomorrow’ (future).
Articles (a, an, the)
- Use ‘a’ and ‘an’ for non-specific singular nouns, and ‘the’ for specific nouns.
- Example: ‘a tree’, ‘an apple’, and ‘the university’.
Pronouns and Antecedents
- Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number, gender, and person.
- Example: ‘Has everyone brought their bicycles?’ should be ‘Has everyone brought his or her bicycle?’
Sentence Structure
- Familiarise yourself with simple, compound, and complex sentences. Ensure each sentence has a subject and a predicate. Avoid sentence fragments, which are incomplete sentences
- Example: ‘She reads’ (simple), ‘She reads, and he writes’ (compound), ‘Although she reads, he writes’ (complex).
Passive Voice
- Understand when to use passive voice to emphasize the action rather than the subject.
- Example: ‘The car was driven by her’ (passive) and ‘She dives the car’ (active).
Conditional Sentences
- Master the different types of conditional sentences (zero, first, second, third, and mixed conditionals) to discuss possibilities, hypothetical situations, and their consequences.
- Example: ‘If I don't eat, I get hungry’ (zero conditional), ‘If it rains, we will stay indoors’ (first conditional), ‘If I had wings, I would fly’ (second conditional), ‘If he told me he was free, I would have taken him along’.
Modals
- Use modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) to express ability, possibility, permission, and obligation.
- Example: ‘You must study hard’ and ‘You can go now’.
Parallel Structure
- Ensure consistency in lists and comparisons by using the same grammatical form.
- Example: ‘She likes playing tennis, cooking, and writing’ (parallel) and ‘She likes playing tennis, to cooking, and writing’. (not parallel).
Prepositions
- Pay attention to the correct use of prepositions (e.g., ‘in,’ ‘on,’ ‘at,’ ‘to’) and their impact on sentence meaning.
- Example: ‘The cake is in the oven’ and ‘She is sitting on the bed’.
Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid for the TOEFL Exam
If you are thorough with the above-mentioned rules and you have done enough TOEFL grammar practice, then you will have a solid grasp of English grammar. Here are some common grammar mistakes to avoid for the TOEFL practice test that can affect your scores in the actual TOEFL test. Moreover, understanding these errors will help you communicate more effectively and accurately.
1. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors
- One of the most common mistakes that students make in the TOEFL exam is the mismatch between subjects and verbs. Thus, you must ensure that singular subjects are paired with singular verbs while the plural subjects are paired with the plural verbs.
2. Incorrect Verb Tense Usage
- Using the wrong tense could be confusing as it will not match the timeline of your actions or events. Hence, it is advisable to be consistent with the use of tense and ensure they match the context.
3. Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement
- Pronouns must agree with the nouns as they are replaced in both number and gender. This will help maintain clarity and coherence for all the sections in the exam - reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
4. Sentence Fragments
- A complete sentence must have at least one independent clause. Moreover, avoiding fragments will ensure that each sentence has a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought.
5. Passive Voice Mistakes
- Ensuring to use the auxiliary verb ‘be’. Moreover, one must avoid using passive voice when active voice is better. Another thing to keep in mind is not to overuse of passive voice in writing essays.
6. Lack of Parallel Structure
- When mentioning lists or other comparisons, ensure all items follow the same grammatical pattern. This makes your writing clear, elegant, and more understandable.
7. Incorrect Use of Prepositions
- Prepositions can be confusing, but using the correct one is essential for clarity. Besides, practicing common prepositional phrases along with their usage and a few examples is advisable.
Some Other Important Errors to Avoid for TOEFL Exam
Here are a few more errors to avoid when learning grammar for TOEFL exam.
- Misplaced Modifiers can lead to awkward or confusing sentences.
- Inappropriate commas are punctuation marks that can denote incorrect pauses in sentences.
- Misplaced or overusing apostrophes may not denote possession or contraction.
These are a few common mistakes to avoid. Further, in the next section, let us look at the TOEFL grammar tips and pointers to remember.
Top 5 Tips for Improving Grammar for TOEFL Exam
Here are some of the best TOEFL grammar tips that will help you boost your confidence to ace the test.
- Read extensively, there is a wide range of materials, such as books and newspapers that will help you expand your vocabulary.
- Writing essays, articles, and summaries regularly will help you improve your grammar rules and correct any grammatical errors.
- Take a lot of TOEFL grammar practice tests such as quizzes and grammar exercises so that you get familiar with the question type.
- Make a structured study plan which is essential for effective vocabulary learning. You can do this by setting realistic goals and timelines.
- Seeking help from native English speakers, seeking feedback, and using grammar-check tools will help you understand your mistakes and errors.
Conclusion
To wrap up, the blog covered everything about the TOEFL grammar skills, rules, and errors to avoid. Grammar is considered a fundamental aspect of the English language. Thus, to master the language it is vital to learn all grammar rules. Besides, not just for the TOEFL exam but otherwise also every student must learn these grammar rules. This is because these not only help you communicate your thoughts but also build conversations with ease. For this, you may seek professional help from Gradding.com as our experts help you cover the entire TOEFL syllabus, providing excellent coaching in this domain.
