WASSCE English lexis and structure: questions with answers
Lexis and structure questions give you a sentence with a gap and four options. Only one option makes the sentence correct. Lexis means words and their meaning. Structure means grammar. Here are 10 practice questions with answers, one from each of 10 grammar areas.
How to answer it
Words like "yesterday", "now" and "every day" tell you the tense you need.Fatu ____ rice for lunch yesterday. Clue: "yesterday". Answer: "cooked".
One person takes "is", "has" or "goes". Two or more take "are", "have" or "go".Aminata HAS a new bag. Aminata and Hawa HAVE new bags.
Some words always go with the same small word. Learn them in pairs.good AT, afraid OF, interested IN, congratulate ON.
10 practice questions
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Unless you hurry, you late for school.
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Answer: C. will be
“Unless” means “if not”. With “hurry” in the present, the result takes “will”: “you will be late”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
The of the river made it hard to cross.
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Answer: B. width
After “the” we need a noun, a naming word. “Width” is the naming word from “wide”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
The head teacher is the matter of the broken window.
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Answer: A. looking into
To “look into” a matter is to try to find out the facts about it.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Musa is best footballer in our school.
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Answer: D. the
“Best” is the top level, and the top level always takes “the”: “the best”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Between you and , I think the match will be cancelled.
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Answer: D. me
“Between” needs “me”, not “I”, after it. We always say “between you and me”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Kadiatu won't be late, ?
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Answer: B. will she
“Won't” is negative, so the tag is positive: “will she?”
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
After the loud thunder, the baby was wide .
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Answer: D. awake
“Wide awake” means fully awake, not sleepy at all.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
Abu his key, so he cannot open the shop now.
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Answer: B. has lost
He lost it in the past and still cannot open the shop now, so we use “has lost”.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
The new rule will deprive many traders their only income.
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Answer: D. of
We “deprive” someone “of” something, meaning we take it away from them.
Choose the option that best completes the sentence:
The furniture in the new classrooms made by carpenters in Makeni.
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Answer: B. was
“Furniture” cannot be counted, so it takes a singular verb: “was”.
Tap an option on any question to check yourself.
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Questions students ask
What is lexis and structure in WASSCE English?
It is the part of Paper 1 that tests words and grammar. Lexis questions test what words mean. Structure questions test grammar, such as concord, tenses, prepositions and pronouns.
How many questions are in WASSCE English Paper 1?
Paper 1 has 80 multiple-choice questions on lexis and structure, according to the WAEC English syllabus.
How do I get better at lexis and structure?
Practise a few questions every day, read why each wrong answer is wrong, and learn the grammar rules that come up again and again: concord, tenses, prepositions and articles.
Are these real WASSCE past questions?
No. They are our own WASSCE-style questions, written on the same syllabus topics and in the same format as the real exam.