Common sense is that grammar is the essential part of any test, including the TOEFL test which has long been a necessity for students who wish to study at universities in the United States. So grammar is undoubtedly a valid indication of students’ success in exam and teachers’ performance and should be attached importance on. The analysis indicates that students will be asked to solve problems that are primarily syntactical in nature, rather than apply the grammatical rules they have studied in class. These problems can be grouped into three categories: syntax, combination, and vocabulary, and today we would mainly focus on syntax。

　　Let us begin with sentences. It can never be denied that it is difficult to explain just exactly what a sentence is, but students taking the TOEFL need to have a well-developed sense of which combinations of words constitute well-formed English sentences. This sense begins with recognizing the function and category of each element of a sentence. Students need to ensure that each sentence has, at minimum, a subject and a verb. At the same time, students need to recognize that each function in a sentence can be performed by only one element—one subject, one verb, one direct object, and so on. Meanwhile, a well-formed sentence is an understanding of the order in which the elements of a sentence are presented. The unmarked order of English sentences is the old EFL standby of SVOMPT—subject, verb, object, manner, place, and time. Many times, however, one of the elements of a sentence is fronted, moved to the beginning of the sentence. Students need to recognize that this has happened and connect the fronted element with its proper function in the sentence. Other times, a word or phrase in the sentence alters the order of the elements. Questions, for example, invert the position of the subject and verb, as do certain negative expressions when they are fronted, such as not only in the sentence Not only did he buy some squid, he ate it. Words and phrases can also determine which elements must or must not appear in a sentence. For example, in the sentence Michael Jordan was so successful that the Chicago Bulls retired his number, the that- clause determines the need for the degree adverb so. The third component of a student’s sense of well-formed sentences is to recognize that each element of the sentence has its own internal structure. While the elements of a sentence may be correct in relationship to each other, there is no well-formed English sentence when the elements themselves are ill formed。

　　Being the phrase that has been used most frequently, noun phrase would be introduced first now. According to the definition in one dictionary, a noun phrase is a phrase that contains, and is centered on, a noun. Besides that noun, a number of elements can be found within a noun phrase in order to be more comprehensive in meaning. There can be words like all (of) and both, as well as articles, quantifiers, possessives, demonstratives such as this and that, and adjectives (or adjective phrases). In addition to these premodifiers, nouns can have postmodifiers. These include prepositional phrases (the cat behind the door)， certain adjective phrases (the girl responsible for the meeting)， nonfinite verb phrases (his courage to win) and sentences, or clauses (the fact that you are sick)。

　　Undoubtedly, On the TOEFL, students are expected to recognize and use predeterminers and their proper structure freely, premodifying adjective phrases, and postmodifying clauses and phrases. In addition, students are required to be able to spot not only the constituents of the noun phrase but its function in the sentence. Students are also expected to know whether the form of the noun should be plural or singular. Though it is quite simple for someone, TOEFL students do have some problems in dealing with it. Actually, whether it should be plural or singular is sometimes determined by the context of the sentence and sometimes by other elements in the noun phrase, such as quantifiers used only with countable nouns or the indefinite article. Next, Students are also asked to recognize that single countable nouns cannot be used in English without an article and to determine whether the indefinite article should be a or an. lastly, students need to focus on the noun phrase’s relationship with other elements in the sentence. Pronouns in the sentence need to agree with their referent in terms of number; they also need to represent the proper functional role in the sentence. What is worth mentioning is that Subject and object predicates also need to agree with their referents。

　　Since a basic sentence consists of a noun phrase and a verb phrase, let us check in details about the verb phrase. Firstly, a finite verb is a necessity in the verb phrases, which agrees in number with the subject, or the sentence will not be well formed. Students taking the TOEFL should ensure that each sentence is endowed with a subject and proper verb phrase which means that students need to tell between finite and nonfinite verb phrases and to identify verbs separated from the subject by other elements of the sentence. At the same time, students need to make sure that there is only one finite verb for the subject. Just as with noun phrases, verb phrases have their own internal structure. Auxiliaries come before the verb and demand certain forms. Modal auxiliaries are followed by infinitive forms; perfect auxiliaries are followed by past participles; progressive auxiliaries are followed by present participles; and passive auxiliaries are followed by past participles. Students need to make sure that the word order of the verb phrase is correct and that no necessary elements are missing. Some verbs require direct (and possibly indirect) objects; others take subject or object predicates. Subject and object predicates are complements of the verb and give information about the subject or object, respectively. For example, in Mike is a distinguished professor, the subject predicate is a distinguished professor, which gives us information about Mike. In Sisley made the tea too strong, the object predicate too strong tells us about the tea. As complements, subject and object predicates are necessary components of the sentence (as opposed to modifiers, which are optional). However, only certain elements can fulfill these functions: noun phrases and adjective phrases, for example. On the other hand, the predicate function is not a role that can be filled by relative clauses。

　　Finally, it is time for adjective phrase, which is the third major category in TOEFL sentences. Within the phrase, adjectives can be premodified by degree adverbs (such as very in very exciting). Adjectives can also be postmodified with nonfinite verb phrases (lucky to be here)， and clauses (happy that the German win the FIFA World Cup). Functionally, adjective phrases can be used as modifiers within noun phrases and as subject and object predicates. Students who would like to take the TOEFL need to know that the degree adverb so cannot be used when the adjective phrase is being used as a premodifier (*a so beautiful lady). In this case, the word such must be used (such a beautiful lady. Meanwhile, Students need to keep the lexical content of the degree adverbs in mind, for example, too has a negative connotation, and so does not. This connotation sometimes interacts with the syntax to limit possible postmodifiers. So, for example, too young to go to school is perfectly acceptable while *so young to go to school is not. As we all know, Adjectives also have comparative and superlative forms, and students need to clarify the rules governing them. Should a certain adjective take -est or most? Which preposition needs to be used with which form? The same attention should be paid on nonadjectival comparisons. In The more I see John, the more I hate him, the comparison is between two clauses. The sentence is also a case of another special construction, the double comparative, which requires the use of two definite articles. Finally, the TOEFL may ask students to distinguish between words functioning as adjectives and words functioning as adverbs。

　　Admittedly, above analysis on grammar is quite basic while it is indispensible for TOEFT students that every detail of the grammar should be attached enough importance to, otherwise, seldom could they do a good job in test, no matter they are test at home or abroad。

　　本文选自《新通教育刘婷》的博客，查看原文请点击》》》