Toefl exam Essentials

Part of 
Speech Function
Examples
noun
names a person,
Emma, cat, girl, Elm 
place, thing, or 
Street, vase, pen, New 
concept
York, weather
pronoun takes the place of a 
I, you, he, she, us, they, this,
noun so that the 
that, themselves, some-
noun does not have 
body, who, which
to be repeated
verb
describes an action,
swim, becomes, is,
occurrence, or state 
seemed, hoping
of being
helping  combines with other  forms of be, do and have;
verb
verbs (main verbs) to  can, could, may, might,
create verb phrases 
must, shall, should, will,
that help indicate 
would
tenses
adjective describes nouns and  green, content, awake,
pronouns; can also 
small, heavy, happy; that
identify or quantify
(e.g., that car); several
(e.g., several dogs)
adverb
describes verbs, adjec- quickly, slowly, suddenly,
tives, other adverbs,
always, very, yesterday
or entire clauses
prep-
expresses the relation- in, on, around, above,
osition
ship in time or space  between, underneath,
between words in a 
beside, with, upon
sentence

---

56
TOEFL EXAM ESSENTIALS
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
She don’t or she doesn’t? You might easily pick out the second
version as the correct match between subject and verb. However,
some instances of subject-verb agreement are trickier—even for
native speakers of English.
Subject-verb agreement is when the subject of the sentence
correctly matches the verb in number. If the subject is singular,
the verb is singular. If the subject is plural, the verb is plural.
Singular: Betto feeds the birds every day.
Plural: Betto and Josephine feed the birds every day.
Subject-verb agreement can be confusing, however. Look
out for problem verb forms and the other common pitfalls listed
below.
■
The subject I—Even though I is a single person, it
usually takes the plural form of the verb: I look. I do.
■
The verb to be—The irregular verb to be (be, am, is, are,
was, were) is a problem verb because of the unusual way
it is formed. Remember never to use the be form after a
subject.
I be going is incorrect.
I am going is correct.
■
Doesn’t/don’t, Wasn’t/weren’t—These verb
constructions can confuse writers. Doesn’t (does not) and

---

STRUCTURE
57
wasn’t (was not) are singular. Don’t (do not) and weren’t
(were not) are plural. (I takes the plural form, don’t)
I don’t want to leave.
I wasn’t in class yesterday.
She doesn’t want to leave. We weren’t in class yesterday.
■
Words or phrases that follow a subject—A common
error in making subject-verb agreement is confusing a
phrase (words or phrase that follow a subject) with the
subject of the sentence. When you read, be careful to
locate the true subject of the sentence. Subject and verbs
are underlined in the following examples.
One of the boys is missing.
The paintings by Pedro Reiss are bold and commanding.
The president, along with three members of his Cabinet,
returned to Washington today.
■