23 GRAMMAR RULES YOU MUST

KNOW TO GUARANTEE YOUR

N THE TOEFL EXAM!

II I II I
 TOEFL GRAMMAR GUIDE - 23
Grammar Rules You Must Know To
Guarantee Your Success On The
TOEFL Exam!

Tim o t h y D ick eso n

 T a b l e o f C o n t e n ts
Why You Need To Read ThisBook....................................................... 1
About The Author......................................................................................... 3
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.1 - Simple Present..................................... 5
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.2 - Simple Past........................................... 8
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.3 - Present Perfect.................................. 11
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.4 - Subject-Verb Agreement................. 14
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.5 - Negatives............................................ 19
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.6 - Verb ‘To Be’ (Present/Past/
Future)...........................................................................................................21
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.7 - Verb ‘Can’ (Present/Past/
Future).................................... ......................................................... ........... 23
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.8 - Adverbs................................................25
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.9 - Adverbs of Frequency......................28
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.10 - This / That/ These / Those.......... 32
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.11 - Uncountable and Countable
Nouns............................................................................................................34
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.12 - Comparisons.................................... 36
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.13 - Indefinite Pronouns........................ 38
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.14 - Conditional....................................... 40
T O EFL Grammar Rule No. 15 - Reported Speech............................42
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.16 - Used to .............................................. 44
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.17 - Either/ Neither/ Both.................... 46
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.18 - Transition Phrases or Words....... 48
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.19 - Other/ Another................................ 52
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.20 - Passive Voice...................................54
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.21 - Prepositions..................................... 56
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.22 - Parallelism........................................ 59
T O EFL Grammar Rule No.23 - Pronoun Reference........................ 62
BO NUS - TOEFL Grammar Exercises.................................................64
Why You Need To Read This Book
If you are about to take the TOEFL exam soon, then you
must review your grammar, especially the principles that
are most commonly used in the TOEFL.

Did you know that your overall TOEFL score is weighed

based on your grammar accuracy and use?

If you look at the scoring criteria that the TOEFL evaluators

use, you will see an element which covers at how well you
use the different grammar principles and how accurate you
use them.

So, apart from learning how to develop high scoring

answers in the writing and speaking sections and
understanding the correct strategies for answering the
reading and listening questions, you MUST correct your
grammar to ensure you achieve a high score.

This book has been especially written to help you review.

understand and correct the most common grammar rules
used in the TOEFL exam.

For each TOEFL grammar rule, you will learn:

• The fundamental use of the rule

• How to use it (with simple examples and
explanations)
• When to use it
• Signalling words

1|Page
 • Important tips

So, If you are about to take the TOEFL exam soon, you
MUST N OT FORGET to review your grammar, because it
could mean the difference between achieving the score you
need or not!

2 |Page
About The Author

Tim Dickeson

Tim is a highly sought after TOEFL consultant due to his

ability to “translate the com plexities of the TOEFL into a
simple language”.

His simplified but highly effective approach to TOEFL

preparation has proven time after time that his methods
get results.

Tim is Australian born and raised and has taught English

and TOEFL in Australia, Europe and South America. He
currently owns a TOEFL preparation company in South
America and has consulted for universities and language
institutions about how to correctly prepare people for the
TOEFL iBT.

He has a love of teaching and helping people achieve

results and his number one objective with the TOEFL High
Score System is to help as many people as possible pass
the TOEFL so they can continue to pursue their dreams.

3 | Page
I or more Information about Tim ’s TOEFL consulting
services, or for more Information, contact Tim at:
tim @ toeflcoach.com

4 | Page
About The Author

Tim Dickeson

Tim is a highly sought after TOEFL consultant due to his

ability to “translate the complexities of the TOEFL into a
simple language”.

His simplified but highly effective approach to TOEFL

preparation has proven time after time that his methods
get results.

Tim is Australian born and raised and has taught English

and TOEFL in Australia, Europe and South America. He
currently owns a TOEFL preparation company in South
America and has consulted for universities and language
institutions about how to correctly prepare people for the
TOEFL iBT.

He has a love of teaching and helping people achieve

results and his number one objective with the TOEFL High
Score System is to help as many people as possible pass
the TOEFL so they can continue to pursue their dreams.

3|Page
For more Information about Tim ’s TOEFL consulting
services, or for more Information, contact Tim at:
tlm @ toeflcoach.com

4 |Page
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.1 - Simple
Present
D escri p t i o n :

Simple present is a tense that is used to express an idea

that occurs ‘usually’ or is repeated continuously. Some
examples are daily events, a habit or something that often
happens.

H o w t o Use It:

VERB + s/es (in the third person)

For example > “She speaks English”, “I Jjke salad”, “They

don’t like fish”

The Simple present is easy to conjugate with Regular verbs

because they all finish in the same form. For example, the
verb ‘to eat’ :

Subject Conjugated Verb

I Eat

You Eat

She/He Eats

We Eat

You (plural) Eat

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However, Irregular verbs do NOT follow this pattern. For
example, the verb ‘to be’:

Subject Conjugated Verb

1 Am

You Are

She/He Is

We Are

You (plural) Are

They Are

When t o Use It:

Here are the 4 ways to use it

• Repeated actions > “I go to the gym on Monday

and Thursday”
• Permanent states > “The Sun rises in the
morning”"
• Scheduled events in the near future > “The plane
leaves at 6am tomorrow”
• Now (non-continuous) > “I am here now”
Si g n a llin g W o rds:

Frequency Adverbs: Always, never, sometimes, O nce/Twice

a week/month etc.

I m p o r t a n t T i p s:

Many people make the mistake of combining the present

continuous with the simple present.

These forms are IN C O RRECT:

“She running fast”

“I am go to the mountains”

These forms are C O RRECT:

“She is running fast”

“I am going to the mountains”

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r
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.2 - Simple
Past
D escri p t i o n :

Simple past expresses an action that started and finished

rtl a specific time in the past. The action must be
(om pletely finished in the past.

H o w t o Use It:

VERB + ed (regular verbs), or other forms for irregular

verbs

Below it is shown how the verb changes for a Regular verb

and an Irregular verb:

Regular verb (Simple Past)

Positive Negative Q uestion

1talked 1did not talk Did 1talk?

Irre g ular verb (Simple Past)

Positive Negative Q uestion

1spoke 1 did not speak Did 1 speak?

8 | Pa ge
W he n t o Use It:

Here are the 5 ways to use it

• Completed action in the past > “Last year, she

travelled to Japan”
• A series of completed actions > “We talked on the
phone, then met for coffee and later went to the
movies”
• Duration in the past > “They lived in Brazil for 5
years”
• Habits in the past > “I never played the piano”
• Past facts or generalisations > “I was a shy child”

Si g n a llin g W o rds:

Yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1 990, the other day, last

Friday, etc

Im p o r t a n t T i p s:

Words ending in “ed” are often pronounced incorrectly,

simply because people aren’t aware of the rules.

Rule 1) All words that have the last consonant before “ed”
as a “t” or ”d” must be pronounced with the “ed” as a
separate syllable.

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r For example: (Pronunciation with syllables)

• Translated - (Trans - la - ted)

• Needed - (Nee - ded)
• Deposited - (De - pos - i - ted)

Rule 2) All other words that have the last consonant before
Vd " other than “t” or “d” must be pronounced without the
and the “d” is combined with the previous syllable.

For example: (Pronunciation with syllables)

• Looked - (Lookd)
• Watched - (Watchd)
• ' Liked - (Likd)

TIP: For all words that end in sounds different to “t” or “d”,
It is easier to think of a “t” sound. Example, talked - / talkt /

Note: see how the “e” is not pronounced.

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TOEFL Grammar Rule No.3 - Present
Perfect
D escri p t i o n :

The present perfect has three man uses:

• To express an action which started at some point in

the past and it is not finished yet.
• To describe actions that occurred in the past and
their result is evident in the present. It expresses a
process.
• To describe an action that occurred at an
unspecified moment in the past.

H o w t o Use It:

Have/has + past participle of the main verb

Time expressions, like; yesterday, one year ago, last week,

when I was a child, when I lived in Australia, at the
moment, that day, etc., are not used in the present perfect.

Common time expressions for the present perfect are;

ever, never, once, many times, several times, before,
already, etc.

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 The Basic Structure

A f firmative N egative Q uestion

i hav§ been to I have never/not Have vou been to

Spain been to Spain Spain?

She has driven a She has never/not

car driven a car Has she driven a car?

When t o Use It:

Here are the two forms of when to use the present perfect:

1. An unspecified time before now.

For example: ‘I have seen that movie twenty tim es.’ ‘

People have not travelled to M ars.’

2. Duration from the past until now (non-continuous

verbs)

For example: ‘I have had a cold for two w e eks.’ ‘ Mary has
loved chocolate since she was a little g irl.’

Sig n al W o rds:

Ever: Since you were born until right now.

lust: A few minutes ago. The action has completed

recently.

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Already: Is completed and now I ' m doing something else.

For: Used to express a period of time (duration).

Since: Used to refer to the specific moment an action

began.

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f TOEFL Grammar Rule No.4 -
Subject-Verb Agreement
D escri p t i o n :

Subject-verb agreement means there needs to be a balance

between the subject and verb. For example, a singular
subject must have a singular verb and a plural subject
must have a plural verb.

Sin g ular Plural

I lie employee goes to work The employees go to work

I he employee is goina to work The employees are going to work
I he employee has gone to work The employees have gone to work
I he employee went to work The employees went to work

H o w to Use It:

To make sure you use the correct verb form with the
subject, use the following steps:

1. Identify what the subject is

2. Decide if the subject is singular or plural
3. Identify which verb goes with the subject
4. Check that the verb form matches the subject

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Let’s firstly look at the Subject within a sentence.

Su bjects
The subject of a sentence is usually a noun or pronoun.

Singular and Plural Noun forms:

The plural form for most nouns is made by adding -s or -

es. However, some are irregular and don’t have these
endings, for example; man > men.

Regular N ouns

Sin g ular Plural

Table Tables

Car Cars

Plant Plants

Irre g ular N ouns

Sing ular Plural

Man Men

Child Children

Criterion Criteria

V erbs
Knowing whether the verb is in its singular or plural form
shows which form the subject must be in. The singular
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present tense of many verbs Is formed by adding -s or -es.
Again however, irregular verb forms do not follow this rule.

W hen t o Use It:

You use the Subject-Verb agreement in just about every

sentence you use. This is because just about every
sentence has a subject and most times you are using verbs
to provide information about the noun, which means the
verb must agree with the noun.

Here are some examples with explanations:

He his desk yesterday.

(A) cleaned

(B) cleans

(C) clean

(D) cleaner

Since ‘ He’ is a singular subject, a singular verb is

necessary. (A) and (B) are both singular verbs, nevertheless
(A) is the only correct answer because the word ‘yesterday’
shows that the action is in the past therefore the verb must
also be in the past tense.

The new president and his C E O in an hour.

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(A) arrives

(B) arrived

(C) has arrived

(D) arrive

The subject is two people so the verb has to be plural.

Therefore the correct answer is (D).

I m p o r t a n t T i p s:

Numbers as a collective noun can be singular or

plural. When ‘a ’ comes before number, it is always
plural. When ‘ the’ comes before a number, it is
always singular. (The group agrees that action is
needed.)
A compound subject, two or more subjects joined by
‘and’, takes a plural verb. (Coffee and tea are
served hot.)
A collective noun, which names a group of people or
things, although looks plural is actually considered
to be one unit, a whole, so it’s singular. (The group
agrees that action is needed.)
When parts of a subject are joined by ‘o r’ or ‘nor’,
the verb agrees with the part closest to it. If the
closest part is singular, the verb is singular. If the
closest part is plural, the verb is plural. (Neither the

17 | P a g e
 secretary nor the receptionist knows the phone
number.) (Either he or they are early.)
* These words are always singular (Indefinite
Pronouns): anyone, anything, no one, nothing,
neither, either, what, whatever, whoever, somebody,
something, someone, each, everyone, everything,
and everybody

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TOEFL Grammar Rule No.5 -
Negatives
D escri p t i o n :

‘ N egatives’ are used to change the meaning of the verb

from positive to negative, or state that something is not
true or incorrect.

H o w t o Use It:

Whenever you make a negative statement, the word ‘ N OT’

needs to be added after the first auxiliary verb which will
vary according to the verb tense being used.

Note: When an auxiliary verb (including modals) is used,

the main verb is not conjugated (no ‘S’ or ‘ED’ ending),
meaning the verb remains in infinitive. The verb ‘TO BE’
uses a different negation pattern.

T e nse Negative Ele ment + Exa m ples

Contracted Forms

Simple Present Do + not = don’t I do not play

Does + not = doesn’t He doesn’t play

Simple Past Did + not = didn’t They didn’t play

Present Am + not I am not playing

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Continuous Is + not - Isn't She isn’t playing
Are + not - aren’t We aren’t playing

Past Was + not = wasn’t I wasn’t playing

Continuous
Were + not = haven’t They weren’t
playing

Present Perfect Have + never I have never played

Have + not = haven’t I haven’t played
Has + never She has never
played
Has + not = hasn’t
She hasn’t played
Future Will + not = wont I won’t play
‘to be’ + going to I am not going to
play

When t o Use It:

You use the ‘ negative’ form whenever you need to change

the meaning to show that it is not true or incorrect.

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TOEFL Grammar Rule No.6 - Verb
‘To Be’ (Present / Past / Future)
D escri p t i o n :

Verb “to be” can be used as the main verb of a sentence or

as the auxiliary verb. As a main verb it is used to express
that something or someone exists or is located at a
specific place.

It is important to remember that the verb “to be” is an

Irregular verb.

H o w t o Use It:

Pronoun + “to be” form + subject

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive

without “to”)

Pronoun ‘to be’ form Other

Affirmative I am a student

Negative He is + not = isn’t a student

Question (Pronoun Are they students?

& ‘to be’ swap)

21 | P a g e
W hen t o Use It:

“To be” can be used the present, past and future; however

the form changes based on the tense.

Pronoun ‘to be’ form Other

Present Past Future Present

Perfect

1 am was will be have been a student

You are were will be have been a student

He/She/It is was will be has been a student

We are were will be have been a student

They are were will be have been a student

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TOEFL Grammar Rule No.7 - Verb
‘Can’ (Present / Past / Future)
D escri p t i o n :

The verb “Can” is one of the most commonly used

m o d al/auxiliary verbs in English. Its main use is used to
express ability, however it can also be used to show
opportunity, possibility or impossibility and to request or
give permission.

H o w t o Use It:

Subject + can + main verb

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive

without “to”)

Subject A u xiliary Main O ther

verb verb

A ffir mative 1 can play tennis

Negative He cannot play tennis

can’t

Q uestion Can you play tennis?

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W hen to Use It:

Can is used in the present, past and future; however the

form changes based on the tense.

• Can / be able to (present)

• Could (past)
• Will be able to (future)

Subject A u xiliary verb Main O ther

verb

Present 1 can play tennis

am able to

Past f could play tennis

Future 1 will be able to play tennis?

Im p ortan t Tip:

The main verb is ALWAYS the bare infinitive.

This is INCORRECT: “I can to play tennis.”

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TOEFL Grammar Rule No.8 -
Adverbs
D escri p t i o n :

There are different types of Adverbs in the English

language. The most common are those which modify verbs
by telling us ‘ how’ something is done.

H o w t o Use It:

Adjective + ly

A djective A dverb

Dangerous Dangerously

Careful Carefully

Nice Nicely

Horrible Horribly

Easy Easily

Electronic Electronically

Irre g ular Forms

Good Well

Fast Fast

Hard Hard

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If the adjective ends in ‘y ’ , change ‘y ’ to ‘I’ . Then add ‘ly’

For example: Happy > happily

If the adjective ends in ‘le’, the adverb ends in ‘ ly’.

For example: terrible > terribly

If the adjective ends in ‘e \ then add ‘ ly’

For example: Safe > safely

W hen to Use It:

Here is when you use adverbs:

Adverbs of manner

• Q uickly
• Kindly

Adverbs of degree

• Very
• Rather

Adverbs of frequency

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 Often
Sometimes

Adverbs of time

• Now
• Today

Adverbs of place

• Here
• Nowhere
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.9 -
Adverbs of Frequency
D escri p t i o n :

Adverbs of frequency aim to describe when or how often

something is done. The two types are: adverbs of definite
frequency and adverbs of indefinite frequency.

H o w t o Use It:

A dverbs of Definite Fre que ncy

Adverbs of definite frequency are placed at the beginning

or the end of a sentence and show the exact number of
times that an action happens in a given time period.

Common examples are:

• hourly
• daily
• weekly
• monthly
• yearly
• once a month
• every month
• every other month

Examples of Adverbs of Definite Frequency:

• Every day, some employees go out for lunch.

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 • Some employees go out for lunch every day.
• Payroll must be done every two w ee ks.
• The sales manager gets new e-mail hourly.

A d verbs of Infinite Fre que ncy

Adverbs of indefinite frequency are more ambiguous since

they do not determine the number of times an action
happens in a given period of time.

Common examples are:

• always
• usually
• never
• often
• very often
• rarely
• sometimes
• seldom
• once in a while
• repeatedly
• typically
• hardly ever
• occasionally

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Adverbs of Indefinite frequency are placed In the middle of
the sentence. The exact location depends on the type of
verbs in the sentence.

There are three possible locations:

1. Between the subject and the main verb UNLESS the verb
Is a form of ‘be’: is, am, are, was, were.

Examples

• She often takes her vacation in winter.

• The employees alw ays work until seven.
• The manager usually arrives first at the staff
meetings.

2. After the ‘j?e_’ verb form when it is the main verb.

Examples

• She ]s often ill in winter.

• The employees are alw ays working until seven.
• The manager js usually the first person to arrive.

3. Between the helping verb and the main verb. This is

always true, even when the main verb is a verb form of be.

Examples

• She has often gone on vacation in winter.

• The employees can alw ays work until seven.

30 | P a g e
 • The manager will usu ally arrive first at the staff
meetings.
• Incorrect: The owners have been rarely
unreasonable.
• Correct: The owners have rarely been unreasonable.
• (Have is the helping verb, been is the be verb form)

W he n to Use T h e m :

You use adverbs of frequency when you need to provide

more information about the verb you are using. Adverbs of
frequency, when used correctly in speaking and writing
and answered correctly in reading and listening, always
help to increase your score.

31 | P a g e
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.10 - This/
That / These / Those
D escri p t i o n :

Demonstratives are used to explain how close the speaker

Is from other people, things, situations and experiences. In
other words; the distance from the speaker.

H o w t o Use It:

• THIS is used for singular nouns that are close to the

speaker.
• TH AT is used for singular nouns that are far from
the speaker.
• THESE is used for plural nouns that are close to the
speaker.
• TH OSE is used for plural nouns that are far from the
speaker.

Sin g ular Plural Close Far

T h is X - X -

T ha t X - - X

T h ese - X X -

T h ose - X - X

32 | P a g e
W he n to Use It:

D e m onstra tives D e m onstrative

A djectives

T h is That is the place. That restaurant is really

good.

Tha t This is really good. This book is really good.

T h ese These are a lot of fun. These games are a lot of fun.

T h ose Those are really good Those English books are

English books. really good.

33 | P a g e
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.11 -
Uncountable and Countable Nouns
D escri p t i o n :

Nouns can be classified as countable or uncountable.

Countable nouns can be given a number and take both

singular and plural forms.

Uncountable nouns on the other hand, can only take the

singular form since they cannot be counted and therefore
cannot be plural.

H o w t o Use It:

Countable - Use a/an or a number in front of a singular

countable noun

Uncountable - There is no a/an or number in front of an

uncountable noun

Countable Uncountable

An apple / 1 apple Rice

1 eat an apple. 1 eat rice every day. (INCORRECT > 1 eat

a rice every day)

Apples are good for Rice is good for you.

you.

34 | P a g e
You can make most uncountable nouns countable by
putting a countable expression in front of the noun.

For example:

• A piece of information
• 2 glasses of water
• 10 litres of coffee

W he n to Use It:

In other words, countable nouns are used when you can

count the object and uncountable nouns are used when
you can’t.

Words you can use with Countable and Uncountable nouns:

Countable Uncountable

Small A few / few A little / little

quantity

Large Many / a lot (There A lot (There is...)

quantity are...)

Q u estio ns Many (Are there...?) Much (Is there...?)

N egative Many (There aren’t...) Much (There isn’t...)

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TOEFL Grammar Rule No.12 -
Comparisons
D escri p t i o n :

Comparisons are used to compare the differences or

similarities between 2 or more objects.

To do this we can use adjectives in their comparative

forms.

H o w t o Use It:

In order to use a comparison, you must take an adjective

and change it based on a set of specific rules.

For example:

A djective Co m p arative Superlative (the most)

Cold Colder Coldest

Here are the rules:

1. Adjectives with 1 or 2 syllables (that end in ‘Y ’ easy,
‘LE’ gentle, ‘ OW’ shadow, ‘ET’ quiet)
Comparative > ‘er’
Superlative > ‘est’

2. Adjectives with 2 syllables (that end in ‘Y’ easy)

36 | P a g e
Comparative > ‘ ier’
Superlative > ‘iest’

3. For all other 2 syllables and 3 syllables

Comparative > put the word ‘ more’ in front of the adjective
(more exciting)
Superlative > put the word ‘ most’ in front of the adjective
(most exciting)

Here are some exceptions to the rule:

A djective Co m p arative Sup erlative

Good Better than The best

Bad Worse than The worst

Little Less than The least
Far Farther than The farthest
Many/Much More than The most

W he n to Use It:

Comparatives - are used when you want to compare 2 or

more objects.

For example: She is taller than him.

Superlatives - are used when you want to state that an

object is the maximum or minimum of all objects.

For example: she is the tallest. She is the smallest.

37 | P a g e
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.13 -
Indefinite Pronouns
D escri p t i o n :

Indefinite Pronouns refer to unspecified people, things or

amounts. Given that they are ‘ not d efinite’ they usually
take the third person form.

Most Indefinite Pronouns are either singular or plural.

However, some of them can be singular in one context and
plural in another.

H o w t o Use It:

You simply replace the pronoun with the correct indefinite

pronoun.

For example: ‘Peter is driving the c ar.’ > ‘Someone is

driving the c ar.’

Sin g ular Plural Both

Another Both All

Anybody Few Any

Anything Many More

Each Others Most

Either Several None

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 Everybody Some
Everyone

Little

Much

Neither

Nobody

One

Other

W he n to Use It:

You use Indefinite Pronouns when you either don’t know

who or what the object is or it is not necessary to state
who or what the object is.

Im p ortan t Tip:

In English there can NEVER be two negatives in a sentence.

For example: ‘There isn’t nobody.’ (INCORRECT) > ‘There

isn’t anybo dy.’ (CORRECT)

39 | P a g e
f

TOEFL Grammar Rule No.14 -

Conditional
D escri p t i o n :

There are three conditionals in English and each one has a

specific use and form. They are used to talk about possible
or imaginary situations. A ‘condition’ is a situation or
circumstance.

H o w t o Use It:

First conditional - It is possible and also very likely that the

condition will be fulfilled.

If + present simple, ... future simple (Will)

Second conditional - It is possible but very unlikely, that

the condition will be fulfilled.

If + past simple, ... would /could + infinitive

Third conditional - It is impossible that the condition will

be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

If + past perfect, ... would + have + past participle

40 | P a g e
W he n t o Use It:

Here are examples o f each conditional:

First conditional - “If I find her address, I will send her an

invitation.”

Second conditional - “If I found her ad dress, I would send

her an invitation.”

Third conditional - “If I had found her address, I would

have sent her an invitatio n.”

The conditional that you will most likely use and therefore
need to know and understand is the Second Conditional.
This is because the Second Conditional is the O NLY
conditional used in TOEFL questions.

TOEFL example writing question:

“If you were given a gift of money, what would you do with
the money and why?.”
 TOEFL Grammar Rule No.15 -
Reported Speech
D escri p t i o n :

When we repeat a message that has been said by someone

else, we use reported speech. We do this by using the
speaker’s words but changing the tense in order to show
the message was said in the past, this is why the verbs
have to be in the past.

H o w t o U se it:

When you report something someone has said, you must

go back a tense.

Direct Speech Reported Speech

Present simple Past simple

She said, “it’s cold” “She said it was cold"

Present continuous Past continuous

She said, “I’m teaching English “She said she was teaching English
online” online”

Past simple Past perfect

She said, “I taught online “She said she had taught online
yesterday” yesterday”

42 | P a g e
 Modal verb forms

Direct Speech Reported Speech

Will Would
She said, "I’ll teach English “She said she would teach English
online tomorrow” online tomorrow”

Can Could
She said, “i’ll teach English “She said she could teach English
online” online”

W he n to Use It:

In the TOEFL exam the most likely time to use Reported

Speech is for the Integrated Speaking and Writing
questions because these questions involve listening to a
speaker and requiring you to report on what they said.

43 | P a g e
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.16 - Used
to
D escri p t i o n :

When we want to express that something was an old habit

that has stopped in the present, we use the phrase Used to.
This indicates that an action was often repeated in the
past, but it is not usually done now.

H o w t o Use It:

Below explains the difference between ‘ used’ and ‘ use’.

• When there is ‘did’ in the sentence, we say ‘ use to’

(without ‘d’)
• When there is no ‘did’ in the sentence, we say ‘ used
to (with ‘d’)

Typ e Subject A u xiliary Not Main Infinitive

“did ” Verb
“use ”

Affirmative l used to do

Negative I did not use to do

Question Did you use to do?

44 | P a g e
W he n t o Use It:

There are two uses for ‘ used to’ .

1. Habit in the p ast

“Jerry used to study English.” (He doesn’t do it anymore)

“Sam and Mary used to go to Mexico in the sum m er.” (They

don’t do it anymore)

“I used to start work at 9 o’clock.” (I don’t do it anymore)

2. Past facts and g e n eralisa tio ns

“I used to live in Paris.”

“Sarah used to be fat, but now she is thin.”

“George used to be the best students in class, but now

Lena is the best.”

45 | P a g e
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.17 - Either
/ Neither / Both
D escri p t i o n :

Either and Neither are used in almost the same way as “so”
and “too”, but they are used with negative verbs. Both are
used to explain that two subjects something in common.

H o w t o Use It:

Both = this AND that

• Used with the word ‘and’

Either = this OR that

• Coes at the end of the sentence after the negative

helping verb

Neither = N OT this and N OT that

• Coes after the conjugation, the helping verb, and

then the subject
• Neither has a negative connotation and therefore
the sentence must not have another negative word
• Used with the word ‘ nor’

46 | P a g e
W he n to Use It:

Here are examples o f when to use each form:

Both

“Emma and Megan both went to the party.”

Either

“Do you want either chocolate or chips?”

“Max and Sophie are not going to either Spain or France.”

Neither

“I like neither cats nor d o gs.”

“Neither Max or Sophie is going to the party.”

TOEFL Grammar Rule No.18 -
Transition Phrases or Words
D escri p t i o n :

Transition phrases allow your ideas and paragraphs to flow

together. Without these transition phrases it is difficult to
connect your ideas throughout your TOEFL writing and
speaking answers.

H o w t o Use It:

Transition phrases are generally used at the beginning of a

sentence, but can also be used in the middle of a sentence
depending on the type.

In order to use them correctly you need to think about

‘connection’ between your sentences.

Here is a paragraph without transition phrases:

“Australia is a country with many places to visit but can be

very hot in the summer time. This does not stop many
people from coming to enjoy its attractions.”

48 | P a g e
Here Is a paragraph with transition phrases:

“Even though Australia is a country with many places to

visit, it can be very hot in the summer. However, this does
not stop many people from coming to Australia to enjoy its
attractions.

As you can see above, the two transition phrases are used
to help the reader and direct them with what the following
sentence is about and helping connect the information
together easier.

W he n t o Use T h e m :

In order to achieve a high score on the TOEFL, you MUST

use transition phrases.

Here are examples of phrases to use for different

purposes:

Introduction

- “F irstly...”
- “Seco n dly...”-
- “In my o p inio n...”
- “There are two reasons w h y...”

Supporting points

- “On the other h an d...”

_ _ _ _ _ _
 - “For exam ple..."
- “In contrast..."
- “H owever...”
- “In f a c t...”
- “In a d d itio n...”

Conclusion

- “Th ere fore...”

- “As a resu lt...”
- “In c o nclusio n...”

‘And’ Group

- “Too (end of sentences)”

- “As well a s ...”
- “Furtherm ore...”
- “Both... a n d ...”

‘But’ Group

- “Thro u g h...”
- “Alth o u g h...”
- N evertheless..."
- On the other h a n d ...”
Group

“As a resu lt...”

“Th ere fo re ...”
“Consequently..
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.19 - Other/
Another
D escri p t i o n :

Another and Other are two commonly used words in the

English language but can easily be confused.

• Another - is used with singular nouns.

• Other - is used for both singular and plural or
uncountable nouns.

H o w t o Use It:

Another + singular nonspecific countable noun

For example:

- “Let’s meet another day.” [day = countable, singular]

- “Can I have another ap ple.” [apple = countable,
singular]

Note: Another is used for an additional person or thing of

the same kind.

Other + plural or uncountable nonspecific noun

For example:

- “Other people have problems, to o.” [people = plural

noun]

52 | P a g e
 - “This book has other information." [Information -
uncountable noun]

Note: Other refers to all people or things that are not the
particular one being mentioned.

Note: ‘ Others is not the plural form of ‘O ther’. ‘O ther’ can

be an adjective or a pronoun, while ‘others’ is always a
pronoun.

“Susan was at the meeting with three other teachers.”

[adjective]

“Some students are better than others.” [pronoun]

W he n t o Use It:

• Another - when you want the same of one thing.

• Other - when you are talking about nonspecific

things singular or plural things different to the one
being mentioned.

53 | P a g e
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.20
Passive Voice
D escri p t i o n :

The Passive voice is a highly recommended form to use in

the TOEFL as it is seen by the evaluators as a better level of
English.

The Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action,

rather than who or what is performing the action.

H o w t o Use It:

Who/What receiving action + be + past participle of verb +

by + Who/What doing action

T e nse Active Voice Passive Voice

Simple Once a week, Tom Once a week, the house

Present cleans the house. is cleaned by Tom.

Past The car was repaired by

Simple
Sam repaired the car. Sam.

Present Many tourists have That castle has been

Perfect visited that castle visited by many tourists.

Simple Someone will finish the The work will be finished

Future work by 5:00pm. by 5:00pm.

54 | P a g e
W he n t o Use It:

You must use the passive voice in your writing and

speaking answers in the TOEFL.

This is because the passive voice is seen by TOEFL

evaluators as a more formal form of presenting the
information, whereas the Active voice is seen as a simpler
form, hence the Passive voice will attract a higher TOEFL
score.
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.21 -
Prepositions
D escri p t i o n :

Prepositions are a complex and unique part of the English

language die to their number and varied uses. These short
words express time and place. They can also be used
together with verbs forming phrasal verbs.

Prepositions can be difficult because one preposition in

your native language may have a different meaning in
English.

H o w t o Use T h e m :

Prepositions are split into Time and Place (position and

direction).

Pre p ositions - Ti me

Preposition Use Example

On Days of the week On Monday

Month In August
In Time of day In the morning
Year In 2006

Night At night
At
Weekend At the weekend

56 | P a g e
 Since From a certain point of
time Since 1980

For Over a certain period of For 2 years

time

A certain time in the

Ago 3 years ago
past

Before Earlier than a certain

point of time Before 2003

To Telling the time Ten to six (5:50)

Past Telling the time 15 past six (6:1 5)

Pre p ositions - Place (position and direction)

Preposition Use Exam ple

Room, building, town In the kitchen

Book In the book
In
Car In the car
World In the world

For table
At the table
At For events
At the concert
Place where you do typical
things At the cinema

Attached The picture on the wall

On a surface On the table
On
For public transport On the bus
For television On TV

57 | P a g e
 Jane is standing next to
Next to Left or right of something the car

Under The bag is under the

Lower than something else table

Lower than something else The table is below the

Below painting
but above ground
Put a jacket over your
Over Covered by something shirt

Higher than something else A path above the lake

Above but not directly over it

Across Getting to the other side Walk across the bridge

From In the sense of “where A flower from the garden

from”

58 | P a g e
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.22
Parallelism
D escri p t i o n :

Parallelism is the balance of grammar structures within a

sentence. This means that the elements used in a sentence
need to match each other for the sentence to be balanced.
Parallelism aims to prevent the sentence from being
awkward or incoherent and increases clarity for the reader.

H o w to Use It:

There needs to be balance between the elements of a

sentence, whether they are nouns, verb tenses,
prepositional phrases, comparisons or conjunctions.

N ouns

• Nouns need to be balanced with nouns. In the

sentence, "I enjoy soccer more than playing rugby,"
"soccer" is a noun, but " playing rugby" is a phrase.

Verb T e nse

• Verb tenses also need to be balanced. There is

something incorrect with this sentence: "Yesterday, I
went to class, cooked and was listening to music."

59 | P a g e
 The last element used, has a different verb tense
than the first two; all verb tenses need to be the
same. "Yesterday, I went to class, cooked and
listened to music."

Prep ositional Phrases

• Pair prepositional phrases with prepositional

phrases. In the sentence: " Next month we can go to
the movies or riding motorcycles in the mountains,"
the prepositional phrase "to the movies" is not
parallel with the verb "riding." The corrected
sentence looks like this: " Next month we can go to
the movies or to the mountains to ride motorcycles."

Co m paring

• When comparing two things using words like; "than"

or "as," make sure the items on each side are
parallel. This sentence is incorrect: " Driving to town
is as fast as the bus." This sentence is correct:
" Driving to town is as fast as taking the bus."

Conju nctio ns

• When using correlative conjunctions such as

" b oth...and," " either...or" or "rather...than," the items

60 | P a g e
 being joined must be parallel. This sentence Is
incorrect: " Mary wants both fame and wealthy." This
sentence is correct: " Mary wants both fame and
wealth."

W he n t o Use It:

You must use parallelism when you are developing

sentences using the above contexts.
TOEFL Grammar Rule No.23 -
Pronoun Reference
D escri p t i o n :

Pronoun Reference occurs when a pronoun takes the place

of a noun. Whenever this happens, the pronoun must
clearly refer to the noun that comes right before its
antecedent. The relationship between the pronoun and the
noun being replaced must be clear in order to avoid
confusion to the reader.

H o w to Use It:

When replacing a word by a pronoun, make sure there is a

coherent relationship between them, this refers to: gender,
number etc. If the pronoun does not have a clear
antecedent, the reader can become confused.

The following are common errors people make when using

Pronoun Reference:

Error No. 1 - Too many ant ece de nts

For example:

“The student's father felt upset when he failed History.”

62 | P a g e
In this case, “he"\s replacing either “father " or "the
student". However, it is not clear which noun Is being
replaced since both can be a singular feminine noun.

Solution: Do not use a pronoun; instead repeat the noun.

“The student’s father felt upset when the student failed

History.”

Erro r No. 2 - No antece d ent

For example:

“The victim called the police station, but they didn’t

answer.”

In this case, “they” does not have a noun antecedent which

it refers to.

Solution: Use the noun or insert an antecedent that clearly

refers to the pronoun.

“The victim called the police station, but the police officers
did n’t answer.”

Or

“The victim called the police officers, but they didn’t

answer.”

63 | P a g e
BONUS - TOEFL Grammar Exercises
Choose the correct alternative for each sentence. Check the
answers at the end of this section.

1) The Prime Minister___________ to make a quick decision.

(A)needs
(B) needing
(C)need
(D)needed

2) My teacher___________ me how to use the Simple Past

yesterday in class.
(A) teached
(B) taught
(C) teaches
(D) teach

3) I ___________ in this company for two years.

(A) have worked
(B) worked
(C) has worked
(D) working

64 | P a g e
4) The students’ mother___________ very upset about her
children’s behaviour
(A) been
(B) were
(C) was
(D) being

5) Citizens___________ decided who to vote for in the next

elections.
(A) hasn’t
(B) wasn’t
(C) weren’t
(D) haven’t

6) Tomorrow___________ a very rainy and windy day.

(A) is
(B) will be
(C) was
(D) be

7) I’m sorry, I help you with your homework

tomorrow, I’ll be busy.
(A) won’t able to
(B) am not able to

65 | P a g e
(C) wasn't able to
(D) being able to

8) After the accident, the witness___________ called the police to

get help.
(A) quick
(B) quicker
(C) quickly
(D) quickest

9) My classmate____________ late for class.

(A) always be
(B) always is
(C) be always
(D) is always

10) We are all equal and free, are undeniable rights

stated in our constitution.
(A) This
(B) These
(C) That
(D) Those

66 | P a g e
11) ______________ students________________ In class today?
(A) How much - is there
(B) How many - is there
(C) How much - are there
(D) How many - are there

12) Commuting by train is _______________ than by doing it by bus.

(A) much faster
(B) much more fast
(C) much fast
(D) much fastest

13) _______________ broke into the apartment and stole US $3000.

(A) somebody
(B) everybody
(C)nobody
(D)anybody

14) I know that if I __________ hard,_I ___________ get the T O EFL

score I need.
(A) studies - would
(B) study - will
(C) studied - will
(D) study - would

67 | P a g e
15) Peter__________ buy a sports car if h e ___________ the lottery.
(A) will - wins
(B) would - won
(C) would - wins
(D) will - win

16) If Sara h how hard this class was, she

___________ it.
(A) knew - wouldn’t take
(B) has known - wouldn’t take
(C) had known - wouldn’t have taken
(D) had known - wouldn’t has taken

17) Anna said that sh e _____________ that mistake again.

(A) would never make
(B) is never make
(C) isn’t ever making
(D) never is making

18) My mother______________ a lullaby before going to bed every

night.
(A) use to sang
(B) used to sang

68 | P a g e
(C) use to sing
(D) used to sing

19) ___________ Sa m To m going to the conference

tomorrow.
(A) either - or - are
(B) neither - or - is
(C) either - nor - is
(D) neither - nor - is

20) __________ , studies have shown a negative increase in the

levels of obesity worldwide______________ all the efforts made to
reduce this global problem.
(A) Recently - however
(B) Recently - in spite of
(C) Seriously - but
(D) Later - due to

21) The president said we need_____________ policies to solve the

problems in economy, otherwise__________crisis will affect the
country.
(A) others - other
(B) other - others
(C) other - another
(D) others - another
69 | P a g e
22) Twenty people_______________ after the student protests held
yesterday.
(A) have been arrested
(B) has been arrested
(C) have been arrest
(D) has been arrest

23) The book w a s the shelf but it just fell and now it
is the drawer.
(A) in - from - on
(B) on - off - in
(C) on - from - in
(D) in - off- on

24) Mr Smith is one of the best teachers I have had, not only is
he a good professional, but also_____________________
(A) qualified
(B) has qualifications
(C) a qualified individual
(D) a qualification individual

25) Ms. Simms told Bob's associate that had written a

fine report.
(A) Bob’s associate

70 | P a g e
(B) she
(C) he
(D) Bob

71 | P a g e
ANSWER KEY
1) A
2) B
3) A
4) C
5) D
6) B
7) A
8) C
9) D
10) B
11) D
12) A
13) A
14) B
15) B
16) C
17) A
18) D
19) D
20) B
21) C
22) A
23) B
24) C
25) A

72 | P a g e
Are you about to take the TOEFL exam soon?

Did you k no w t ha t y o ur overall T O E FL sco re is p artly weighed on yo ur

gram mar accuracy and use?

A p art from learning ho w t o develo p high scorin g answ ers in t he

writin g and speaking sectio ns and understandin g t he correct
stra t e gies f or answ erin g t he reading and listening q uestio ns, you
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“T O EFL Gra m m ar G uid e ” goes through t he most i m portant gram mar

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m ist a kes you have.

For each T O EFL gram mar rule, you will learn:

- T he fun da m e nt al use of each rule

- H o w t o use it (with sim ple e x a m ples and ex planatio ns)
- W h e n t o use it t o maxi mise y o ur answ ers
-Sig nallin g w ords
- Im p ortant tips

“This book has gre at tips for wh a t you will fa ce in the T O EF L exam. I
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978148404604390000