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About This Quiz
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER? You might think so! It has probably been 15, 25, 40 or even more years since you were in 5th grade. From action verbs to your prepositions, can you pass a 5th-grade grammar test?
When you began your grammar education, you first learned about nouns and verbs. You would soon branch out into making singular nouns plural. In third and fourth grade, a lot of time was spent on subject-verb agreement. During the last year of elementary school, the grammar info got even harder!
By 5th grade, students are learning an abundance of information. Of course, there's math, science, and social studies, but we can't forget grammar! These 10- and 11-year-old students are learning about the proper use of adverbs and adjectives. Their curriculum includes prepositions and how to properly use them in a sentence. They're even learning how to properly draft personal and business letters! How much of this do you remember?
How would you properly write "the sister of James"? What is an "object of the preposition" and what are key words to help you find it in a sentence? Do you remember the difference between common and proper nouns?
You might think you're an eloquent speaker, but is your grammar on par with a 5th graders or is it worse? Let's hope it's better! Let's see if you can pass this 5th-grade grammar test!
Which of the following is a sentence?
Small children crying.
The baby cried.
The only sentence here is "The baby cried." For a sentence, you need a complete thought which has a subject and verb.
When the babies cry.
A cry from the baby.
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Fill in the blank with the proper word: I wanted to go to the movies, ________ I didn't have any money.
so
and
however
In this sentence, you have to understand its intention before you pick out the correct conjunction. This sentence is implying that the person didn't have enough money to go to the movies, so you need a conjunction that brings up a contrast. This is why however is the correct answer.
therefore
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What is the suffix in the word "unbreakable"?
able
-Able is the suffix in the world "unbreakable." A suffix is added at the end of a word to create a derivative of the original word.
un
ible
le
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Which of the following has the same meaning as: the girlfriend of James?
James' girlfriend
James's girlfriend
When dealing with possessive nouns, it is first important to know if the noun is singular or plural. In this case, there is ONE James, so it is singular. Even though the name James ends with an "s," and apostrophe S must be added to properly show possession.
James's gilfriends
James' gilfriends
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Which of the following is not a possessive pronoun?
My
Our
Yours
There
Look closely at the words. My, our, and yours are DEFINITELY possessive pronouns. To get this correct, you'd have to pay attention to the spelling of the words! "Their" is a possessive pronoun, but "there" is not!
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If something is multicolored, how many colors does it have?
0
one
More than one
This is an example of prefixes. The focus is on the word "multicolored." The prefix "multi-" means there are MULTIple.
None of the above
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Which of these sentences features a helping verb?
I went to the movies.
She is very funny.
I will go do the laundry.
A helping verb is one that helps further the meaning of another verb. In the third sentence, "will" is helping the verb "go." "Will" furthers its meaning by showing that the action will occur soon.
I ate my dinner.
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What is the prepositional phrase in this sentence: I found a turtle's nest near the ocean.
I found
a turtle's nest
turtle's nest
near the ocean
A prepositional phrase is a phrase that begins with a preposition. In this sentence, the only preposition is "near." This makes the prepositional phrase "near the ocean."
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My family _________ Chinese food. We _______ to the restaurant once a week.
loves / go
This is an example of using the proper tense and subject verb agreement. "Family" and "we" might include multiple people, but they are a singular noun and pronoun, respectively. This means their corresponding verb needs to be "loves" and "go."
love / went
loves / goes
love / goes
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Which word properly completes the sentence: I did ______ than my friend on the test.
best
worst
better
When you are comparing your actions to someone else, it is important to note how many people you're being compared to. If it is two of you, you'd have -er. If it is more than two, you'd have -est.
baddest​
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What is the simple subject of the following sentence: The cat ran after the squirrel but stopped once it ran up a tree.
squirrel
cat
In this sentence, the cat would be the simple subject that is performing the verb.
tree
it
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I ________ the window yesterday.
break
breaking
breaks
broke
This is an example of using the proper verb tense. Since yesterday is included in this sentence, you know the situation happened already, meaning you need a past tense verb.
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Which word in the following sentence should be capitalized: Our history class was discussing French, Mexican, and native American stories.
history
class
native
This sentence shows the relation between proper capitalization of proper nouns. The proper nouns in this sentence are French, Mexican, and Native America, which is why you'd have to capitalize the 'n' in Native.
stories
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What is the plural form of "fungus"?
Funguses
Funguss
Fungi
There are quite a few irregular nouns that have different spellings between the singular and plural form of the word. Fungus is one of them. Its plural is "fungi."
Fungae
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What is the action verb in the following sentence: Karen kicked the ball into the goal.
into
goal
Karen
kicked
In this sentence, there is one verb. In this scenario, kicked is an action verb because it is the ACTION that the noun of the sentence, Karen, is doing.
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What is the proper contraction for "it is?"
its'
it's
When dealing with contractions, an apostrophe comes before the part of the word associated with the verb. Because of "IT IS," the apostrophe happens after the 't' and before the 's.'
its
None of the above
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Which of the following can be used to show possession?
It's
Its
When it comes to possession of most nouns, you would use an apostrophe, but not with "its." "It's" is used to mean "it is" while "Its" is used for possession.
There
They're
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Which of these prefixes means "together"?
De-
Co-
Prefixes go at the beginning of a word to give it meaning. A pilot works alone, but if you make it "co-pilot," this means that they are now working with someone else.
Un-
In-
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Which of the following words is NOT a preposition?
through
over
before
went
Prepositions help form relationships with the rest of the words in the sentence. For example, I passed THROUGH THE WOODS. We traveled OVER THE BRIDGE.
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Which of these is a singular noun?
alumni
bacteria
deer
Don't get confused. While alumni, bacteria, and mice are ALL plural nouns, deer is both singular and plural. You could have one deer, and you could have 10 deer.
mice
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Which of these suffixes are used comparatively?
-ly
-ful
-est
-Er and -est are two suffixes used at the end of a word to help make a comparison. -Er is used when comparing two things while -est is used for multiple things.
-ible
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What is the simple predicate in the following sentence: The woman carried her baby.
woman
carried
A simple predicate is a verb that describes what the subject of the sentence is doing. In this sentence "carried" shows what the woman is doing.
her
baby
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In a contraction, does the apostrophe usually replace a vowel or a consonant?
Consonant
Vowel
In contractions, you'll find that the apostrophe always replaces the vowel letter. Examples would be it's, they're, doesn't. Exceptions could be "would have," but both the "h" and "a" would be replaced with the apostrophe.
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Which prefix means bad?
De-
Ex-
Mis-
The prefix mis- is used for something that is bad or wrong. This is often used in words like misbehave, misread, and misspell.
Un-
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Which list has all the nouns in this sentence: The cameraman captured the gymnast as she performed her stunts on the beam.
cameraman, captured, gymnast, performed, beam
cameraman, captured, performed, stunts, beam
cameraman, gymnast, beam
Cameraman, gymnast, stunts, beam
Remember a noun is a person, place, or thing. The only answer with all the proper nouns stated is the last one.
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Which word completes the sentence: What's the _________ thing you've ever done?
worse
worst
WORST! If someone were to ask you for the most terrible thing you've ever done, they're asking about several experiences which means comparatively, you'd have to use the highest level or worse, which is worst.
most worst
badder
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What is the proper suffix for someone who writes newspaper articles?
-ism
-ic
-ist
-Ist is a suffix used to describe a person in their profession. A journal-ist writes articles for a newspaper. A dent-ist works on your teeth.
-ation
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Which of these contractions is written incorrectly?
don't
wasn't
mustn't
does'nt
Don't forget, contractions fill in the the vowel in the word. If you want to say "does not," you'd have to replace the 'n' with the apostrophe.
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Which of the following is a plural noun?
diagnosis
goose
tooth
oxen
There are many irregular nouns when it comes to changing them from singular to plural. Tooth, goose, and diagnosis are all singular nouns. Oxen is the plural form of the noun, ox.
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Last week, Lucy and Sarah ________ me to their sleepover.
invites
invited
In this sentence, you'd need a past tense verb since Lucy and Sarah's actions are from the past. This makes the proper answer "invited."
invite
inviting
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Which words complete the sentence: I watched ____ elephant eat ______ plants.
an, those
When using articles at the beginning of a sentence, you would use "an" if the following word begins with a vowel. If the elephant is eating something plural, like plants, the corresponding word needs to show that, which is why you would use "those" instead of "that."
a, that
a, those
None of the above
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Which of the following is NOT a proper noun?
Friday
Julie
Statue of Liberty
giraffe
If a noun is a person, place, or thing, a proper pronoun points to a SPECIFIC person, place or thing. Friday is a specific day of the week, and while day wouldn't get capitalized, Friday does. Julie is a particular person, but girl wouldn't get capitalized.
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What kind of sentence is this: Go to sleep.
declarative
interrogative
exclamatory
imperative
This is an example of an imperative sentence. This means that the sentence is making a command.
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Which of the following sentences is written correctly?
What a weird thing to say?
What time did they go to the movies!
You did a good job!
When punctuating a sentence, it is important to know the purpose behind it. If you are asking a question, you need a question mark. If you are making an EXCLAMATORY sentence, you would need an exclamation point.
Did she buy you a present.
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What is the singular form of the noun, "criteria"?
criteria
criterion
Criteria is an irregular plural noun. It is so commonly misused that many people don't even realize that "criteria" is a plural word. Criterion is the singular form of the word.
criterius
criterio
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You Got:
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