What this section covers: Parts of speech, Important grammar terms and their uses, Commonly occurring grammatical errors.
10 free practice questions
Click an answer: you see at once whether it is right, with the explanation.
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Question 1Which word in the sentence is an adverb? 'The nurse quickly checked the chart.'
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Answer: D — quickly.
An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Quickly tells how the nurse checked, so it modifies the verb checked.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Parts of speech
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Question 2In the sentence 'She felt anxious before the exam,' the word anxious is a/an
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Answer: A — adjective.
Felt is a linking verb here, so the word after it describes the subject. Anxious describes she, which makes it a predicate adjective.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Parts of speech
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Question 3Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence: 'The new student nurse did ___ on her skills test.'
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Answer: B — well.
Did is an action verb, so it needs the adverb well. Good is an adjective and cannot modify did in standard usage.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Adjectives and adverbs
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Question 4Choose the verb that correctly completes the sentence: 'There ___ three patients in the waiting room.'
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Answer: C — are.
In a sentence beginning with there, the subject follows the verb. The subject is patients, which is plural, so are is needed.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Subject-verb agreement
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Question 5Choose the pronoun that correctly completes the sentence: 'Between you and ___, the test was difficult.'
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Answer: D — me.
Between is a preposition, so the pronouns after it are objects. Me is the objective case; I is the subjective case.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Pronouns
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Question 6Choose the verb phrase that correctly completes the sentence: 'By the time the doctor arrived, the nurse ___ the wound.'
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Answer: D — had cleaned.
The past perfect (had cleaned) shows an action finished before another past action (the doctor arrived).
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Verb tenses and forms
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Question 7Choose the verb that correctly completes the sentence: 'Yesterday I ___ on the couch all afternoon.'
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Answer: D — lay.
The past tense of lie (to recline) is lay. Laid is the past tense of lay (to put), lied means told a falsehood, and layed is not standard.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Verb tenses and forms
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Question 8Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence: '___ time to check the patient's vital signs.'
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Answer: C — It's.
It's is the contraction of it is: 'It is time to check...'. Its without an apostrophe is possessive.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Commonly confused words
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Question 9Which sentence is written correctly?
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Answer: B — While walking down the hall, the nurse heard an alarm..
An introductory modifier must describe the subject that follows it. Only the nurse can be walking down the hall; the other sentences make it seem that the alarm was walking.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Modifiers
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Question 10Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly to show that two doctors each have an office?
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Answer: A — The two doctors' offices are next to each other..
For a plural noun ending in s, add only an apostrophe after the s to show possession: doctors'. Doctor's would refer to one doctor.
Checked against: HESI Admission Assessment Exam overview (Elsevier): English Language, Grammar — Punctuation
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