Pearson PTE General — All Questions

Choose the correct tense: 'While I ___ dinner, the phone rang.'

• a.was cooking✓
• b.cooked
• c.cook
• d.have cooked

The past continuous 'was cooking' describes an action in progress that was interrupted by a shorter past action ('rang').

Complete: 'She's the most talented musician ___ I have ever met.'

• a.what
• b.that✓
• c.which
• d.who's

After a superlative, 'that' is the usual relative pronoun. 'What' cannot introduce a relative clause here, and 'who's' means 'who is'.

Select the correct option: 'There isn't ___ milk left in the fridge.'

• a.much✓
• b.a few
• c.many
• d.several

'Milk' is uncountable, so the quantifier 'much' is used in the negative. 'Many', 'a few', and 'several' go with countable nouns.

Choose the correct form: 'They let the children ___ in the garden.'

• a.play✓
• b.playing
• c.to play
• d.played

After 'let + object', the bare infinitive is used: 'let the children play'. No 'to' is required.

Complete: 'I wish I ___ more time to finish the project.'

• a.am having
• b.will have
• c.had✓
• d.have

'I wish' about a present situation is followed by the past simple to express an unreal wish, so 'had' is correct.

Choose the best word: 'The scenery on the hike was absolutely ___.'

• a.breathable
• b.breathtaking✓
• c.breathless
• d.breathing

'Breathtaking' means astonishingly beautiful, which fits scenery. 'Breathless' describes a person out of breath.

Select the best fit: 'He made a ___ decision and later regretted it.'

• a.handy
• b.hearty
• c.hasty✓
• d.healthy

'Hasty' means done too quickly without thought, which fits a decision that was later regretted. The other words are unrelated.

Which word completes the sentence? 'The museum has an impressive ___ of ancient coins.'

• a.collective
• b.collector
• c.collecting
• d.collection✓

A noun is needed after 'an impressive'. 'Collection' means a group of items gathered together, which fits coins in a museum.

Choose the correct word: 'Could you ___ the door open while I carry this box?'

• a.catch
• b.take
• c.grab
• d.hold✓

'Hold the door open' means to keep it open, which fits the situation. 'Catch' and 'grab' suggest a sudden action, not keeping it open.

Select the best word: 'The new phone is very ___; even a child can use it.'

• a.user-friendly✓
• b.use-friendly
• c.friend-using
• d.friendly-user

'User-friendly' is the correct compound adjective meaning easy to use. The other forms are not standard words.

Choose the correct form: 'The children showed great ___ during the trip.'

• a.enthusiastic
• b.enthusiasm✓
• c.enthusiastically
• d.enthuse

A noun is needed after the adjective 'great'. 'Enthusiasm' is the noun form.

Complete: 'She spoke ___ about her travels in South America.'

• a.passionate
• b.passions
• c.passionately✓
• d.passion

An adverb is needed to describe how she spoke. 'Passionately' is the adverb form.

Select the right form: 'A ___ diet includes fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.'

• a.healthiness
• b.health
• c.healthily
• d.healthy✓

An adjective is needed before the noun 'diet'. 'Healthy' is the adjective form.

Choose the correct form: 'The success of the event depended on careful ___.'

• a.preparation✓
• b.prepare
• c.prepared
• d.preparing

A noun is needed after the adjective 'careful'. 'Preparation' is the noun form of 'prepare'.

Choose the correct preposition: 'I've been interested ___ astronomy since I was a child.'

• a.at
• b.for
• c.in✓
• d.on

The adjective 'interested' is followed by 'in' when naming the topic: 'interested in astronomy'.

Select the best connector: 'We can go to the beach ___ the weather is fine.'

• a.in spite of
• b.although
• c.as long as✓
• d.despite

'As long as' introduces a condition: the trip depends on fine weather. The other options signal contrast.

Choose the correct preposition: 'The meeting was postponed ___ next Tuesday.'

• a.for
• b.by
• c.since
• d.until✓

'Until' shows that the postponement lasts up to a later point in time ('next Tuesday'). 'By' would mean 'no later than'.

Select the best linker: '___ finishing her degree, she traveled around Europe.'

• a.After✓
• b.While
• c.Since
• d.During

'After + -ing' shows that traveling happened once the degree was finished. 'During' and 'while' would imply the events overlapped.

Which sentence is correct?

• a.I'm looking forward to see you next week.
• b.I'm looking forward see you next week.
• c.I'm looking forward for seeing you next week.
• d.I'm looking forward to seeing you next week.✓

'Look forward to' takes a gerund because 'to' here is a preposition, giving 'looking forward to seeing'.

Identify the error-free sentence.

• a.She lives here since she was born.
• b.She's living here since she was born.
• c.She's lived here since she was born.✓
• d.She's lived here for she was born.

A state continuing from the past to now uses the present perfect with 'since' + a starting point: 'has lived here since she was born'.

Choose the correct sentence.

• a.Neither of the answer is correct.
• b.Neither of the answers were correct.
• c.Neither of the answers are correct.
• d.Neither of the answers is correct.✓

'Neither' is treated as singular in standard usage, so it takes the singular verb 'is': 'Neither of the answers is correct'.

Which sentence has no error?

• a.He's more tall than his brother.
• b.He's taller as his brother.
• c.He's taller than his brother.✓
• d.He's taller then his brother.

'Than' (not 'then') is used in comparisons, and short adjectives form the comparative with '-er', giving 'taller than'.