Sentence Structure – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Describing a new professional/colleague to your boss
Choose the best answer (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence.
1 Boss, I want to introduce Alex. He is ______.
(a) a smart guy
(b) a guy smart
(c) smart guy
2 I really like her attitude. She is ______.
(a) an hard worker
(b) a hard worker
(c) a worker hard
3 Is he ______ for our sales team?
(a) a manager good
(b) good manager
(c) a good manager
4 We need someone with imagination, and Sarah is ______.
(a) a designer creative
(b) a creative designer
(c) a creative designers
5 You don’t need to worry. He is not ______.
(a) a lazy person
(b) lazy person
(c) a person lazy
6 Alex is very confident. Is he ______ for this new project?
(a) great leader
(b) a leader great
(c) a great leader
7 She is very innovative. Does she always have ______?
(a) ideas new
(b) new ideas
(c) a new ideas
8 He is very careful with data. He doesn’t make ______.
(a) silly mistakes
(b) mistakes silly
(c) a silly mistakes
9 She is always ready to support us. Is she ______?
(a) an helpful colleague
(b) a helpful colleague
(c) a colleague helpful
10 Boss, you will love his work. He writes ______ every week.
(a) reports excellent
(b) an excellent reports
(c) excellent reports
11 She understands the software quickly. She is ______.
(a) a fast learner
(b) fast learner
(c) a learner fast
12 Does he usually ask ______ in our meetings?
(a) a smart questions
(b) smart questions
(c) questions smart
13 They communicate well with everyone. Are they ______?
(a) people friendly
(b) a friendly people
(c) friendly people
14 I am very happy with her results. She is ______.
(a) a fantastic worker
(b) a worker fantastic
(c) a fantastic workers
15 He worked at Google for five years. He has ______ in marketing.
(a) a strong experience
(b) strong experience
(c) experience strong
16 She starts tomorrow morning. Do we have ______ for her?
(a) a desk empty
(b) a empty desk
(c) an empty desk
17 He is very logical. Can he solve ______ quickly?
(a) complex problems
(b) problems complex
(c) a complex problems
18 She always tells the truth to the clients. She is ______.
(a) a honest person
(b) an honest person
(c) a person honest
19 His communication skills are great. Does he speak ______?
(a) English perfect
(b) a perfect English
(c) perfect English
20 We need someone to lead the team. Does she give ______?
(a) clear instructions
(b) instructions clear
(c) a clear instructions
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 a
Explanation: (a) is correct. In English, the adjective comes before the noun (smart + guy) and requires the article “a”. (b) is a common mistake (translating Noun + Adjective directly from Vietnamese). (c) is a structural error (missing the article “a” for a singular countable noun).
2 b
Explanation: (b) is correct (a + hard + worker). (c) is a common mistake (word order). (a) is a structural error (using “an” before a consonant sound “h”).
3 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. (a) is a common mistake (Noun + Adjective). (b) is a structural error (missing the article “a”).
4 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. (a) is a common mistake (word order). (c) is a structural error (using “a” with a plural noun “designers”).
5 a
Explanation: (a) is correct (a + lazy + person). (c) is a common mistake. (b) is a structural error (missing “a”).
6 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. (b) is a common mistake (word order). (a) is a structural error (missing “a”).
7 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. “Ideas” is plural, so we put the adjective “new” before it without “a/an”. (a) is a common mistake. (c) is a structural error (using “a” with a plural noun).
8 a
Explanation: (a) is correct (Adjective + Plural Noun). (b) is a common mistake. (c) is a structural error (using “a” with plural “mistakes”).
9 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. (c) is a common mistake (word order). (a) is a structural error (using “an” before the consonant sound “h” in helpful).
10 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. “Reports” is plural, so we don’t use “a/an”. (a) is a common mistake (Noun + Adjective). (b) is a structural error (“an” with plural nouns).
11 a
Explanation: (a) is correct. (c) is a common mistake. (b) is a structural error (missing “a”).
12 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. (c) is a common mistake. (a) is a structural error (using “a” with plural “questions”).
13 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. “People” is a plural noun, so it does not take “a/an”. (a) is a common mistake. (b) is a structural error.
14 a
Explanation: (a) is correct. (b) is a common mistake. (c) is a structural error (using “a” with plural “workers”).
15 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. “Experience” in this context is uncountable, so we just use Adjective + Noun without an article. (c) is a common mistake (word order). (a) is a structural error (using “a” with an uncountable noun).
16 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. “Empty” starts with a vowel sound, so we use “an”. (a) is a common mistake (word order). (b) is a structural error (using “a” before a vowel sound).
17 a
Explanation: (a) is correct. (b) is a common mistake. (c) is a structural error (“a” with plural noun).
18 b
Explanation: (b) is correct. The “h” in “honest” is silent, so it starts with a vowel sound, requiring “an”. (c) is a common mistake (word order). (a) is a structural error (using “a” instead of “an”).
19 c
Explanation: (c) is correct. “English” (language) is uncountable, so no article is needed. (a) is a common mistake. (b) is a structural error (using “a” with an uncountable noun).
20 a
Explanation: (a) is correct. (b) is a common mistake. (c) is a structural error.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Word Order: In English, the Adjective always comes BEFORE the Noun. This is the exact opposite of Vietnamese.
- Vietnamese: (Noun) + (Adj).
- English: a good (Adj) + employee (Noun).
2 Articles with Singular Nouns: If the noun is singular, you must use a or an. The article comes before the adjective.
- Use a if the adjective starts with a consonant sound (a smart guy, a helpful colleague).
- Use an if the adjective starts with a vowel sound (an empty desk, an old computer, an honest person – silent h).
3 Plural and Uncountable Nouns: If the noun is plural (ideas, mistakes) or uncountable (experience, English), do NOT use “a” or “an”. Just use the Adjective + Noun.
- Correct: She has new ideas.
- Incorrect: She has a new ideas.