How should you answer reading comprehension questions involving grammar usage?

With grammar questions, examiners are looking for a straightforward answer about how a particular point of grammar works within a sentence. While it is good to use specific language such 'nominative', 'main verb', 'object' etc., it is not necessary to try too hard to make your answer sound overly elaborate or complex; as long as your answer provides a clear explanation, that is what is needed. A typical question might look like 'ad aulam Apollinis (line 2): identify the case of aulam and explain why this case is used here.' This asks you to firstly identify the case of a noun, which you should do using knowledge of noun declension. Here you should recognise that 'aulam' is a singular accusative feminine noun from the first declension, with the stem 'aula'. Next it asks you to say give an explanation of why the accusative case is being used. Here, it is because the preposition linked to the noun is 'ad' which takes the accusative case, thus putting the noun 'aula' in the accusative case. In an exam, you would not need to give this long an answer, but it is important to understand the whole principle behind the usage of the case in order to answer the question properly.