“Mastering grammar on the Accuplacer is less challenging than you think, because it tests the same rules over and over again.”
CHAPTER 1: Correcting Sentences
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“Mastering grammar on the Accuplacer is less challenging than you think, because it tests the same rules over and over again.” |
The first ten questions you’ll see on Part I of the verbal portion of the Accuplacer will be sentences that may, or may not, need correcting. If you read the introduction (and if you haven’t, you should), you saw that each of these questions consists of one sentence—part of which has been underlined—and four answer choices:
Padma chose the bigger of the seven cupcakes.
A. the bigger of the
B. the biggest than
C. the biggest of the
D. bigger than the
If you think the sentence is written correctly, choose answer choice (A), which always repeats the underlined portion word for word. If you see a flaw in the sentence, however, you can cross off answer choice (A) and look for something better among the remaining three choices, which suggest alternative ways to write the sentence.
What not to do
When you see a question like this, your first instinct might be to re-read the sentence four times, with each of the four answer choices included in the underlined portion. If you do this, be aware that the sentences might start to sound unnervingly alike, and your job might actually become more difficult.
A second instinct might be to re-write the sentence in your head and then look for a match among the answer choices. This might seem like the best way to go, but it can cause more problems than you might think. If a sentence is written incorrectly, there is always more than one way to fix it. If you decide on one specific remedy, and it’s not there among the last three choices, you might be inclined to pick the one closest to what you want it to be, and that might not necessarily be the credited response. As always, the key lies in a deeper appreciation of grammar and strategy.
The big three for POE
When attempting to correct a sentence, here are the three best strategies to consider:
1. Spot a problem with the sentence as written.
2. Eliminate all the other answer choices that repeat the same problem.
3. See where the answer choices are different from each other and decide which of them is/are flawed.
Let’s use these techniques on that sample question we saw earlier in the chapter:
Padma chose the bigger of the seven cupcakes.
A. the bigger of the
B. the biggest than
C. the biggest of the
D. bigger than the
The most efficient way to go after this question is to recognize that, since it specifically mentions seven cupcakes, it’s incorrect to use bigger. Words that end in -er are comparatives that are used when only two things are being compared. When a sentence refers to three or more items, the proper term to use is a superlative, which ends in -est. We can therefore eliminate answer choice (A), which we know is incorrect, and answer choice (D), which repeats the error.
There’s an example of Steps 1 and 2 in use right there. Since you know biggest is the right word, the next step is to compare the other parts of answer choices (B) and (C). How are they different?
Answer choice (C) keeps of the after biggest, but since answer choice (B) unnecessarily changes of the to than, you can cross it off. The only answer left is the best answer, choice (C).
Look for a two-and-two split
While looking at the answer choices, you’ll often see that the four options often split off into two camps. In this case, it was bigger or biggest. This can be a helpful trend to recognize. If you didn’t know or recognize this rule (and you should, because the Accuplacer frequently brings it up), you have to try something else because you can’t just skip ahead to the next question. In this circumstance, you might consider bypassing Steps 1 and 2 and looking at how all four answer choices differ from each other. Since two of them include bigger, and the other two include biggest, you could conclude that using bigger or biggest is an important issue. And now it’s time to make an educated guess as to which two answer choices to eliminate.
Reminder: Don’t look for perfection
As we mentioned in the introduction, it’s important to remember that the credited response might not match what you think the answer should be. This is especially true when you’re correcting sentences. When you’re trying to choose among the four answer choices, you might recognize that the sentence is incorrectly written and cross off answer choice (A). You might also think you have a good idea about how to correct the sentence and look among the remaining answer choices for a match. Unfortunately, if that match isn’t there, you might feel frustrated and choose an answer just because it’s closest to what you want the credited response to be.
If none of the four answer choices seems “correct,” remind yourself that one of them has to be the credited response, which means it has to be defensibly better than the other three choices. Alter your expectations, consider the merit of each answer choice individually.
Keep these techniques in mind as you work through the drills and practice questions in this and other chapters, and you may find yourself spotting trends and wrong answers much more quickly and easily. And now, on to the grammar!
Reviewing the basics
As we prepare to review some of the standard rules of English grammar, it’s important to note that this book will not cover every rule known to man. There are plenty of textbooks (some of which you might still have somewhere in the back of your closet) that will teach you all about diagramming sentences. Our goal is to give you a basic overview and prepare you for the errors that the College Board usually wants you to find. We’ll also define a lot of grammar terms, so you can tell the difference between a “past participle” and the “present perfect.” And if you forget anything, all the definitions appear in the Appendix on page 189.
The simple sentence
The only things a correctly formed sentence really needs are a subject and a verb. The subject commits the action that the verb describes:
Joe ran.
After that, everything else is just adding detail by adding more description. For example, we can add an adverb to describe how he ran:
Joe ran quickly.
From there, we can add a prepositional phrase to tell where he ran:
Joe ran quickly down the field.
Attempting to score the winning touchdown, Joe ran quickly down the field.
Before you know it, you’ve got a more complex sentence that tells you a lot more about what Joe is doing, and where he’s doing it. Regardless of all that, however, you can still boil the sentence down to the subject and verb, the most basic elements.
So far, the idea of having to memorize all these grammar rules might be making you dizzy. And that’s to be expected. The good news is that even though it’s a good idea to review all these rules, there are several that the College Board likes to test over and over again. Therefore, here’s a list of the six most common error areas that the Accuplacer wants you to recognize. Each section comes with tips on how to spot them and fix them, as well as several sample questions on which to practice your newfound expertise.
1. Misplaced modifiers
There is one basic rule about words or phrases that describe or modify other words: In a properly constructed sentence, modifiers should appear next to the word or words they describe. If not, then the modifier is misplaced. Your job is to determine if the modifier is properly placed in a sentence and, if not, choose the answer that fixes the error.
How to spot modifier errors: The most common structure is a descriptive phrase set off by a comma at the beginning of a sentence, like this: “Like Arizona, it gets really hot in Texas during the summer.” This sentence is written incorrectly, because the opening phrase “Like Arizona” is supposed to describe Texas.
How to fix them: The most common way is to make sure the first word after the comma is the word that the opening phrase describes: “Like Arizona, Texas gets really hot in the summer” Another way, however, is to turn the opening phrase into a clause, which means rewrite it with a subject and verb. For example:
INCORRECT: While crossing the street, a car ran a red light.
CORRECT: While I was crossing the street, a car ran a red light.
Now that the opening is a clause, the sentence is fine.
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly. If not, re-write them to correct the misplaced modifier.
1. While baiting his hook, a fish jumped into Bob’s rowboat.
2. Steeped in a tradition of success, the New York Yankees have won more World Series championships than any other team.
3. First published in 1859 in 32 weekly installments, many literary experts believe A Tale of Two Cities to be Charles Dickens’s best work.
4. Though usually a calm person, Albert’s patience could not withstand the heavy traffic.
5. Unlike dogs, which are much more social, cats tend to keep to themselves.
The answers are on page 35.
2. Restrictive and Non-restrictive modifiers
This section refers to one of the Accuplacer’s most niggling details, and it involves how nouns are modified. If a modifying phrase or clause is essential to the sentence because it gives important information that identifies the subject, it is called a restrictive modifier. Unlike the modifiers discussed above, restrictive modifiers are not preceded by a comma. Here’s an example of the difference:
My son who went to law school just ran a marathon.
The absence of commas in this sentence tells the reader that the speaker has more than one son, and the phrase “who went to law school” is the essential to distinguish the son in the sentence from the other sons. When commas are added, however, the sentence takes on a new meaning:
My son, who went to law school, just ran a marathon.
In this sentence, the commas indicate that the speaker has just one son, so it’s no longer necessary to set him apart from the others. Therefore, the modifying phrase now provides extra information that isn’t as important as before. This sort of phrase is also called an appositive.
Deciding between which of the two structures is correct can be tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it with more practice. The main point is to remember that the Accuplacer could deem either structure as a credited response.
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly (in these cases, we’ve included underlined portions). If they are not, re-write them to correct the problem with restrictive or non-restrictive modifiers.
1. My sister who is allergic to shellfish opened a seafood restaurant.
2. My sister Ellen, who is allergic to shellfish opened a seafood restaurant.
3. The airplane, which was delayed by rain is finally ready for take-off.
4. The majority of puppies, which were born in that shelter have been adopted.
5. The majority of puppies, which are unable to see for the first six weeks of their lives, have been paper-trained.
The answers are on page 36.
Pronouns are essential to our conversation, because without them you’d see lots of sentences like this:
“When Miles brought Miles’s cat to Miles’s mother’s house, and Miles’s mother told Miles that Miles’s mother’s cat allergy gave Miles’s mother a rash on Miles’s mother’s leg, Miles’s mother asked Miles not to bring the cat to Miles’s mother’s house anymore.”
Instead, we get to shorten sentences so they look like this:
“When Miles brought his cat to his mother’s house, and she told him that her cat allergy gave her a rash on her leg, she asked him not to bring it to her house anymore.”
How to spot pronoun errors: Look for pronouns in the underlined portion of a sentence.
How to fix them: Make sure the sentence follows two simple rules.
Every pronoun needs to agree with its antecedent.
A pronoun’s antecedent is the noun the pronoun is replacing. A singular noun must be replaced with a singular pronoun, and a plural noun must be replaced with a plural pronoun. Some pronoun disagreements, such as this one, are easy to spot:
INCORRECT: All pronouns must agree with the noun it replaces.
CORRECT: All pronouns must agree with the nouns they replace.
The sentences get a little sneakier, however, when certain pronouns are used incorrectly:
INCORRECT: Everyone over 50 needs to review their retirement plan regularly.
CORRECT: Everyone over 50 needs to review his or her retirement plan regularly.
The error in the above sentence is rather common in conversation, but it’s grammatically incorrect because the subject, Everyone, is a singular pronoun. So are every, each, either, neither, which, and none. You’ll see more of this in the subject-verb section of this chapter.
Every pronoun needs to refer directly and unambiguously to its antecedent.
When you write a sentence with pronouns, there is no room for assumption. Whenever the reader encounters a pronoun in a sentence, he or she must know exactly what noun the pronoun has replaced.
INCORRECT: When Tim and Tony went to town, he stopped off to get some coffee.
In this sentence, we don’t know which of the men got coffee because he is ambiguous. You can’t use a pronoun after the comma; instead, you have to specify which of the men committed the action in the independent clause.
Sentences in the Accuplacer can be particularly ambiguous when two or more pronouns are involved:
INCORRECT: After Jennifer drove her car into Mary’s garage, she tried to take her to court.
This sentence has a big problem, because we don’t know who did the suing and who was being sued. We might assume that Mary tried to take Jennifer to court because of the damage Jennifer inflicted, but we don’t know that for sure.
Collective nouns
Another tricky consideration on the Accuplacer is when a pronoun replaces a noun that represents a group of people. These are called collective nouns, and they’re singular.
INCORRECT: The team finally moved into their new stadium.
CORRECT: The team finally moved into its new stadium.
The subject of the sentence is team, which is a singular noun. So the proper pronoun to use is it. Note: If the sentence read, “The Yankees finally moved into their new stadium,” that would be correct because Yankees is a plural noun. Sometimes, however, the construction of a sentence can be deceptive, and you have to keep track of what the subject of the sentence actually is.
INCORRECT: The team of researchers boarded their charter flight to Borneo.
It’s easy to think that the subject of the sentence is researchers, because they’re the ones boarding the plane. However, the subject of the sentence is team, and of researchers is a prepositional phrase describing what type of team it is. The corrected sentence is: “The team of researchers boarded its charter flight to Borneo.”
Subject and object pronouns
Subject pronouns, which perform the action in a sentence, are different from object pronouns, which receive the action. When you’re not sure which pronoun to use, refer to this chart:
The pronoun you use depends upon what the word is doing in the sentence:
She gave the ball to him.
In this example, you know that the woman (she) is performing the action, and the man (him) is receiving it. Most sentences on the Accuplacer are this simple, but there are a few sneaky possibilities:
INCORRECT: Between you and I, Cheryl really needs to start studying more.
CORRECT: Between you and me, Cheryl really needs to start studying more.
The incorrect construction might seem OK because it’s often heard in conversation, but it’s not. The key is to separate the two pronouns; between you makes sense, but between I does not. Here’s another structure that is commonly misused:
INCORRECT: She is older than me.
CORRECT: She is older than I.
In this sentence, she and I are being compared, so they both need to be subject pronouns. If this seems confusing, try finishing the sentence by adding a verb, like this:
She is older than I am.
This sounds much better than the alternative: She is older than me am.
Note that Who vs. Whom is addressed on the last line of that chart. These pronouns are commonly confused, but their use becomes more simple when you think that who is a subject and whom is an object. So if the person performing the action is unclear, use who:
Who left the dirty dishes in the sink?
If you don’t know the identity of the person receiving the action, use whom:
To whom should I address this letter?
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly. If not, re-write them to correct the pronoun problem.
1. Georgia and her mother don’t know where her violin is.
2. The Department of Sanitation was unable to explain why they took so long to pick up all the garbage.
3. As the corn farmers delivered their crop, they were shocked to learn they were filled with meal worms.
4. The soccer team decided they had practiced enough for one day.
5. None of the doctors were able to diagnose the problem.
The answers are on page 36.
4. Verb tenses
Verb tense is a huge part of the Accuplacer, because there are so many different verb tenses to know about. We’ll be listing them here, and in the process we’ll be defining a lot of grammar terms. Remember that although you should know the tenses themselves, the Accuplacer won’t test whether you know their official grammatical names. We’re just defining them here so you’ll be able to follow along when they’re referred to over and over.
In most cases, the verb tense of a sentence doesn’t need to change. Therefore, if you notice that a verb tense isn’t consistent throughout a sentence, look to see if that tense shift is really necessary. Also, it pays to look at the part of the sentence that is not underlined, because the verb tense in that portion isn’t going to change.
“Every time George goes to the store, he will get a box of Cheerios.”
The non-underlined part of the sentence is in the simple present tense, and that sets the tone for the rest of the sentence. Therefore, there’s no need to use the future tense he will get in the underlined part. The correct sentence reads like this:
“Every time George goes to the store, he gets a box of Cheerios.”
How to spot verb tense errors: Check the tense of the verbs in a sentence and see if they’re all in the same tense. If they’re not, figure out if the tense shift is necessary.
How to fix them: Use the non-underlined portion of the sentence to figure out what the sentence means to say, and make sure the proper tense is being used to say it. (It might help to put these tenses on flash cards, just so you know when to use which.)
The basic tenses
In a simple sentence, the most common verb tenses are:
• the past tense, in which the action happened before:
Alice attended the University of Oregon.
• the present tense, in which the action is happening now:
Alice attends the University of Oregon.
• the future tense, in which the action will happen later:
Alice will attend the University of Oregon.
You’ve probably seen these structures many times, so they’re relatively easy to recognize (and fix, if necessary).
The complex tenses
There are also three more complicated verb tenses that we’ll refer to often in this book, and which you should be able to recognize:
• The past perfect tense is used when two things happened in the past, and you want to indicate which of the events came first by using the auxiliary verb had:
Alice had attended the University of Oregon for two years when she declared her major.
In this example, we know that Alice attended school for two years before she declared her major.
• The present perfect tense uses has or have to indicate that something began happening in the past and is still happening now:
Alice has attended the University of Oregon since her family moved to Portland.
Now we know that Alice started school in the past, and that she is still there. Note: one of the best clue words to the present perfect is since.
• The future perfect tense is used to predict when something will end in the future, and it uses will have:
When Alice finishes her doctoral program, she will have attended the University of Oregon for seven years.
This sentence predicts that Alice will finish her doctoral program at a specific point in the future.
Other verb tenses
The conditional tense usually appears in if-then form, such as in this example:
“If I go to bed early, then I will not oversleep.”
The if portion of the sentence happens first, and the then portion happens in the future. As a result, the first part of the sentence is usually in the present tense, and the second part uses the auxiliary verb will and is in the future tense.
Other phrases to look for in conditional sentences are provided that and on the condition that, both of which can be substituted for if:
“I will drive to the beach provided that I get my car’s brakes fixed.”
“My dad let me borrow the car on the condition that I finish my homework first”
If a sentence discusses a general condition or commonly accepted truth, you might see the entire sentence in the present tense, like this:
“If my dog starts pacing around in the corner, I take him for a walk.”
The hypothetical (or imaginary) tense indicates that something is not true, but you’re indicating (or imagining) what would happen if it were true. And you’re not hallucinating, because that last sentence is written correctly because it correctly uses what is called the subjunctive mood:
INCORRECT: If I was a rich man, I would buy the Denver Broncos.
CORRECT: If I were a rich man, I would buy the Denver Broncos.
To use the subjunctive correctly, always use were instead of was when describing your own hypothetical situations. Were goes in the conditional part of the sentence (the part beginning with if), and the verb for the main clause of the sentence is would.
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly. If not, re-write them to correct the problem with the verb tense.
1. George had been working on his doctoral thesis for almost five years.
2. If I were a foot taller, I would be playing professional basketball.
3. Three months ago, I will have had this car for ten years.
4. If the children behave well, I will let them watch another hour of television.
5. I want to graduate from college next year, but I will not have earned enough credits by then.
The answers are on page 37.
5. Parallel construction
In the same way that verb tenses are usually consistent throughout a sentence, parallel construction dictates that all nouns in a list, as well as all multiple verbs, should be written in the same form.
How to spot parallel construction errors: Look for any list of items set off by commas, or for a sentence in which more than one verb is assigned to one subject. In many cases, part of that list will be underlined, and the rest of it will not.
How to fix them: Consult the non-underlined portion of the sentence, and determine how the underlined (or changeable) portion must be made to agree. And make sure all things that appear in a list are in the same form.
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly. If not, re-write them to reflect a parallel structure.
1. Albert’s favorite hobbies are playing golf, building bird houses, and to tend to his garden.
2. My father attributes his long life to exercise, a healthy diet, and avoiding stress.
3. After two terms in office, the congressman chose to retire rather than to run for re-election.
4. In my opinion, the best fruits to use in salads are grapefruits, due to their acidity, apples, for their tangy crunch, and avocados.
5. During a job interview, it is important to shake hands firmly and to be maintaining eye contact with your interviewer.
The answers are on page 37.
6. Subject-verb agreement
Even though subject-verb agreement is one of a sentence’s most basic needs, the Accuplacer doesn’t test it very often. When a subject-verb question does appear on the test, the sentence is often written in a sneaky way, with lots of descriptive words between the subject and the verb, like this:
The albino tiger snake, a species indigenous to the deepest recesses of the Amazon river basin and sought by poachers for its unique skin that is often used to make designer purses and shoes, are now protected under a new wildlife law.
At first, you might think this sentence, though really wordy, is grammatically correct—especially when you note that the nearest noun to the verb are is shoes. The subject of the sentence, however, isn’t shoes. It’s snake, which is singular and therefore does not agree with the plural verb. The corrected sentence looks like this:
The albino tiger snake, a species indigenous to the deepest recesses of the Amazon river basin and sought by poachers for its unique skin that is often used to make designer purses and shoes, is now protected under a new wildlife law.
How to spot subject-verb errors: Determine the subject and verb of a sentence, and look for lots of modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, and especially prepositional phrases) that are usually included to distract you. Usually, the subject of the sentence is underlined but the verb is not, or vice versa.
How to fix them: Circle the subject(s) and verb(s) in the sentence and see if they agree with each other.
Pronoun agreement
Remember all that talk in the Pronouns section about singular pronouns? That’s an important consideration for subject-verb agreement, because a lot of pronouns are deceptively singular.
INCORRECT: Each of the 50 states have two Senators.
CORRECT: Each of the 50 states has two Senators.
In these sentences, of the 50 states is a prepositional phrase, and the subject of the sentence is Each, which is singular.
If you’re ever not sure whether a pronoun is singular, see if you can add the word one after it. In this case, it makes grammatical sense:
Each one of the 50 states has two Senators.
Other singular pronouns include: another, any, anything, either, every, everybody, everyone, neither, no one, nobody, and none.
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly. If not, re-write them to make the subjects and verbs agree.
1. Indicate whether each of these questions is written correctly.
2. Of all tropical fish, the blue tetra is one of the least aggressive to divers.
3. A secret trove of gold and doubloons was discovered off the coast of Cape Hatteras.
4. The sea turtle, which many confuse with its terrestrial cousins, are faster and more mobile than you might think.
5. Neither of these women, regardless of her qualifications, are right for this job.
The answers are on page 38.
The remainder of this chapter is devoted to grammar rules that the Accuplacer tests less often and don’t necessarily fit into any of the categories we’ve already discussed. Still, they’ve occurred often enough to be included in this book, and the rules are very clear-cut. So it can’t hurt to memorize them.
Negative Inversion
Negative inversion is a sentence format that doesn’t show up very often on standardized tests, but the Accuplacer likes to test it. The structure is rather straightforward: A sentence begins with a negative phrase, and the order of the subject and verb are switched, like this:
INCORRECT: Not since 1929 the United States had seen
such a threat to its economy.
CORRECT: Not since 1929 had the United States seen such a threat to its economy.
The sentence starts out with a negative word Not, and the subject the United States and the auxiliary verb had are switched in order.
How to spot negative inversion errors: Look for a negative phrase that starts a sentence. (The structure will be more apparent with more practice.)
How to fix them: Make sure the correct sentence adheres to the formula, where the auxiliary verb is put in front of the subject. POE is usually a great help.
Comparatives vs. superlatives
When you’re comparing two things, add -er to the end of the adjective to form a comparative:
Rhode Island is smaller than Maine.
If a sentence compares three or more things, add -est to the end of an adjective to form a superlative:
Rhode Island is easily the smallest of all New England states.
When you can’t add -er or -est to a word, use more when you have a comparative sentence, and most when the sentence contains a superlative:
The United States has more people than Canada, but Canada has the most miles of shoreline in the Western hemisphere.
The word more works with things that are countable (like cars) and uncountable (like traffic). The flipside, however, is different. If the nouns are uncountable, you can use less:
After our baby was born, we had a lot less time to socialize.
If the nouns are countable, however, you have to use fewer:
After our baby was born, we had fewer hours in the day to relax.
This rule often makes students stumble because fewer doesn’t come up all that much in regular conversation. If you memorize the rule, though, you’ll be fine. The same holds true for many (to be used for countable things) and much (for uncountable things):
There is too much traffic in Los Angeles because too many people drive to work.
The last pair of quantity words is between and among, whose rules are a lot like those for comparatives and superlatives. Use between if two things are involved:
I can’t choose between scarlet and burgundy for the color of the new drapes.
If there are three or more choices, use among:
Among all the essays submitted, Clara’s was the most coherent.
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly. If not, identify the error and re-write them.
1. Never in the history of communication technology has improved so swiftly.
2. We would get to the checkout counter faster if there were less people in front of us.
3. Texas has more oil wells than any other state in America.
4. Yao Ming is the tallest man in the NBA.
5. In a presidential election, voters usually choose among the Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate.
The answers are on page 38.
Run-on sentences
Run-on sentences are one of the Accuplacer’s pet peeves, there’s usually at least one on every test. And that last sentence, appropriately enough, is an example of a run-on, which is formed when two independent clauses (which could stand on their own as sentences if they had to) are jammed together and separated only by a comma. If a sentence contains two such clauses, they can be connected with a linking conjunction:
Run-on sentences are one of the Accuplacer’s pet peeves, and there’s usually at least one on every test.
Or by a semi-colon:
Run-on sentences are one of the Accuplacer’s pet peeves; there’s usually at least one on every test.
Sentence linkers have a large place on the Accuplacer, which tests several very specific rules. Since the list is rather long, we’ll talk about them in Chapter 2.
Punctuation marks
Another common test subject is how to handle quotation marks when a sentence contains dialogue. The rule is simple: All punctuation—including commas, exclamation points, and question marks—should be placed within the closing quotation mark.
“I left the newspaper in the kitchen,” he said.
“Has anyone seen my car keys?” Dan inquired.
“My college just awarded me a full academic scholarship!” she exclaimed.
Note that the verb at the end of the sentence usually indicates what sort of punctuation mark you need. If you see a verb like exclaimed, for example, you know you need to use an exclamation mark.
If a sentence quotes something like a book or song by name, there is no need for any punctuation other than quotation marks:
INCORRECT: I heard that Herman Wouk wrote “War and Remembrance,” in less than two years.
CORRECT: I heard that Herman Wouk wrote “War and Remembrance” in less than two years.
You know this because “War and Remembrance” is a restrictive modifier that provides essential information to the sentence. Without it, we wouldn’t know which book Wouk wrote in such a short time.
Indicate whether the following sentences are written correctly. If not, identify the problem and re-write them.
1. The ice cream truck stopped I got a coconut popsicle.
2. “I can’t believe you got a new car!” he exclaimed.
3. The bus stopped on the corner, and got out and went to the bank.
4. “You really need to see the dentist”, he said.
5. Economics is based on many behavioral factors; it’s unwise to discount any of them.
The answers are on page 39.
Now that we’ve run through the majority of the grammar rules you need to know, try working through these sample Error Identification questions. Remember the rules, and the technique of using Process of Elimination to cross off incorrect answer choices.
The answers are on page 39.
1. Near the bookstore at the end of the mall, we decided to get some coffee.
A. bookstore at the end of the mall, we decided
B. bookstore, at the end of the mall we decided,
C. bookstore, at the end of the mall, our decision was
D. bookstore at the end of the mall, we had decided
2. The houses at the end of the street has been deserted for more than 30 years.
A. houses at the end of the street has been
B. houses, at the end of the street, had been
C. houses at the end of the street have been
D. houses, at the end of the street, had been
3. Who did the President name as the new Secretary of State?
A. Who did the President name as
B. Whom did the President name as
C. Who, the President named, was
D. Whom the President named as
4. The basic stages of grief include denial, bargaining, and acceptance.
A. denial, bargaining, and acceptance
B. denial, to bargain, and then to accept
C. denying, bargaining, and also accepting
D. to deny, to bargain, and to accept
5. My brother joined the Marines after he was graduating from high school.
A. was graduating
B. had graduated
C. will have been graduated
D. had been graduating
6. Not a book has moved me ever more than, “Gone With The Wind.”
A. Not a book has moved me ever more than,
B. No book moved me ever more than,
C. Not a book ever moved me more than
D. No book has ever moved me more than
7. If I walk my dog late at night, I always take a flashlight with me.
A. take
B. will take
C. would take
D. have taken
8. Many of today’s politicians have less qualifications to govern than their predecessors did.
A. have less qualifications to govern than their predecessors did
B. are less qualified to govern than their predecessors were
C. have fewer qualifications to be governing than those of their predecessors
D. have fewer governing qualifications than those predecessors
9. While I was skating, I fell on the ice, luckily no bones were broken.
A. skating, I fell on the ice, luckily
B. skating, I fell on the ice. Luckily,
C. skating I fell on the ice and luckily,
D. skating I fell on the ice: luckily
10. When I decided my major, I had difficulty choosing among drama and political science.
A. I had difficulty choosing among drama and political science
B. it was difficult to choose among drama and political science
C. choosing between drama and political science was difficult
D. my difficulty in choosing between drama and political science
The answers to these sample questions are on page 39.
Drill #1: Misplaced Modifiers
1. While baiting his hook, Bob saw a fish jump into his rowboat.
2. Correct.
3. First published in 1859 as 32 weekly installments, A Tale of Two Cities is believed by many literary experts to be Charles Dickens’s best work.
4. Though he was usually a calm person, Albert’s patience could not withstand the heavy traffic.
5. Correct.
Drill #2. Restrictive and Non-restrictive Modifiers
1. Correct.
2. My sister Ellen, who is allergic to shellfish, opened a seafood restaurant.
3. The airplane which was delayed by rain is finally ready for take-off.
4. The majority of puppies which were born in that shelter have been adopted.
5. Correct.
Drill #3. Pronouns
1. Georgia and her mother don’t know where Georgia’s (or her mom’s) violin is.
2. The Department of Sanitation was unable to explain why it took so long to pick up all the garbage.
3. As the corn farmers delivered their crop, they were shocked to learn it was filled with meal worms.
4. The soccer players decided they had practiced enough for one day.
5. None of the doctors was able to diagnose the problem.
1. George has been working on his doctoral thesis for almost five years.
2. Correct.
3. Three months from now, I will have had this car for ten years.
4. Correct.
5. Correct.
Drill #5. Parallel construction
1. Albert’s favorite hobbies are playing golf, building bird houses, and tending to his garden.
2. Correct, because avoiding is a gerund, or a verb that is treated like a noun after the suffix -ing is added. We’ll talk about them more in the next chapter.
3. Correct.
4. Correct.
5. During a job interview, it is important to shake hands firmly and to maintain eye contact with your interviewer.
Drill #6. Subject-verb agreement
1. Correct.
2. Correct.
3. Correct.
4. The sea turtle, which many confuse with its terrestrial cousins, is faster and more mobile than you might think.
5. Neither of these women, regardless of her qualifications, is right for this job.
Drill #7. Negative inversion, comparatives, and superlatives, and quantity words
1. Never in the history of communication has technology improved so swiftly.
2. We would get to the counter faster if there were fewer people in front of us.
3. Correct, because the sentence compares Texas with any other state, which is singular.
4. Correct.
5. In a presidential election, voters usually choose between the Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate.
Drill #8. Run-on sentences and punctuation marks
1. The ice cream truck stopped, and I got a coconut popsicle.
2. Correct.
3. The bus stopped on the corner, and he (or she) got out and went to the bank.
4. “You really need to see the dentist,” he said.
5. Correct.
1. The opening phrase Near the bookstore at the end of the mall describes where the people were when they decided to get coffee. So the first word after the comma needs to be we, and you can eliminate answer choice (C). Also, at the end of the mall is a restrictive modifier that tells you where the bookstore was, so there’s no need for extra commas. This lets you get rid of (B). (D) is incorrect because it unnecessarily changes the tense of decided to the past perfect had decided. The best answer is (A).
2. As written, the sentence’s subject houses and verb has been do not agree. So you can eliminate (A), which repeats the error. (B) and (D) are incorrect because they also improperly use the past perfect had been. The best answer is (C).
3. This question tests your knowledge of when to use who or whom. In this case, the unknown person is being chosen, or receiving the action. Therefore, the proper pronoun is whom, and you can eliminate answer choices (A) and (C). (D) is incorrect because it is a sentence fragment. The best answer is (B).
4. This question is written correctly, because the three elements are listed using a parallel structure. The closest of the other answer choices to do so is (C), but adding also is unnecessary. The best answer is (A).
5. Unlike questions 1 and 2, this question requires the use of the past perfect tense. Two events happened in the past, and one (graduating high school) happened before the other (joining the Marines). Answer choices (A), (C), and (D) use an incorrect tense. The best answer is (B).
6. This sentence is constructed using negative inversion, and it tests your knowledge of proper punctuation. Since “Gone With The Wind” is a book, and not spoken dialogue, there is no need for a comma in front of it. Therefore, you can eliminate answer choices (A) and (B). You also need to use the present perfect tense, because this book continues to be the one that has moved the author the most. The best answer is (D).
7. This is a conditional sentence, but it does not describe any sort of imaginary or hypothetical scenario. Instead, it merely states something that happens regularly, and the best tense to use is the present (rather than the subjunctive). The best answer is (A).
8. This sentence is tricky, because even though there is clearly a two-and-two split between less than and fewer than, the sentence is corrected in a way you might not have predicted. You know (A) is wrong because less qualifications is incorrect. (B) is okay, however, because it does not repeat the error; instead, it changes the plural noun qualifications to the adjective qualified. Answer choices (C) and (D) are incorrect because they make improper comparisons between politicians and qualifications. The best answer is (B).
9. As written, this is a run-on sentence. Therefore, you can eliminate (A); answer choice (C), which repeats the error, is also wrong. Answer choice (D) improperly uses a colon to separate the two clauses, each of which could stand independently. Answer choice (B), the best choice, separates the sentence into two separate sentences.
10. This is another quantity word issue, and since there are only two choices, drama and political science, the proper word to use is between instead of among, and answer choices (A) and (B) can be eliminated. Answer choice (D) is a sentence fragment, so the best answer is (C).