ACT English Practice Test: Pronouns, Verb Forms and Idioms
- Pronouns, Verb Forms and Idioms
- 10 questions
- 10 minutes
These 10 questions follow one short essay, "Learning Bread from Mr. Haddad," in order. They test usage: pronoun case and agreement, irregular verb forms, tense and idiomatic prepositions. Read the whole sentence, because the clue to the right form is often several words away from the underlined part.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
Our neighbor Mr. Haddad, whom had baked bread every morning for forty years, offered to teach my sister and me.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: B
The pronoun is the subject of the verb "had baked," so the subject form "who" is needed. "Whom" is an object form, "which" is not used for people, and "whose" shows possession.
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Question 2
He shaped six loaves, and each of the loaves had their own pattern of cuts across the top.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: C
The subject is "each," which is singular, so the possessive pronoun must be singular: "its." "It's" means "it is," and "they're" means "they are."
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Question 3
Mr. Haddad showed my father an old recipe card written in pencil, and he read it aloud to the rest of us.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: D
Two men are mentioned, so "he" could mean either Mr. Haddad or the narrator's father. Naming "my father" removes the confusion. "Him" is an object pronoun and cannot be the subject, and "they" does not match one reader.
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Question 4
By noon the dough had rose to twice its original size.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: B
After "had," the past participle of "rise" is needed: "risen." "Rose" is the simple past, "rised" is not a word, and "raised" needs an object (someone raises something).
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Question 5
Even now, at eighty-one, he keeps his starter in a jar in the refrigerator, and every morning he mixing a spoonful of it with flour and water.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: C
The sentence describes a present habit ("keeps," "every morning"), so the present tense "mixes" fits. "Mixing" is not a complete verb, and the past forms clash with "keeps."
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Question 6
The smell of the cooling loaves was enough to bring two other neighbors to the door.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: A
The subject is "smell," which is singular; "of the cooling loaves" only describes it. The singular past tense "was" agrees with it. "Were" and "have been" agree with the plural "loaves," the trap, and "are" also breaks the past tense of the story.
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Question 7
He insisted on weighing the flour on a kitchen scale instead of measuring it in cups.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: A
The standard idiom is "insist on." "Insist in," "insist to" and "insist for" are not idiomatic before an -ing form.
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Question 8
After shaping each loaf, we let it lay under a damp towel for an hour.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: D
The loaf is resting, not placing something, so the verb is "lie" ("let it lie"). "Lay" means to put something down and needs an object; "laid" and "lain" are past forms that do not fit after "let it."
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Question 9
Of the three loaves we baked that day, my sister's was the more evenly browned.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: B
Three loaves are being compared, so the superlative "most" is needed, and the adverb "evenly" modifies the participle "browned." "More" compares only two things, "most even" uses an adjective where an adverb is needed, and "evenliest" is not a word.
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Question 10
If I would have known how simple the ingredients were, I would have started baking years ago.
Which choice is best for the underlined portion?
Correct answer: C
In an "if" clause about the past that did not happen, standard English uses "had" + past participle: "If I had known." "Would have" belongs only in the result clause, "have" breaks the tense, and "would of" is a misspelling of "would have."
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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