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If you want to score high on the TOEFL test, make sure to brush up on your grammar skills. These fifteen tips will help you minimize your mistakes and improve your score. With a little practice, you can master the TOEFL and get the score you need to get into the college of your dreams.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL, is a test required by many institutions in order to assess a non-native English speaker’s abilities. While the TOEFL can seem daunting, there are a few key grammar tips that can help you ace the test. First and foremost, remember to use proper verb tense. The TOEFL will often ask questions about events that have already happened, so it is important to be able to use past tense verbs correctly. Other tenses, such as present and future, are important as well. Secondly, Pay attention to subject-verb agreement. This is a common error made by non-native English speakers, so it is important to be aware of it. The subject and verb of a sentence must agree in number, so if the subject is plural, the verb must be plural as well. These are just a few of the many grammar tips that can help you ace the TOEFL. With a little practice and attention to detail, you can ace the test and show institutions that you have the English language skills they are looking for.
| 1. Review basic grammar rules
2. Know common English verb tenses
3. Be familiar with English sentence structure
4. Practice identifyingSubject-Verb Agreement
5. Understand and be able to usePronouns
6. Be able to useModals to express ability, doubt, necessity, etc.
7. Pay attention to details such as articles, conjunctions, and prepositions |
1. Review basic grammar rules
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| It is important to review basic grammar rules before taking the TOEFL test. Here are fifteen tips to help you ace the grammar portion of the exam: |
| 1. Make sure you know the parts of speech and how to use them correctly. This includes understanding nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions.
2. Study basic sentence structure. This means knowing how to construct a complete sentence with a subject and a verb.
3. Pay attention to verb tenses. You need to be able to use present, past, and future tense verbs correctly.
4. Use correct verb agreement. This means using the correct form of the verb based on the subject of the sentence. 5. Pronouns also need to agree with the nouns they are replacing.
6. Understand and be able to use adjectives and adverbs correctly.
7. Prepositions must be used correctly in order for a sentence to make sense.
8. Make sure you use articles (a, an, the) correctly.
9. Pay attention to sentence connectors such as conjunctions (and, but, or, so) and transition words (first, next, then, finally).
10. Use correct capitalization.
11. Use correct punctuation.
12. Know how to use basic English grammar rules when speaking. This includes using proper verb tense, pronoun usage, and sentence structure.
13. Be able to identify and correct common grammatical errors.
14. Practice writing complete sentences using proper grammar.
15. Take a TOEFL practice test to see how you score on the grammar section. By following these tips, you will be well on your way to acing the grammar portion of the TOEFL exam. |
2. Know common English verb tenses
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| Knowing your verb tenses is vital to acing the TOEFL. There are three common English verb tenses that you should be aware of: |
| past, present, and future. Each one has its own unique conjugation, so it’s important to know how to use each one correctly. The past tense is used to describe events that have already happened. For example, “I played tennis yesterday.” The present tense is used to describe events that are happening right now. For example, “I am playing tennis now.” The future tense is used to describe events that will happen in the future. For example, “I will play tennis tomorrow.” To make sure you’re using the correct verb tense, pay close attention to the time markers that are used in the prompt. For example, the prompt may use words like “yesterday,” “now,” or “tomorrow.” These words will clue you in on which verb tense you should be using. If you’re ever unsure, it’s always best to go with the present tense. If you want to get a high score on the TOEFL, it’s important that you’re able to use all three of these verb tenses correctly. So study up and make sure you know how to conjugate verbs in each tense. With a little practice, you’ll be acing the TOEFL in no time! |
3. Be familiar with English sentence structure
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| If you want to ace the TOEFL grammar test, you need to be familiar with English sentence structure. There are three main sentence structures in English: |
| simple, compound, and complex. Simple sentences are the most basic type of sentence. They typically contain one subject and one verb, and they don’t have any subordinate clauses. |
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For example:
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| “I eat apples.” Compound sentences are made up of two or more simple sentences joined together with a conjunction. |
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For example:
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| “I eat apples and oranges.” Complex sentences are made up of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. Subordinate clauses are clauses that can’t stand on their own as a complete sentence. They are usually introduced by a subordinating conjunction, such as “when,” “because,” or “although.” |
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For example:
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| “I eat apples when I am hungry.” The best way to become familiar with these different sentence structures is to practice writing them yourself. You can also try reading texts that use them. Once you have a good understanding of the different sentence structures, you will be able to use them correctly on the TOEFL grammar test. |
4. Practice identifyingSubject-Verb Agreement
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| In order to do well on the TOEFL, it is important to be able to identify Subject-Verb Agreement. This means knowing when to use a singular verb and when to use a plural verb. Here are four tips to help you with this: |
| 1. Pay attention to the subject of the sentence. This is the noun or pronoun that is doing the verb. If the subject is singular (e.g. one person, one thing), then you will need to use a singular verb. If the subject is plural (e.g. two people, three things), then you will need to use a plural verb.
2. Be careful of collective nouns. These are nouns that refer to a group of things or people (e.g. team, family, audience). Collective nouns can be tricky because sometimes they are singular and sometimes they are plural. It depends on whether you are looking at the group as a whole or as individual members.
3. Pay attention to words like each, every, and either. These words are called indefinite pronouns because they do not refer to a specific person or thing. They are always singular, so you will need to use a singular verb.
4. Practice, practice, practice! The best way to get better at identifying Subject-Verb Agreement is to practice as much as you can. Read sentences out loud and pay attention to whether the verb agrees with the subject. Try to find examples in your TOEFL material to see if you can identify the agreement. Remember, if you are ever unsure of whether to use a singular or plural verb, the best thing to do is to check the subject of the sentence and make sure it agrees with the verb. With a little bit of practice, you will be Identifying Subject-Verb Agreement like a pro! |
5. Understand and be able to usePronouns
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| When it comes to taking the TOEFL, there are a few different ways that students can prepare. One way is to make sure that they understand the material and are able to use it correctly. One of the things that students will need to know is how to use pronouns correctly. Here are five tips to help you understand and use pronouns correctly on the TOEFL: |
| 1. Make sure that you know the different types of pronouns. There are subject pronouns, object pronouns, and possessive pronouns. Each of these has a different function in a sentence.
2. Start by practicing with the most common pronouns. These are the pronouns that you will use most often in your speaking and writing.
3. Make sure that you use the correct pronoun when you are referring to a noun. This includes using the correct gender pronoun and the correct case pronoun.
4. Pay attention to the placement of pronouns in a sentence. In English, pronouns usually come before the verb.
5. Practice using pronouns in different types of sentences. This includes making sentences with compound subjects and complex objects. By following these tips, you will be on your way to using pronouns correctly on the TOEFL. |
6. Be able to useModals to express ability, doubt, necessity, etc.
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| There are many different types of grammar that you need to be familiar with in order to do well on the TOEFL. One important category is modals, which express ability, doubt, necessity, and other concepts. Here are some tips to help you use modals correctly on the TOEFL. First, let’s review what modals are. Modals are words like can, could, may, might, must, should, and would. They are used to express concepts like ability, doubt, necessity, and so on. For example, you might say “I can speak French” to express your ability to speak the language, or “You must be 18 to vote” to express the necessity of being a certain age to vote. Now that we know what modals are, let’s talk about how to use them correctly. One important rule to remember is that modals must agree with the subject in terms of number and person. For example, if you are talking about one person, you would use a singular modal, like can. If you are talking about more than one person, you would use a plural modal, like can. Another rule to keep in mind is that modals can only be used with infinitives. An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, like “to speak” or “to vote.” You cannot use a modal with a conjugated verb, like “speaks” or “voted.” Here are some more specific tips for using modals on the TOEFL: |
| -To express ability, use can or could. For example, “I can speak French” or “She could speak three languages.” -To express doubt, use may or might. For example, “He may be late for the meeting” or “They might not be able to come to the party.” -To express necessity, use must. For example, “You must be 18 to vote.” -To express advice, use should. For example, “You should study for the TOEFL if you want to do well on the test.” -To express a preference, use would. For example, “I would prefer to take the TOEFL in the morning.” Keep these tips in mind when you are using modals on the TOEFL, and you will be sure to use them correctly. |
7. Pay attention to details such as articles, conjunctions, and prepositions
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| One of the most important things to keep in mind while taking the TOEFL is to pay attention to small details such as articles, conjunctions, and prepositions. This can be a difficult task for many test-takers, especially those whose first language is not English. However, by keeping a few simple tips in mind, you can avoid making common mistakes and increase your chances of getting a high score on the TOEFL. One issue that often trips up TOEFL test-takers is the use of articles. In English, there are three articles: |
| “a,” “an,” and “the.” Articles are used before nouns to show whether the noun is specific or unspecific. For example, if I say “I saw a dog,” this means that I saw one particular dog. On the other hand, if I say “I saw the dog,” this means that I saw the one dog that you and I both know about. In TOEFL listening and reading sections, you will often hear or see a noun without an article. In these cases, you can usually assume that the noun is unspecific. Another thing to pay attention to is the use of conjunctions. A conjunction is a word that connects two clauses or phrases. For example, the words “and,” “but,” and “or” are all conjunctions. You will need to be able to identify conjunctions in order to understand how the different parts of a sentence are related to each other. Finally, prepositions are also important to pay attention to. A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. For example, the preposition “in” shows that something is inside of something else. The preposition “on” shows that something is touching the surface of something else. In order to understand a sentence, you need to be able to identify the preposition and understand what it is showing. By keeping these details in mind, you can avoid making common mistakes on the TOEFL and increase your chances of getting a high score. |
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