1.

Problem with Finite dan Non Finite Verb

Kalimat dalam bahasa Inggris terbentuk dari unsur subject, verb, object, dan adverb. Inti dari
sebuah kalimat terletak pada verb. Verb dalam bahasa Inggris memiliki dua fungsi. Fungsi yang
pertama adalah sebagai finite verb (kata kerja asli), dan fungsi yang kedua adalah non finite verb
(bukan kata kerja sebenarnya).

A. Finite verb
Finite verb adalah kata kerja asli atau kata kerja yang memang difungsikan sebagai kata
kerja dalam kalimat. Finite verb bisa terdiri dari auxuliary dan ordinary atau ordinary saja. Dengan
kata lain finite verb merupakan verb dari rumus-rumus tenses, baik rumus tenses kalimat aktif
atau kalimat pasif.
Contoh:
She goes to that lake at weekend.
Penjelasan: Kalimat di atas bertenses simple present aktif. Kata kerja goes merupakan finite
verb. Finite verb di atas terdiri dari ordindary saja.

The bridge was bulit in 1970.

Penjelasan: Kalimat di atas bertenses simple past pasif. Kata kerja was built merupakan finite
verb. Finite verb di atas terdiri dari auxiliary dan ordinary.

B. Non Finite verb

Non finite verb adalah bukan kata kerja sebenarnya atau kata kerja yang tidak difungsikan
sebagai verb. Fungsi dari non finite verb ini sebagai noun, adjectve, atau adverb. Sehingga non
finite verb ini tidak terkait dengan rumus-rumus tenses. Non finite verb memiliki 3 bentuk: verb
ing (gerund/present participle), verb 3 (past participle), to+v1 (to infinitive).
Contoh:
Swiming is my hobby.
Penjelasan: Kata swiming tidak terkait dengan rumus tenses. Sehingga kata swimming
bukan sebagai verb. Swimming (gerund) difungsikan sebagai noun yang
diposisikan sebagai subject. Maka kata swimming di sini adalah non finite verb.
Sementara kata kerja is merukapan kata kerja asli (finite verb) karena kalimat
di atas bertenses simple present.

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Latihan: Tentukan kata kerja finite dan non finite verb.
1. Nylon, a synthetic made from a combination of water, air, and a by-product of coal, was
introduced in 1938.

2. Ornithology, the study of birds, is one of the major scientific fields in which amateurs
play a role in accumulating, researching, and publishing data.

3. A quilt that looks ordinary lying on a bed may become a work of abstract art when it is hung on a
white wall.

4. On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution.

5. Bromyrite crystals have a diamond-like luster and are usually colorless, but they darken to brown
when exposed to light.

6. By tracking the eye of a hurricane, forecasters can determine the speed at which a storm is moving.

7. Serving several terms in Congress, Shirley Chisholm became an important United States
politician.

8. In bacteria and in other organisms, it is the nucleic and DNA that provides the genetic
information.

9. Animal researchers have identified many behavioral patterns associated with selecting a place to
live, avoiding predators, and finding food.

10. Why certain plants contain alkloids remains a mystery, although botanists have formulated a
number of theories to explain it.

2
2. Problem with Subject

Sebuah kalimat haruslah memiliki minimal 1 subject dan 1 verb. Salah satu permasalahan
yang sering muncul adalah hilangnya subject pada soal. Subject dalam bahasa Inggris memiliki 6
bentuk: noun, pronoun, noun phrase, noun clause, gerund, dan to infintive (dalam konteks
TOEFL).
Contoh soal:
_________ are becoming endangered because their natural habitat is being lost.
A. That animals
B. Animals
C. To be animals
D. Being animals
Penjelasan: Jawaban yang benar adalah B karena animals merupakan subject jamak
sesuai dengan verb are.

Latihan soal

1. Traditionally, ______ in New England on

Thanksgiving Day.
a. when served is sweet cider
b. when sweet cider is served
c. is served sweet cider
d. sweet cider is served
2. Typically, ______ in meadows or damp
woods and bloom in the spring.
a. wild violets grow
b. wild violets growth
c. growing wild violets
d. the growth of wild violets
3. ______, often used in children's poetry
and rhymes, are a result of words used in
ambiguous.
a. Humorous and misunderstood
b. Misunderstand humorously
c. Humorous misunderstandings
d. Misunderstanding its humor
4. ______ to inanimate objects, such as
machines, is a form of animism.
a. When attributing emotion
b. Attributing emotion
c. Emotion is attributed
d. If emotion is attributed
5. Oliver Ellsworth, ______ of the United
States Supreme Court, was the
author of the bill that was the
author of the bill that established the
federal court system.
a. he was the third chief justice
b. the third chief justice was
c. who the third chief justice
d. the third chief justice

3
6. The two main ______ are permanent 11. The popularity of soccer in the United
magnets and electromagnets.
a. kinds of magnets States were increased significantly by
b. kind of magnets A B
c. kind magnets the playing of the World Cup in cities
d. kinds magnets C D
through the country in 1994.
7. ______ have made communication faster E
and easier through the use of e-mail and
the internet is widely recognized. 12. Both a term paper and a final exam is
a. It is that computers A B
b. That it is computers often required for a collage class.
c. Computers that C D
d. That computers
13. Benjamin Franklin strongly objected to the
8. Recently scientists have apply new A B
A eagle's being chosen as the national bird
tools of biochemistry and molecular
B because of their predatory nature.
biology to investigate the structure of C D
C
human hair. 14. In order to grow well, the Blue Spruce, like
D A B
other pine trees , require a temperate
9. Beside the ages of nine and fifteen, C D
A climate.
almost all young people undergo a
B C
rapid series of physiological changes. 15.The stories of Dr. Seuss have been enjoyed
D A B
by millions of childrens.
10. Of the much factors that contributed C D
A B
to the growth of international tourism
C
in the 1950's, one of the most
D
important was the advent of jet travel

in 1958.

4
3. Problem with Verb

Inti pada sebuah kalimat terletak pada verb. Verb seringkali menjadi permasalahan dalam
soal. Ketika sebuah soal menanyakan verb, ada beberapa hal yang bisa menjadi jawaban benar.
Hal pertama adalah jawaban berupa verb asli (finite) atau verb palsu (non-finite), hal kedua yaitu
jawaban berupa verb aktif atau pasif, dan yang ketiga adalah jawaban terkait dengan tenses.
Contoh soal:

The growth of hair _____ cyclical process, with phases of activity and inactivity.
A. it is
B. is a
C. which is
D. a regular
Penjelasan: Jawaban yang benar adalah B karena soal belum memiliki verb sehingga
jawaban hanya butuh verb. A salah karena terdapat subject it. C salah karena
terdapat conjunction which. D salah karena tidak terdapat verb.

Latihan soal

1. Simple photographic lenses cannot 4. ______ initial recognition while still quite
______ sharp, undistorted images over a young.
wide field. a. Most famous scientists achieved
a. to form b. That most famous scientist achieved
b. are formed c. Most famous scientists who achieved
c. forming d. For most famous scientists to achieve
d. form
5. Alaska found the first years of its
2. Technology will play a key role in ______ statehood costly because it had to take over
future life-styles. the expense of services ______ previously by
a. to shape the federal government.
b. shaping a. to provide
c. shape of b. be provided
d. shaped c. providing
d. provided
3. During the flood of 1927, the Red Cross,
______ out of emergency headquarters in
Mississippi, set up temporary shelters for
the homeless.
a. operates c. has operated
b. is operating d. operating

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6. Iowa ______ of flat-topped hills erected by 11. Twenty to thirty year after a mature
the ancient Mound Builder people as A
temples and burial sites. forest is cleared away, a nearly
a. with a large number B C
b. has a large number impenetrable thicket of trees
c. having a large number
d. a large number and shrubs develops.
D
7. A grass-eating, river dwelling, mammal the
hippopotamus ______ to the pig. 12. The first national park in world,
a. being related A B
b. is related Yellowstone National Park, was
c. relate C
d. relating established in 1872.
D
8. Some ancient units such as the day, the
foot, and the pound, ______ today. 13. Magnificent mountains and coastal
a. are still in use A B
b. that are still in use scenery is British Columbia's chief tourist
c. which are in use still C D
d. still in use attractions.

9. Paper money ______ by the Continental

Congress in order to finance the American 14. The plastic arts, mainly sculpture and
Revolution. A B
a. which was issued ceramics, that are produced
b. was issuing C
c. issued by modeling or molding the materials into
d. was issued D
interesting shapes.
10. Camp David ______ the official country
home of the U.S. presidents.
a. that is 15. Seven months before the stock market
b. that it is A
c. it is crashed in 1929, President Hoover said
d. is B
that the economy of the nation is secure.
C D

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4. Problem with Adjective Clause
Permasalahan lain yang juga sering muncul adalah permasalahan dengan complex
conjunction. Penggunaan complex conjunction mengacu pada 3 jenis sub clause (adjective clause,
noun clause, & adverbial clause). Ketika sebuah soal menanyakan conjunction yang terletak setelah
noun maka conjunction dari adjective clause yang sangat memungkinkan untuk dipilih.
Contoh soal:
At the end of nineteeth century, Alferd Binet developed a test for measuring intelligence
______ served as the basis of modern IQ test.
A. has
B. it has
C. And
D. Which has
Penjelasan: Jawaban benar adalah B. Soal membutuhkan conjunction karena terdapat 2
verb (developed & served) dan letak titik-titik yang akan diisi conjuction
terletak setelah noun (intelligence) maka conjunction dari adjective clause
yang dipilih.

Latihan soal

1. By tracking the eye of a hurricane, 3. The outer ear, ______ the fleshy
forecasters can determine the speed at pinna and auditory canal, picks up and
which ______ . funnels sound waves toward the
a. is a storm moving eardrum.
b. a storm is moving a. includes
c. is moving a storm b. which it includes
d. a moving storm c. which includes
d. of which includes
2. Mango trees, ______ densely covered
with glossy leaves and bear small 4. Deserts are arid land areas where
fragrant flowers, grow rapidly and can ______ through evaporation that is
attain heights of up to 90 feet. gained through precipitation.
a. whose a. the loss of more water
b. which are b. loses more water
c. are when c. is more water lost
d. which d. more water is lost

7
5. ______ that managers commit in
problem solving is jumping to conclusion
about the cause of a given problem.
a. Major problems
b. Since the major error
c. The major error
d. Of the major errors
11. According to most psychological studies,
A B
body language expresses a speaker's
C
emotions and attitudes, and it also tends
to affect the emotions and attitudes of

6. Algonkian-speaking Native Americans the listen.

greeted the Pilgrims ______ settled on D
the eastern shores of what is now
new England. 12. Animation is a technique for creativity the
a. to whom c. who A B
b. of which d. which illusion of life in inanimate things.
C D
7. Some snakes lay eggs, but others
______ birth to live offspring. 13. Minoru Yamasaki is an American architect
a. give c. they give
b. giving d. to have given which works departed from the austerity
A B
8. Because it was so closely related to frequently associated with architecture in
communication, ______ art form to C D
develop. the United States after the Second World
a. drawing was probably the earliest
b. to draw early was probably War.
c. early drawing probably
d. the earliest draw
14. Chemical research provides information
9. Halley's Comet had its first A
documented sighting in 240 B. C. in that is useful when the textile industry in
China and ______ it has been seen B C
from the Earth 29 times. the creation of synthetic fabrics.
a. after c. since then D
b. because of d. that is
15. Stars in our universe vary in temperature,
10. The best known books of Ross A B
Macdonald, ______ writer of detective color, bright, size, and mass.
novels, feature the character Lew C D
Archer, a private detective.
a. is the c. they are by
b. is an d. the

8
5. Problem with Noun Clause
Selain menanyakan conjunction dari adjective clause, soal terkadang juga menanyakan
conjunction noun clause. Conjuntion noun clause bisa terletak di awal kalimat atau setelah verb.
Jika sebuah soal menanyakan conjunction yang akan diposisikan di awal kalimat atau setelah verb
maka conjunction noun clause yang sangat mungkin untuk dipilih.
Contoh soal:
Researchers have long debated ______ Saturn’s moon Titan contains hydrocarbon oceans
and lakes.
A. over it
B. whether it
C. whether
D. whether over
Penjelasan: Jawaban benar adalah C. Soal hanya butuh conjunction karena terdapat dua
verb (have debated & contains). Letak titik-titik yang akan di isi conjunction
terletak tepat setelah verb sehingga conjunction noun clause yang digunakan.

Latihan soal

1. According to some educators, the goal of 3. Portland, Maine, is ______ the poet
teaching is to help students learn what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow spent his early
______ to know to live a well-adjusted years.
and successful life. a. where
a. do they need b. it where
b. they need c. where is
c. they are needed d. which is where
d. as they may need
4. Most sedimentary rocks start forming
2. ______ any area receives more water A B
than the ground can absorb, the excess when grains of clay, slit, or sandy
water flows to the lowest level, C
carrying loose material. settle in river valleys or on the
a. Being D
b. Whenever bottoms of lakes and oceans.
c. When might
d. is

9
5. The total thickness of the ventricular 11. Crocodiles are sometimes confused with
A
walls of the heart are about three alligators, but are different from they in
A B C B C
times that of the atria. a number of ways.
D D

6. The type of jazz known as “swing” 12. A basic knowledge of social studies, such
A A
was introduced by Duke Ellington as history and geography, are considered
B B C
when he wrote and records “it Don’t a basic part of the education of every
C D
Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That child.
D
Swing.”
13. The black walnut tree is grown principally
A
7. X rays have important applications, for its lumber, which is used for cabinets
A B B C
not only in medicine and in industry. and furnitures.
C D D

8. The air that surrounds our planet is 14. Water polo is a game in which is played
A B C A
both careless, colorless, and invisible. in the water by two teams, each with
D B C D
Seven players.
9. Pikes Peak, named for explorer
A
Zebulon Pike, is Colorado’s 15. Dynamics is a branch of physics that
A
most famous but not its most highest deals for the relationship between motion
B C D B C
mountain. and force.
D

10. Identical colors may appear to be quite

A B
different when are they viewed
C
against different backgrounds.
D

10
6. Problem with Adverbial Clause
Adverbial clause adalah sub clause yang diposisikan sebagai adverb. Indikator bahwa soal
menanyakan conjunction dari adverbial clause adalah ketika soal meminta jawaban berupa
conjunction yang diletakkan di awal kalimat dan disertai koma.
Contoh soal:
______ sucked groundwater from below, some parts of the city have begun to sink as much
as ten inches annually.
A. Pumps have
B. As pumps have
C. So pumps have
D. With pumps
Penjelasan: Jawaban benar adalah B. Soal membutuhkan conjunction karena terdapat 2
verb (sucked & have begun). Conjunction yang digunakan diletakkan di awal
kalimat dah disertain koma (setelah below) sehingga conjunction adverbial
clause yang dipilih.

Latihan soal

1. ______ they are tropical birds, parrots 3. ______ are increasingly linked over long
can live in temperate or even cold distances by electronic communications,
climates. but many of them still prefer face-to-face
a. Despite encounters.
b. Even though a. Although
c. Nevertheless b. Despite people
d. but c. Today people
d. The fact that people
2. Owls can hunt in total darkness
______ their remarkably keen sense of 4. ______, the seeds of the Kentucky
smell. coffee plant are poisonous.
a. since a. Until they have been cooked
b. because of b. Cooking them
c. the result c. They have been cooked
d. that d. Cooked until

11
5. Like Thomas Berger's fictional character 10. The three basic chords in ______ the
Little Big Man, Lauderdale managed to tonic, the dominant, and the
find himself where ______ of important subdominant.
events took place. a. functional harmony
a. it was an extraordinary number b. functional harmony is
b. there was an extraordinary number c. functional harmony are
c. an extraordinary number d. functional harmony they are
d. an extraordinary number existed
11. Commercial bakeries can make
6. ______ show the relations among A
neurons, they do not preclude the thousands of loaves of bread
possibility that other aspects are B
important. on one time by using automated
a. Neural theories C D
b. A neural theory equipment.
c. Although neural theories
d. However neural theories
12. North America is a third largest of the
7. ______ or refinanced, the lender will A B C
generally require setting up an escrow seven continents.
account to ensure the payment of D
property taxes and homeowner's
insurance. 13. Neither humans or dogs can hear as well
a. A home is A B C
b. A home is brought as cats.
c. When a home
d. When a home is bought
14. The astronomer George Hale was
8. If ultraviolet radiation enters the Earth's A
atmosphere, ______ generally blocked by a pioneer in the art of photograph the
the ozone concentrated in the B C D
atmosphere. sun.
a. it c. so it is
b. it is d. then it
15. Trucks can be used transport a wide
9. Among human chromosomes, the Y A B C
chromosome is unusual ______ most of variety of cargoes.
the chromosome does not participate in D
the meiotic recombination.
a. in c. and
b. so d. in that

12
Written Expression Questions
Jenis soal ini fokus dalam menemukan penggunaan kata yang salah. Beberapa model
kesalahan yang sering muncul adalah word forms, word choices, verbs, dan pronoun.

1. Errors with Word Forms

a. Penggunaan jenis kata (parts of speech: noun, adjective, adverb atau verb) yang
tidak sesuai dengan fungsinya. Dan berikut adalah fungsi dari 4 jenis kata tersebut:
- Noun : subject, object of verb, object of preposition, dan complement.
- Adjective : modifier of noun (sebelum noun), complement (setelah
kata kerja be).
- Adverb : modifier of adjective (sebelum adjective), modifier of adverb
(sebelum adverb), or modifier of verb (penjelas kata kerja).
- Verb : verb
e.g: The black Hills of South Dakota are covered with densely pine forest.

b. Mengenali suatu jenis kata dengan dilihat dari akhiran (suffix) dari suatu kata.
- Noun : -tion, -sion, -ence, -ance, -ity, -hood, -ship, -cracy, -ness, -ment
-er, -or, -ist, -ee, -ian, -attendant
- Adjective : -ate, -ous, -al, -able, -ible, -ish, -ant, -ic, -ical, -ive, -ly, -ful
- Adverb : -ly, -ally
- verb : -ize, -en, ify
Exercise:
- First specializing in industrial photography, Margaret Bourke-White later
become a famous news photographer and editorial.
- The galaxy Andromeda is the most distance object visible to observers in the
Northern Hemisphere.
- Scientists belief that the continents once formed a single continent surrounded by an
enormous sea.

13
2. Errors with Word Choices
Jenis kesalahan ini mengharuskan kita memilih kata yang sesuai dengan aturan
penggunaan dari kata tersebut.
- Make vs Do
- Cement is done from varying amounts of limestone, clay, and gypsum.
- Like vs Alike, Like vs As
- Alike their close relative the frogs, toads are amphibians.
- Asters, as most perennial plants, bloom once a year.
- So, Such, Too, As
So, such, too, dan as digunakan dalam pola:
* So + adjective + that + subject + verb
e. g: These boxes are so heavy that we can't lift them.
* Such + adjective + noun + that + subject + verb
e. g: It was such a pretty view that he took a photograph.
* too + adjective + to infinitive
e. g: It's too cold to go swimming today.
- The sun is so bright to look at directly.
- In much of Alaska, the growing season is as short that crops can't be raised.

3. Errors with Verbs

Kesalahan pada verb dikaitkan dengan penggunaan tenses, finite/non-finite verb,
active/passive form, subject-verb agreement, dan gerund/to infinitive form.
Exercise:
- Bowling, one of the most popular indoor sports, are popular all over the United States and
in other countries.
- The most important period of physical growth in humans occurred during their first two
years.
- The Michigan Dunes, located on Lake Michigan's eastern shore, may to reach a height of
200 feet.

14
 4. Errors with Pronouns
Kesalahan yang terjadi terkait dengan pronoun adalah pronoun yang jenisnya:
* Personal pronouns
He, she, it, they, ....
* Reflexive pronouns
Himself, herself, itself, themselves, ....
* Relative pronouns
Who, whose, which, that, ....
* Demonstrative prnouns
This, that, these, those, ....
Exercise:
- Jackrabbits have powerful rear legs that enable it to leap long distances.
- Herman Melville gathered material for him novels, including Moby Dick, during his years
at sea.
- As larvae, barnacles are free-swimming, but as adults they attach them to stones, docks,
and hulls of ships.
- Block Island in Long Island Sound it is surrounded by cold, dangerous waters.

Practice Test
1. Liberal arts colleges cultivate general intellectually abilities rather than technical or professional

skills.

2. Goats are extremely destruction to natural vegetation, and are often responsible for soil erosion.

3. Wild plants were of considerable important to early settlers, and many are still used medicinally

and as foods.

4. One important branch of linguistics is semantics, which analysis the meaning of words.

5. Unlike folk dancers, which are the product of a single culture, ballet is an international art

form.

15
6. When a space craft is operating beyond the atmosphere, its fins and wings not longer serve to

stabilize it.

7. The University of Chicago is unlike most other US. universities in that it has emphasized graduate

student programs so much as undergraduate programs ever since it opened.

8. The mass production of paper bags cut costs so much that a bag soon became a routine part of

near every purchase.

9. A person must be at least thirty years age in order to serve as a U. S. senator.

10. No other state receives as few rainfall as the state of Nevada.

11. Medical students must to study both the theory and practice of medicine.

12. The seal, like the sea lion and the walrus, is a descendant of ancestors that once live on the land.

13. Every one of the body's billions of cells require a constant supply of food and oxygen.

14. In science, the results of an experiment are not generally accepted until they had been duplicated

in other laboratories.

15. In colonial times, flax and wool required months of preparation before they could be dyed and spin

into cloth.

16. A beaver uses its strong front teeth to cut down trees and peel off its bark.

17. Ants are blind to red light, so it is possible to observe themselves in an artificial nest without

disturbing their activities.

18. An auger is a tool which a carpenter uses it to bore holes in wood.

19. The glaciers in Olympia National Park are unusually because they are found at altitudes lower than

those at which glaciers are usually found.

20. In his novels, Sinclair Lewis drew critical portraits of Americans who thought of them as model

citizens.

16