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English Grammar — LET Practice Questions

Grammar questions cover parts of speech, sentence structure, agreement, tenses, modifiers, and common usage errors. The LET tests both rule knowledge and your ability to spot errors in sample sentences.

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Sample questions with answers and explanations

Sample 1

"The cat is on the mat." What is the prepositional phrase in the sentence?

Answer: D

A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (its object). "On" is the preposition; "the mat" is the object. Put together, "on the mat" tells us where the cat is. That whole chunk is the prepositional phrase.

Tip: Prepositional phrase = preposition + (the) + noun. Often answers "where? when? how?"

Why the other choices are wrong
  • A. "The" alone is just a determiner, not a phrase.
  • B. "Cat" is a noun and the subject, not a prepositional phrase.
  • C. "Is" is a linking verb, not a phrase.

Sample 2

"The boy who is wearing a red shirt is my friend." What is the relative clause in the sentence?

Answer: B

A relative clause is a group of words that describes a noun, and starts with a relative pronoun: WHO, WHICH, THAT, WHOSE, WHOM. Here, 'who is wearing a red shirt' tells us WHICH boy — it modifies 'the boy.' Take it out and you still have a complete sentence: 'The boy is my friend.'

Tip: Look for WHO/WHICH/THAT/WHOSE/WHOM at the start — that signals a relative clause.

Why the other choices are wrong
  • A. 'The boy' is the subject (the noun being described), not the clause that describes it.
  • C. 'Is my friend' is the main predicate (what the sentence says about the boy).
  • D. Missing 'who is' — that's just a participial phrase, not a full relative clause.

Sample 3

Identify the mood of the verb in the following sentence: "If I were the president, I would prioritize education funding."

Answer: C

The subjunctive mood signals something not real — a wish, hypothesis, or condition contrary to fact. The classic English marker is using 'were' instead of 'was' with singular subjects: 'If I WERE you' (subjunctive) vs. 'I WAS late' (indicative). The example 'If I were the president' is hypothetical — the speaker isn't actually president — so subjunctive is the right call. Modern English has lost most of its subjunctive forms; this 'were' construction is one of the few that survives.

Why the other choices are wrong
  • A. Indicative is the mood for stating facts ('I AM the president'). The example is hypothetical, not factual.
  • B. Imperative gives commands ('Be the president!'). The example is a conditional statement, not an order.
  • D. Infinitive isn't a mood — it's the unmarked base form of the verb ('to be').
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