SENTENCE CLASSES AND PHRASES ANALYSIS

Together these three topics (Sentence Classes and Phrase Analysis, Infinitives, and Gerunds) appeared across multiple regional papers (Sentence Classes and Phrase Analysis 3 out of 36 questions across two papers at moderate difficulty, Infinitives 1 out of 36 in one paper, Gerunds 1 out of 36 in another) and are grouped here because MDCAT repeatedly tests whether you can tell these grammatical chunks apart, not just recognize each one in isolation.

Where students commonly go wrong:

• Mistaking an adverb phrase for an adjective phrase when it follows a noun but actually modifies the verb
• Mixing up complex and compound sentences, especially when a coordinating conjunction like “yet” is mistaken for a subordinator like “although”
• Confusing which verbs take only an infinitive versus only a gerund as a complement (e.g., refuse to obey vs. refuse obeying)
• Omitting “to” before the base verb, leaving a bare infinitive where a full infinitive is required
• Confusing gerunds with present participles since both end in “-ing,” even though gerunds function as nouns and participles function as adjectives
• Misidentifying whether a gerund phrase is functioning as a subject or as an object

Practical tip: when you see a phrase in a sentence, don’t decide its type by where it sits or how it looks, decide by asking what job it is doing, whether it is naming a thing, describing a noun, describing an action, or renaming a noun, since position (like following a noun) is the most common false clue on this topic.

Why this practice set helps:

• Covers every distinct case and variation of these topics identified from real MDCAT papers, not just the obvious ones
• Each correct answer comes with a detailed explanation of the underlying grammar rule, so you learn the principle, not just memorize one instance
• Close, commonly confused options are explained specifically, helping you understand exactly why the tempting wrong answer is wrong

Working through the full range of these confusion points now means you will recognize them instantly and answer with speed and certainty on exam day.