English Grammar MCQS

Correct answer: Head and shoulders above. “Head and shoulders above” means far better than someone else.

Background: “Head and shoulders above” is an idiom meaning far better than others, from the idea of being taller than the crowd.

• Seal the deal: “Seal the deal” means to finalize an agreement.
• Knock it to: “Knock it to” is not an idiom that fits here.
• Lose the confidence: “Lose the confidence” does not fit grammatically or in meaning.

Did you know? “Head and Shoulders” is also the name of a well-known shampoo brand.

Memory trick: Head and shoulders above = taller than the crowd = better.

Correct answer: Ran into. “Ran into” means to meet someone unexpectedly.

Background: “Run into” is a phrasal verb meaning to meet someone by chance. It can also mean to collide with something.

• Round: “Round” does not fit grammatically.
• Ran away: “Ran away” means to flee.
• None of these: “None of these” is incorrect because “ran into” is correct.

Did you know? Similar phrasal verbs are “bump into” and “come across”.

Memory trick: Ran INTO = bumped into = met by chance.

Correct answer: The doctor asked Sarah if she had pain in her left leg. A yes/no question changes to indirect speech with “if/whether”, normal word order, and a backshifted tense (“had”).

Background: To change a yes/no question into indirect speech, use “if” or “whether”, normal word order, and shift the tense back.

• The doctor asked Sarah that she had pain in her left leg: “That” is used for statements, not questions.
• The doctor asked Sarah whether did she have pain in her left leg: “Whether did she have” keeps question word order.
• The doctor asked Sarah if she has pain in her left leg: “If she has” does not backshift the tense.

Did you know? No question mark is used, and the pronoun changes from “your” to “her”.

Memory trick: Question → if/whether + normal order + backshift.

Correct answer: shot, caught. “Shot in the leg by a bullet” and “caught in the middle of a gun fight” are the natural collocations.

Background: “Shot in the leg” and “caught in the middle” are the natural collocations for this news-style sentence.

• hurt, entered: “Hurt … entered” does not fit the meaning.
• injured, came: “Injured … came” does not fit the meaning.
• stabbed, trapped: “Stabbed” does not fit with “by a bullet”.

Did you know? “Caught in the crossfire” is a related idiom for being stuck between two fighting sides.

Memory trick: Shot in the leg; caught in the middle.

Correct answer: He died a year ago. A finished action with “ago” takes the simple past: “He died a year ago.”

Background: When a finished action is paired with a past time word like “ago”, the simple past tense is used.

• He was died a year ago: “Was died” is an incorrect passive form.
• He has died a year ago: The present perfect cannot be used with “ago”.
• He had died a year ago: The past perfect needs another past event as a reference.

Did you know? “Ago” cannot be used with the present perfect, so “has died a year ago” is wrong.

Memory trick: “Ago” → simple past.

Correct answer: After. “Take after” means to resemble a parent or relative.

Background: “Take after” is a phrasal verb meaning to resemble a parent or older relative in looks or character.

• On: “Take on” means to accept a task or employ someone.
• For: “Take for” means to consider someone to be something.
• Into: “Take into” does not fit the meaning.

Did you know? Other phrasal verbs with take: take off, take over, take up.

Memory trick: Children come after their parents, so they take after them.

Correct answer: Suppress something at an early stage. To nip something in the bud is to stop it at an early stage before it grows.

Background: The idiom comes from gardening, where a bud is nipped off before it can flower.

• Punish the opposition: Punishing the opposition is not the meaning.
• Hide a secret: Hiding a secret is not the meaning.
• Fight with younger: Fighting someone younger is not the meaning.

Did you know? It means dealing with a problem early before it grows.

Memory trick: Nip the bud = stop it while it is tiny.

Correct answer: Census. A rake gathers leaves just as a census gathers information.

Background: In analogies, first find the relation. A rake is a tool for gathering leaves, and a census is a tool for gathering information.

• Homeowner: A homeowner uses a rake but does not gather information.
• Profile: A profile describes a person but does not gather information.
• Lawn: A lawn is where leaves fall.

Did you know? The word census comes from the Latin censere, “to assess”. Pakistan held its first digital census in 2023.

Memory trick: Rake gathers leaves; census gathers information.

Correct answer: Vegan. A vegan avoids eating animal meat (and other animal products).

Background: Vegetarians avoid meat, while vegans avoid all animal products, including dairy and eggs.

• Carnivore: A carnivore eats meat.
• Omnivore: An omnivore eats both plants and meat.
• Herbivore: “Herbivore” describes plant-eating animals, not a person’s diet.

Did you know? The term “vegan” was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson in England.

Memory trick: Vegan = no animal products at all.

Correct answer: Persistent. Tenacious means holding firmly to a goal and not giving up, which is persistent.

Background: Tenacious comes from the Latin tenax, meaning “holding fast”.

• Afraid: “Afraid” means frightened.
• Irresolute: “Irresolute” means hesitant, the opposite of tenacious.
• Weak: “Weak” is the opposite of tenacious.

Did you know? The noun is tenacity: the quality of not giving up.

Memory trick: TEN-acious: holds on TEN times harder.

Correct answer: Unleash. To tether is to tie or restrain, so “unleash” (set free) is the opposite.

Background: To tether is to tie something (often an animal) with a rope or chain, or figuratively to limit someone’s freedom.

• Cuffed: “Cuffed” means restrained, similar to tether.
• Tom: “Tom” is unrelated.
• Rumble: “Rumble” is unrelated.

Did you know? The idiom “at the end of one’s tether” means having reached the limit of one’s patience.

Memory trick: Tether = tie; Unleash = untie.

Correct answer: Increase. To diminish is to make smaller, so “increase” is the opposite.

Background: To diminish is to become smaller or less. Its opposites include increase, grow, and expand.

• Decrease: “Decrease” is a synonym of diminish.
• Reduce: “Reduce” is a synonym of diminish.
• Divide: “Divide” is not the opposite of diminish.

Did you know? In economics, “diminishing returns” means each extra unit of effort gives less extra benefit.

Memory trick: Dimin-ish = small-ish; the opposite is increase.

Correct answer: Interpret. To construe is to interpret the meaning of something.

Background: To construe is to interpret the meaning of words or actions. It comes from the Latin construere.

• Firm: “Firm” is unrelated.
• Adjudicate: “Adjudicate” means to judge a dispute.
• None of these: “None of these” is incorrect because “interpret” is correct.

Did you know? “Misconstrue” means to interpret wrongly.

Memory trick: Construe = interpret (think: “construct a meaning”).

Correct answer: Teetotaller. A teetotaller never drinks alcohol.

Background: A teetotaller totally abstains from alcohol. The word is linked to the 19th-century temperance movement.

• Puritan: A puritan follows very strict moral rules.
• Pedant: A pedant is overly concerned with minor details of learning.
• Samaritan: A Samaritan is a helpful, kind person.

Did you know? Other useful one-word substitutes: pedant (fussy about rules), Samaritan (helpful stranger).

Memory trick: TEE-TOTAL = total abstinence.

Correct answer: Weighing. The proverb says weighing does not make a pig fatter; measuring does not change growth.

Background: The proverb says that measuring something does not change it, just as weighing a pig does not make it fatter.

• Feeding: “Feeding” would contradict the proverb, because feeding does fatten a pig.
• Washing: “Washing” does not fit the proverb’s meaning.
• None of these: “None of these” is incorrect because “weighing” is correct.

Did you know? It is related to the proverb “A watched pot never boils”.

Memory trick: Weighing measures; feeding fattens.