English Grammar MCQS

Correct answer: Hold. “Hold your horses” means wait or be patient.

Background: The idiom comes from the days of horse-drawn carriages and riding.

• Hung Parliament: “Hung Parliament” is a political term for no clear majority.
• Out of words: “Out of words” does not fit the idiom.
• Be all ears: “Be all ears” means to listen carefully.

Did you know? It is used to tell someone to slow down.

Memory trick: Hold your horses = wait.

Correct answer: Hiatus. A lacuna is a gap or missing part, and “hiatus” also means a gap.

Background: The word comes from the Latin lacuna, “pit” or “gap”.

• Apathy: “Apathy” means lack of interest.
• Misfortune: “Misfortune” means bad luck.
• Largesse: “Largesse” means generous giving.

Did you know? A lacuna in a manuscript is a missing section.

Memory trick: Lacuna = gap.

Correct answer: Agreement. The proverb is “A lean agreement is better than a fat lawsuit”, meaning a quick settlement is better than a long legal fight.

Background: It encourages settling disputes out of court.

• Case: “Case” does not complete the proverb.
• Argument: “Argument” does not complete the proverb.
• Decision: “Decision” does not complete the proverb.

Did you know? A similar saying is “Better a bad settlement than a good lawsuit”.

Memory trick: Lean agreement > fat lawsuit.

Correct answer: The person to whom he sold the house was a fraud. Only this sentence has correct grammar, with the article “the” and “a” and the verb “sold” in the past tense.

Background: A sentence needs a subject, a verb, and correct articles.

• To whom he sold house was fraud: It is missing the article “the” and does not form a complete clause.
• To whom he sell house was fraud.: “Sell” is the wrong verb form here.
• To whom he sell house were fraud.: “Sell” and “were” are both wrong.

Did you know? “To whom” is a prepositional phrase and must follow a noun here.

Memory trick: Choose the full, complete sentence.

Correct answer: Cramped. Commodious means roomy and spacious, so “cramped” is the opposite.

Background: The word comes from the Latin commodus, “convenient”.

• Expensive: “Expensive” means costly.
• Numerous: “Numerous” means many.
• Leisurely: “Leisurely” means unhurried.

Did you know? A commodious house has plenty of room.

Memory trick: Commodious = roomy; opposite = cramped.

Correct answer: Would have helped. This is a third conditional (unreal past), so the main clause takes “would have + past participle”.

Background: “Had he been” is the inverted form of “If he had been”.

• Would help: “Would help” is the form for a present or future unreal condition.
• Would has helped: “Would has” is ungrammatical.
• None of these: “None of these” is incorrect because “would have helped” is correct.

Did you know? The third conditional talks about situations that did not happen.

Memory trick: Had + past participle → would have + past participle.

Correct answer: Will pass. This is a first conditional (real possibility), so the main clause takes “will + base verb”.

Background: A first conditional uses present simple in the “if” clause and “will” in the main clause.

• Pass: “Pass” is the base form without “will”.
• Was passed: “Was passed” is a passive form that does not fit.
• Have passed: “Have passed” is the wrong tense.

Did you know? It describes a real, possible future situation.

Memory trick: If + present, will + verb.

Correct answer: Asad greeted Ali and asked him if he was going that day. “Hello” is reported with “greeted”, and the question is reported with “asked … if”, with “today” changing to “that day”.

Background: A yes/no question in indirect speech uses “if” or “whether”.

• Asad greeted Ali if he was going today: “Greeted Ali if” does not report the question correctly.
• Asad congratulated Ali he was going that day: “Congratulated” does not match the meaning of “Hello”.
• None of these: “None of these” is incorrect because the second option is correct.

Did you know? Time words change: today → that day.

Memory trick: Hello → greeted; question → asked if.

Correct answer: Called off. “Called off” means cancelled.

Background: “Call off” is a phrasal verb.

• Called of: “Called of” is not correct.
• Called at: “Called at” is not correct.
• Called in: “Called in” means to ask someone to come.

Did you know? Matches can also be “abandoned” because of rain.

Memory trick: Called off = cancelled.

Correct answer: Frugal. Lavish means spending or giving freely, and “frugal” (careful with money) is the opposite.

Background: Lavish can also mean luxurious, as in a lavish party.

• Generous: “Generous” is similar in meaning to lavish.
• Grand: “Grand” is similar in meaning to lavish.
• Excessive: “Excessive” is similar in meaning to lavish.

Did you know? Frugal comes from the Latin frux, meaning “fruit” or “value”.

Memory trick: Lavish ↔ frugal.

Correct answer: Ready to obey someone. To be at someone’s beck and call is to be always ready to obey their orders.

Background: A “beck” is a beckoning gesture.

• A good thing initially seemed bad: This is not the meaning of the idiom.
• To make a bad situation: This is not the meaning of the idiom.
• Doing nothing at the moment’s notice: This is not the meaning of the idiom.

Did you know? The idiom is often used when someone feels treated like a servant.

Memory trick: Beck and call = at your service.

Correct answer: Reticent. A reticent person is reserved and speaks little.

Background: Reticent comes from the Latin reticere, “to keep silent”.

• Orator: An orator is a skilled public speaker.
• Recluse: A recluse is a person who lives alone, avoiding society.
• Introvert: An introvert prefers quiet, but “reticent” is the word that means speaking little.

Did you know? A similar word is taciturn.

Memory trick: Reticent = rarely talks.

Correct answer: Mendel. Freud founded psychoanalysis, and Gregor Mendel is called the father of genetics.

Background: Mendel experimented with pea plants.

• Newton: Newton is associated with physics and gravity.
• Darwin: Darwin is associated with evolution.
• Pasteur: Pasteur is associated with microbiology and vaccines.

Did you know? His work was recognised only after his death.

Memory trick: Mendel = genetics.

Correct answer: Fleeting. Ephemeral means lasting for a very short time, which is the meaning of “fleeting”.

Background: The word comes from the Greek ephemeros, “lasting a day”.

• Enduring: “Enduring” means lasting a long time, the opposite.
• Permanent: “Permanent” means lasting forever, the opposite.
• None of these: “None of these” is incorrect because “fleeting” is correct.

Did you know? A mayfly is an ephemeral insect because adults live only a short time.

Memory trick: Ephemeral = for a day = short.