22 TOEFL ITP Grammar Questions + Answers Explained

The fastest way to master Section 2 of the TOEFL® ITP (Structure & Written Expression) is to work through lots of questions and truly understand why each answer is right, not just memorize the key.

This article collects 22 questions from our TOEFL Question of the Day series, split into three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Answer them all first without peeking, write down your choices, then check them against the key and explanations further down.

As a reminder, Section 2 has 40 questions in 25 minutes: Structure (15 questions, completing a sentence) and Written Expression (25 questions, finding the incorrect part). So aim for about 30 seconds per question.

The slides below show some of the questions (the instructions on them are in Indonesian). The answers are deliberately left out; you’ll find them in the explanation section.

Level 1: Basic (Questions 1 to 4)

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.

1. The professor, along with his students, _____ to the conference every year.

A. go
B. goes
C. going
D. have gone

2. Neither the manager nor the employees _____ satisfied with the new policy.

A. is
B. are
C. was
D. being

3. She has been working at this company _____ 2015.

A. since
B. for
C. from
D. during

4. The course teaches students how to write reports, present findings, and _____ arguments.

A. evaluating
B. evaluate
C. evaluation
D. to evaluating

Level 2: Intermediate (Questions 5 to 13)

5. Every student and teacher _____ required to attend the seminar.

A. are
B. is
C. were
D. being

6. If she _____ harder, she would have passed the exam.

A. studies
B. studied
C. had studied
D. would study

7. He is looking forward to _____ from you soon.

A. hearing
B. hear
C. heard
D. hears

8. The report _____ by the assistant before the meeting started.

A. has prepared
B. had been prepared
C. was preparing
D. prepares

9. This year’s sales are _____ than last year’s.

A. higher
B. highest
C. high
D. more high

10. The woman _____ car was stolen called the police.

A. whose
B. who
C. whom
D. which

11. By the time you arrive, I _____ the report.

A. finish
B. finished
C. will have finished
D. have finished

12. _____ it was raining, we went to the beach.

A. Despite
B. Although
C. Because
D. So

13. One of my friends _____ a scholarship to study abroad.

A. has
B. have
C. are
D. were

Level 3: Advanced (Questions 14 to 22)

This level mixes Structure and Written Expression. For Written Expression questions, choose the one part that is incorrect.

14. Seldom _____ such a spectacular display of northern lights in this latitude.

A. people have seen
B. have people seen
C. people saw
D. did people saw

15. (Written Expression) The (A) rapid expansion of digital libraries (B) have transformed the way students (C) conduct academic (D) research.

16. The report _____ by the committee yesterday highlighted several major environmental issues.

A. was submitted
B. submitting
C. submitted
D. which submitted

17. A good scientist must be able to observe accurately, analyze objectively, and _____.

A. to draw conclusions carefully
B. draw conclusions carefully
C. carefully drawing conclusions
D. drawing conclusions carefully

18. (Written Expression) The committee (A) careful reviewed the (B) financial reports before (C) submitting their final (D) recommendations.

19. _____ the instructions more carefully, she would not have made such an expensive mistake.

A. If she followed
B. Had she followed
C. She had followed
D. If she has followed

20. _____, the bald eagle was chosen as the national symbol of the United States in 1782.

A. It is a majestic bird of prey
B. A majestic bird of prey
C. Although a majestic bird of prey
D. Being that a majestic bird of prey

21. (Written Expression) With modern technology, the new aircraft is (A) more faster and (B) more fuel-efficient than any other (C) commercial airplane currently in (D) service.

22. The department head insisted that each member _____ the annual compliance training before Friday.

A. completes
B. complete
C. completed
D. will complete

Quick Answer Key

No	Key	No	Key	No	Key
1	B	9	A	17	B
2	B	10	A	18	A
3	A	11	C	19	B
4	B	12	B	20	B
5	B	13	A	21	A
6	C	14	B	22	B
7	A	15	B
8	B	16	C

18 or more correct means your grammar foundation is solid. Under 12? Focus first on the topics you missed most in the explanations below.

Explanations: Level 1

1. B (goes). The phrase between commas (along with his students) is extra information and doesn’t change the subject. The subject is The professor (singular), and the sentence describes a habit (every year), so we need the singular simple present: goes. Go and have gone fit plural subjects, and going would need is before it. The same rule applies to as well as, together with, and in addition to.

2. B (are). With neither … nor and either … or, the verb agrees with the nearer subject. The nearer subject is the employees (plural), so are. Flip the order (Neither the employees nor the manager) and the answer becomes is.

3. A (since). 2015 is the point in time when the action began. The present perfect continuous (has been working) pairs with since for a starting point and for for a duration (for five years). From needs a partner like to/until, and during refers to a period, not a starting point.

4. B (evaluate). This is parallel structure. After how to, the series is write … present … and evaluate, all base-form verbs. Evaluating, evaluation, and to evaluating break the parallelism.

Explanations: Level 2

5. B (is). Every (and each) makes us count the nouns one by one, so the subject stays singular even when joined by and: Every student and teacher is …

6. C (had studied). The main clause uses would have passed, the signal of a third conditional (an unreal past situation). The pattern is If + had + V3, would have + V3.

7. A (hearing). In look forward to, to is a preposition, not part of an infinitive. After a preposition, a verb takes the gerund (-ing) form. Similar patterns: be used to, object to, be committed to.

8. B (had been prepared). The report was prepared by someone (passive), and the action finished before another past action (before the meeting started), so we use the past perfect passive: had + been + V3. Has prepared and was preparing are active (as if the report did the preparing), and prepares is present and active. Note: was prepared would also be acceptable here, since before already makes the order clear, but it isn’t among the options.

9. A (higher). Than calls for a comparative. High has one syllable, so just add -er: higher. More high is wrong, and highest is the superlative.

10. A (whose). The missing word shows possession (the car belongs to the woman). Whose is always followed directly by a noun: whose car. Who is for a person as subject, whom for a person as object, which for things.

11. C (will have finished). By the time + simple present points to a moment in the future. An action completed before that moment takes the future perfect: will have + V3.

12. B (Although). The blank is followed by a full clause (it was raining), and the relationship is a contrast (it rained, yet we went to the beach). Although + clause is the right choice. Despite must be followed by a noun or gerund (despite the rain). Because is illogical, and So doesn’t introduce a dependent clause like this.

13. A (has). In one of + plural noun, the real subject is one (singular), so has. Don’t be fooled by friends.

Explanations: Level 3

14. B (have people seen). A sentence that begins with a negative adverb such as seldom, rarely, never, hardly requires inversion: the auxiliary comes before the subject. Pattern: Seldom + have + people + seen. A and C aren’t inverted, and D is wrong because did must be followed by a base verb (did people see), not saw.

15. B (have → has). The subject is The rapid expansion (singular). Of digital libraries is just a modifier, so the plural libraries doesn’t affect the verb. Correct form: has transformed. The other parts are fine: rapid modifies a noun, conduct agrees with students, and academic research is adjective + noun.

16. C (submitted). The sentence already has a main verb, highlighted. So the blank needs a reduced clause, not a second main verb. The report submitted by the committee is short for The report which was submitted by the committee, and since the report was submitted (passive), we use the past participle. A creates two main verbs, B has an active meaning (the report doing the submitting), and D is active as well. To be correct, D would need to be which was submitted.

17. B (draw conclusions carefully). After must be able to comes a series of base-form verbs: observe accurately, analyze objectively, and draw conclusions carefully. Each item follows the same verb + adverb pattern. A adds to when the two earlier items don’t have it, so it isn’t parallel. C and D use -ing forms.

18. A (careful → carefully). A word that modifies a verb (reviewed) must be an adverb: carefully reviewed. Financial correctly modifies reports, submitting is a correct gerund after the preposition before, and recommendations is a plural noun after their final.

19. B (Had she followed). The main clause uses would not have made, a third conditional. The full form is If she had followed, and if can be dropped through inversion: Had she followed. A is a second conditional pattern, C has no connector so it creates two clauses joined without a conjunction, and D uses the present perfect, which doesn’t match would have.

20. B (A majestic bird of prey). The sentence is already complete (the bald eagle was chosen), so the part before the comma only needs to be an appositive, a noun phrase that describes the subject. A adds a full clause with no connector. D (Being that) isn’t standard. Option C needs a careful explanation: although actually can introduce a reduced phrase (for example, Although a newcomer, she won the race). C is wrong because of meaning: although signals contrast, but being a majestic bird of prey doesn’t contrast with being chosen as a national symbol.

21. A (more faster → faster). Fast has one syllable, so its comparative is faster. Adding more creates an incorrect double comparative. More fuel-efficient is correct because the adjective is long. Commercial modifies airplane, and in service is a standard expression.

22. B (complete). After verbs of demanding or recommending, such as insist, suggest, recommend, demand, require + that, the next verb takes the subjunctive: the base form with no -s, no -ed, and no will, even with a singular subject (each member) and a past main verb (insisted). Note: when insist means “firmly state a fact” (He insisted that he was innocent), the sentence doesn’t use the subjunctive. Here, insist clearly means “demand”.

Topics Tested at a Glance

Topic	Questions	Core rule
Subject-verb agreement	1, 2, 5, 13, 15	Find the real subject, ignore modifiers
Tenses & time	3, 8, 11	Since/for, past perfect, future perfect
Parallel structure	4, 17	Every item in a series takes the same form
Conditionals	6, 19	Type 3: had + V3, would have + V3; inversion Had + S + V3
Gerund after a preposition	7	look forward to + -ing
Comparison	9, 21	-er or more, never both
Relative pronouns & reduced clauses	10, 16	whose + noun; participle when a main verb already exists
Conjunctions & appositives	12, 20	Clause vs phrase, and check the logic too
Inversion	14, 19	Negative word first: auxiliary + subject
Word form	18	Adverbs modify verbs
Subjunctive	22	insist/suggest that + base form

Missed the subject-verb agreement questions? Revisit Singular vs Plural and the To Be Guide. Tenses? Read the 12 Tenses Guide. Word form? Study Parts of Speech 101.

Keep Practicing with Kawan EPT

These 22 questions are just a warm-up. Kawan EPT (formerly Kawan TOEFL) has more than 7,400 questions, each with an explanation for every answer option like the ones above. Grammar lessons across 33 topics, with a Learn, Drill, Master flow, help you master one pattern completely before moving to the next.

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