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Duolingo English Test English Grammar Questions
Practise english grammar (english) for the Duolingo English Test: 10 multiple-choice questions, each with the correct answer and a worked explanation. Click an option to check it, or “New questions” for another set.
English Grammar practice
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Q1.Choose the word that fits: The news ___ surprising.
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Answer: C — is
“News” is an uncountable noun and takes a singular verb.
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Q2.Choose the correct option: The furniture in the house ___ new.
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Answer: A — is
“Furniture” is uncountable and takes a singular verb.
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Q3.Choose the correct indirect speech: He said, “I am tired.”
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Answer: B — He said that he was tired.
With a past reporting verb, the present tense shifts back: “am” → “was”.
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Q4.Choose the correct option: Let’s discuss ___ the matter tomorrow.
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Answer: C — no preposition
“Discuss” is transitive: we discuss the matter (no “about”).
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Q5.Choose the correct option: This is the best book I ___.
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Answer: C — have ever read
A superlative + experience up to now uses the present perfect: “have ever read”.
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Q6.Choose the correct option: Hardly had he left ___ it started raining.
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Answer: A — when
The correlative pair is “hardly … when” (also “no sooner … than”).
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Q7.Choose the correct option: I would rather you ___ now.
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Answer: B — left
“Would rather + subject” is followed by the past tense for present/future meaning: “left”.
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Q8.Choose the correct form: By the time we arrived, the film ___.
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Answer: B — had already started
An action completed before another past action takes the past perfect: “had already started”.
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Q9.Choose the correct option: The train ___ by the time we reach the station.
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Answer: B — will have left
An action completed before a future point takes the future perfect: “will have left”.
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Q10.Choose the correct option: The number of applicants ___ increased.
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Answer: D — has
“The number of” takes a singular verb; “a number of” takes a plural verb.
How to approach english grammar questions
Find the subject first and make the verb agree with it, ignoring phrases in between. Watch fixed prepositions (good at, insist on, prefer to) and tense sequence in reported speech.
About Duolingo English Test
Duolingo English Test — conducted by Duolingo. An online, adaptive English proficiency test taken from home.
Original practice questions written for this site in the style and difficulty of each exam’s syllabus. They are not past papers and the site is not affiliated with any exam body. Exam patterns, marking schemes and syllabi change — always check the latest official notification.
Duolingo English Test practice topics
| Topic | Section | Question source |
|---|---|---|
| English Grammar | English | Question bank |
| Vocabulary & Idioms | English | Question bank |