IMO Practice Test — Parts of Speech — Deeper Dive
8 Questions • 15 min • Olympiad level
15:00
Question 1 of 8
Spot the error: 'He suggested to meet at the library.'
to meet → meeting
suggested is wrong
at the library is wrong
no error
Explanation: 'suggest' is followed by a gerund or 'that' clause: 'suggested meeting'.
Question 2 of 8
Choose the correct order: 'She wore a ___ scarf.'
silk long beautiful
beautiful long silk
long beautiful silk
silk beautiful long
Explanation: Opinion (beautiful) → size (long) → material (silk).
Question 3 of 8
Identify the agreement error: 'Everybody should mind their own business.' (strict grammar)
their → his or her
Everybody is wrong
business is wrong
no error
Explanation: Strict grammar treats 'everybody' as singular → 'his or her'.
Question 4 of 8
Choose: 'I can't help ___ at his jokes.'
to laugh
laughing
laugh
laughed
Explanation: 'can't help' is followed by a gerund.
Question 5 of 8
Which sentence is correct?
The cattle is grazing.
The cattle are grazing.
The cattle is graze.
The cattle grazes.
Explanation: 'cattle' is a plural collective noun → 'are grazing'.
Question 6 of 8
Choose the correct verb pattern: 'She stopped ___ to greet us.'
walking and started to greet
to walk in order to greet
walking; she paused to greet us
Both B and C express it correctly
Explanation: 'stop + to-infinitive' means to pause in order to do something.
Question 7 of 8
Rearrange: 'old / charming / a / cottage / little / stone'
a charming little old stone cottage
a little charming stone old cottage
a stone old little charming cottage
an old stone little charming cottage
Explanation: Opinion → size → age → material: charming little old stone.
Question 8 of 8
Choose the correct pronoun: 'Neither Riya nor her sisters have finished ___ work.'
her
their
its
his
Explanation: With 'nor', agreement is with the nearer subject 'sisters' (plural) → 'their'.