Repeat Celsa (Grammar) Test Before Fall Break--Practice Sample Questions

You are not supposed to know everything on the Celsa test! It includes some very advanced grammar questions and we haven't covered a lot of the material yet. Look at it as a challenge--use what you've learned (from your reading, writing, conversations, and grammar lessons) to help you figure out what is missing from a sentence.

My suggestion: Click on these two links to download the pages (pdf files) of sample questions. Answers are printed at the end of the questions. Before you try the questions, look at the strategies for taking the test that I have listed below.

LINK: Celsa Test Sample Questions
LINK: More Celsa Practice Questions

1. Cover up the box with the answer choices and read the rest of the sentence and the context around the sentence. Think about what kind of word the sentence requires to go in the blank and complete the sentence.

2. Does the sentence need an adjective, a helping verb, a past tense verb? What person and tense are needed?

3. If the sentence needs a noun, look at the rest of the sentence to see whether it requires a singular or plural noun.

4. If you are choosing between pronouns, pay attention to whether the sentence requires a subject pronoun, an object pronoun, a possessive pronoun, etc.

5. Does the verb in the sentence need a preposition after it? Review the use of prepositions of place and time. Also, some verbs are "phrasal"--they must be used with a certain preposition (we haven't reviewed this topic yet). 

Past Continuous Tense, Celsa Practice

The present continuous tense is formed by using a PRESENT form of the verb to be as a helping verb, then adding another verb ending in -ing. We use it to talk about an ongoing action or state at the present time.

I am singing my favorite song. Why are you covering your ears? Are you feeling sick?

Today we briefly discussed the past continuous tense. The past continuous tense is formed by using a PAST form of the verb to be as a helping verb and adding another verb that ends in -ing:

I was singing my favorite song when the phone rang.

We use the past continuous tense when two past actions happened at the same time, but one interrupted the other, or one action was longer than the other. The simple past tense is used for the shorter action, and the past continuous is used for the longer, ongoing action.

I tripped as I was running to answer the phone.

My suggestion: Read Dennis Oliver's lesson about how to form this tense at the esl cafe:

Past Continuous Tense #1

Then read about how to use the past continuous tense:
 
Past Continuous Tense #2

Try this quiz at www.a4esl.org to test your ability to judge when to use the simple past tense and when to use past continuous. You have to think of the correct form of the verb (using the negative form if it says to) and then click on the box to see whether you got it right. This is also good practice for the Celsa grammar test.

Simple Past or Past Continuous--A Dialog

Quizzes Like the Celsa Test . . . Kind Of

Some of you want more practice for the Celsa grammar test. This week in class we worked together to choose the correct answer for missing words in single sentences. The Celsa test, however, requires you to read through longer paragraphs. Again and again, you must decide which choice in the box (a, b, c, or d) best completes a sentence. Before you choose an answer, you have to consider not only the grammar of each sentence but also the context (the words and sentences before and after the missing part).

It is difficult to find quizzes that have long paragraphs, rather than single sentences, and that require you to consider several points of grammar at once. In most quizzes, you only practice one or two grammar skills at a time. For instance, a quiz may ask you to do the same thing in each sentence-- choose between a simple present or a present continuous verb. Other quizzes may ask you to correctly match the person and number of the subject and the verb in each sentence, or to decide whether the missing word should be a subject or an object pronoun.

However, this page from www.manythings.org is pretty close to what we want. It has links to 102 quizzes based on VOA (Voice of America) programs. The readings are not as long as what you find in the Celsa, and you only look at one sentence at a time, but each reading is about one topic. Like the Celsa, these quizzes test your ability to correctly combine and use many different elements of vocabulary and grammar at once.

This should keep the "eager beavers" among you busy for quite a while (if you don't know what "eager beaver" means, look it up)!
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/

My suggestion: Click on the link below, click on a subject that interests you, then click "Start" to begin the quiz. Even though you'll be reading through an entire paragraph, you'll only look at one sentence at a time.

Grammar Quizzes Based on VOA Programs

More Practice Tests With Questions Similar to Celsa Test Questions

Try this English Language Learners test. It's a beginner level test. If you have no trouble with the questions and answer most correctly, try another level test on this website (englishtag.com). Before you choose an answer, think about what reasons you would give for your choice to a classmate who believes a different answer is correct.

My suggestion: Click the link below, answer all 50 questions, and check your answers. Before checking the answers, take another look at questions you are uncertain about and try to explain the reasons for the answers you chose. Watch out for small differences. When must you use "a lot of" rather than "a lot?" When can you use "any" rather than "some" with a noun? After checking your answers, review the grammar structures you tend to make mistakes with.

English Level Test