Irregular Verbs, Wrong Words, and Flags

Question 1

What should you study directly to prepare for the sentence correction questions on the SAT?

Answer 1

Build direct knowledge in these areas for SAT sentence correction:

• irregular verbs
• verb-prepostion idioms
• mistaken words
• flags for other errors

Question 2

Which common error in SAT writing involves misuse of a verb form?

Answer 2

A common verb form error involves confusion of past participle for a simple past form.

I swum the hundred meters in record time.
Should be: I swam…
Only use “swum” with “have”, “has” or “had”.

Question 3

Find the verb error in this sentence?

It just so happened that Carrie didn’t recognize the bank robber until she seen him in profile.

Answer 3

“Seen” is an incorrect form here. It should read…

…until she saw him in profile.

Question 4

What are the three forms of verbs called in English?

Answer 4

Three verb forms in English:

• present
• past
• past participle

Question 5

How is the past participle form different from the present and the past forms in the way it is used as a verb?

Don’t worry about him; he has fallen asleep already. (present perfect)

Your boss told you just last week that he had had enough of your insolence. (past perfect)

Answer 5

Past participles are always paired with helping verbs and are used to form present perfect and past perfect tenses.

The other two forms stand alone without helping verbs.
He falls in love a lot.
She has a few first-rate qualities.
The baby fell asleep.
Your boss had enough of your insolence, so he fired you.

Question 6

How can participle forms be used in non-verb phrases in a sentence?

She’s a rising star.

Jumping out of the window, Count Olaf and his henchman escape the lumbermill.

Answer 6

Participle forms can be used as adjectives or in modifying phrases.

Question 7

Where is a participle being used as an adjective here?

Before she had heard of her father’s disgrace, she had always worn his army watch, even though it was broken.

Answer 7

“Broken” is a participle form describing the condition of the wrist watch.

Question 8

Find the participle in this sentence that is not used as a verb.

Visibly shaken by the horrific battlefield scene, Laura sobbed uncontrollably for over three hours.

Answer 8

“Shaken” is used in a participle phrase to detail Laura’s appearance that conveys a state of agitation.

Usually present participles are used in this function, but past participles are still correct.

Question 9

Why is understanding the participle important to doing well on the SAT writing section?

Answer 9

Understanding the participle makes checking for common structural errors MUCH easier.

Participles are the main way the SAT confuses students about run-ons, fragments, and modifying phrases.

(This issue will be addressed in another deck in greater detail.)

Question 10

What’s the first step to being able to handle irregular verb form errors on the SAT?

Answer 10

Start by memorizing the irregular verb forms in this deck.

Most of these you will know, but treat each one of them as a flag to remind you check for the confusion of past with past participle error. It does appear frequently on the SAT.

In fact, students usually misread, correcting the form without noticing, so this is also an attention to detail type error. Stay on your toes!

Question 11

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• get
• fall
• ride
• eat
• give

Answer 11

past / past participle

• got / gotten
• fell / fallen
• rode / ridden
• ate / eaten
• gave / given

Question 12

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• ring
• take
• shake
• sing
• sink

Answer 12

past / past participle

• rang / rung
• took / taken
• shook / shaken
• sang / sung
• sank / sunk

Question 13

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• drink
• begin
• swim
• run
• come

Answer 13

past / past participle

• drank / drunk
• began / begun
• swam / swum
• ran / run
• came / come

Question 14

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• do
• go
• blow
• grow
• know

Answer 14

past / past participle

• did / done
• went / gone
• blew / blown
• grew / grown
• knew / known

Question 15

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• throw
• fly
• draw
• awake
• bear

Answer 15

past / past participle

• threw / thrown
• flew / flown
• drew / drawn
• awoke / awoken
• bore / born

Question 16

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• break
• speak
• freeze
• forget
• rise

Answer 16

past / past participle

• broke / broken
• speak / spoken
• froze / frozen
• forgot / forgotten
• rose / risen

Question 17

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• drive
• write
• see
• shrink
• become

Answer 17

past / past participle

• drove / driven
• wrote / written
• saw / seen
• shrank / shrunk
• became / become

Question 18

What are the other two verb forms for these five verbs?

• bite
• choose
• forego
• forbid
• hide

Answer 18

past / past participle

• bit / bitten
• chose / chosen
• forewent / foregone
• forbade / forbidden
• hid / hidden

Question 19

What should you do to confidently indentify wrong word errors in SAT sentence correction?

Answer 19

Study wrong word pairings in this deck.

The better you recognize these as flags to check for wrong word, the quicker you will identify them on the test.

Question 20

What is the best process for catching wrong word errors on SAT sentence correction?

Answer 20

Process for wrong word errors:

• As you read the sentence identify words from the study list.
• Recall the wrong word pair.
• Check the context carefully.
• Select the error, or eliminate the distractor and keeping looking.

Question 21

affect or effect

Which is correct here?

Teaching a class in which a sizeable portion has already mastered the subject has the ( affect, effect ) of distorting the teacher’s self assessment.

Answer 21

effect

Almost always, “affect” is a verb and “effect” is a noun. They have similar meanings: “to have an impact on or influence something” and “an impact or an influence.”

affect - effect

Question 22

emigrate or immigrate

Which word is correct here?

Refugees from Bosnia hoped to ( emigrate, immigrate ) to Italy, France, the U. K., the U. S. A, or Canada.

Answer 22

immigrate

Both words are about immigration, but the direction is opposite. One immigrates into a country and emigrates out.

Refugees from Bosnia hoped to immigrate to Italy, France, the U. K., the U. S. A….

emigrate - immigrate

Question 23

allusion or illusion

Which is correct here?

(a) The actor’s ( allusion, illusion ) to the medieval time period in which the play was set by wearing a long velvet cape and carrying a sword.
(b) Without his medication, the ( hallucination, illusion ) returned to haunt him.

Answer 23

(a) allusion** **

“Allusion” means a “hint or a reference”, so to allude to is to hint at something.
“Illusion” means “a deceptive vision”.

(b) hallucination

“Hallucination” means “seeing something not there”.
“Delusion” means “seeing a different reality”.

allusion/illusion, illusion/delusion, illusion/hallucination

Question 24

allude or elude

Which is correct here?

The baserunner failed to ( allude, elude ) the tag at the plate, and her team lost by one run.

Answer 24

elude

“Elude” means “get away from, avoid capture or contact”.
“Allude” (like “allusion”) means “refer to [something] usually well-known or historic”.

The baserunner failed to elude the tag at…

allude - elude

Question 25

lay or lie

Which is correct here?

The hidden battalions ( lay, lie ) in wait to ambush the armored column.

Answer 25

lie

“Lay” requires an object: “He lay down his weapon”.
“Lie” takes no object: “stretch yourself horizontally onto on a surface.” or “say someething false”.

Watch out for other forms of these words which further the confusion.

Lay, laid, have/has/had laid, laying

Lie, layed, have/has/had lain, lying

Question 26

leave or let

Which is correct here?

You need to ( leave, let ) us have more time to research the author.

Answer 26

let

“Let” means “to allow”.
“Leave” means “to part [someone’s company] or depart [a location].

leave - let

Question 27

raise or rise

Which is correct here?

The team captain ( raised, rised ) the standards set for admission to Division I for swimming in sophomore year.

Answer 27

raise

“Raise” means to lift (something).
“Rise” means to get up.

raise - rise

Question 28

set or sit

Which is correct here?

Paul staggered around the room in a near complete stupor, looking vainly for a place to ( set, sit ) his drink.

Answer 28

set

“Set” means “put, place, or arrange”.
You know what “sit” means.

set - sit

Question 29

eminent or imminent

Which is correct here?

He rushed to rescue the dog from the ( eminent, imminent ) collapse of the house in the earthquake.

Answer 29

imminent

“Imminent” means “expected in the near future”.
“Eminent” means “a top person in the field”.

“Pre-eminent” may also be confused, since “pre” can mean before like “predict”, but it means “THE top person”

eminent - imminent

Question 30

adverse or averse

Which words are correct here?

(a) He was ( adverse, averse ) to hanging out with her when she was drinking.
(b) The ( adverse, averse ) weather present an extra challenge to the team used to dome conditions.

Answer 30

(a) averse
(b) adverse

“Averse” means “having a strong disgust for”.
“Adverse” means “unfavorable”.

adverse - averse

Question 31

appraise or apprise

Which is correct here?

The Secretary of State needed to ( appraise, apprise ) the President of the contents of the communication from Israel, immediately.

Answer 31

apprise

“Appraise” is to “assess the value of”.
“Apprise” means to “make [someone] aware of [something]”

The Secretary of State needed to apprise the President of the contents…

appraise - apprise

Question 32

assure or insure

Which word is correct here?

(a) Boris tried in vain to ( assure, ensure ) Victoria that the names of women on his other cell phone were important business contacts.
(b) Uncle Gob needed to ( ensure, insure ) the boat for its full value.

Answer 32

(a) assure
(b) insure

“Assure” means “give [someone] confidence”.
“Insure” means “obtaining an insurance policy”.

“Ensure” means “make certain of”.

assure - ensure - insure

Question 33

complementary or complimentary

Which is correct here?

Since they worked as a team, it was important that their skills were ( complementary, complimentary ).

Answer 33

complementary

“Complimentary” means “saying nice things” or refers to “getting something as a bonus or gift”.
“Complementary” refers to “things that go well together”.

One letter difference, so attention to detail is key with wrong words, as well as knowing the list before you begin.

complementary - complimentary

Question 34

defuse or diffuse

Which is correct here?

Given the sheer number of IEDs in Afganistan, keeping casualities low hinged on the ability to ( defuse, diffuse ) bombs.

Answer 34

defuse

“Defuse” means “render a bomb incapable of exploding”.
“Diffuse” means “to scatter, disperse, or distribute in a random and spread out way”.

defuse - diffuse

Question 35

all ready or already

Which is correct here?

We were ( already, all ready ) to go to the ballgame, when the phone rang about grandpa’s heart attack.

Answer 35

all ready

“Already” is an adverb meaning “prior to” or “before”.
“All ready” refers to everyone being prepared to go or do something.

all ready - already

Question 36

disinterested or uninterested

Which is correct here?

Because he was ( disinterested, uninterested ), both sides agreed to allow him to arbitrate the dispute.

Answer 36

disinterested

“Uninterested” means “not willing to pay attention to” or “seeing no advantage to”.
“Disinterested” means “unbiased or impartial, or having no personal gain to make inappropriate as a judge.”

disinterested - uninterested

Question 37

flounder or founder

Which is correct here?

The ocean liner could easily ( flounder, founder ) in a typhoon this severe.

Answer 37

founder

“Founder” means “to fill with water and sink (as a ship or boat).
“Flounder” means to be “clumsy, confused, indecisive, or to flop around”.

flounder or founder

Question 38

flaunt or flout

Which is correct here?

By wearing short pants to the club, Reginald cearly intented to ( flaunt, flout ) the conventions of that austere body.

Answer 38

flout

“Flaunt” means “showing off”.
“Flout” means “ignoring a rule, law or an authority in a very public and disrespectful way”.

flaunt - flout

Question 39

imply or infer

Which is correct here?

Horace was piqued at the way Lorraine could ( imply, infer ) so much from one-half of one of his cell phone calls with his sister.

Answer 39

infer

“Infer” is a conclusion taken from something heard or read.
“Imply” is to “intend a second and indirectly expressed meaning.”

imply - infer

Question 40

discreet or discrete

Which word is correct here?

His mother, Dolores, liked everything about Cindy, except that, being the member of a private family, Dolly wanted her to be a little more ( discreet, discrete ) with personal details.

Answer 40

discrete

“Discrete” means “circumspect, or showing good judgement about what to say and what not to say”.
“Discreet” means “having distinct and separate parts”.

discreet - discrete

Question 41

disburse or disperse

Which is correct here?

Mr. Anderson, Roy Riley’s faithful accountant, had to ( disburse, disperse ) money to all of the disguntled mistresses of that millionaire’s son.

Answer 41

disburse

“Disperse” means to “scatter”.
“Disburse” refers to “make payments or allocate money”.

disburse - disperse

Question 42

loathe or loth

Which word is correct here?

Hilda’s mild dislike for her roommate’s foibles steadily increased, until she began to ( loath, loathe ) them.

Answer 42

loathe

“Loathe” means “intensely dislike”.
“Loth” which has a variant spelling, “loath” means “unwilling or reluctant to do something”.

loathe - (loath) loth

Question 43

respectfully or respectively

Which is correct here?

Each parcel, carefully labelled and containing a valuable stamp collection, some tasteful jewelry, and personal items, was distributed to his son, daughter, and wife ( respectfully, respectively ).

Answer 43

respectively

“Respectively” means “coordinated according to a given order.”

“Respectfully” means “in a manner full of respect.”

respectfully - respectively

Question 44

aggravate or mitigate

Which is correct here?

Since he was a minor from a broken family, the defendent, in his attorney’s opinion, might be able to count on those factors to ( aggravate, mitigate ) the severity of the crime.

Answer 44

mitigate

“Mitigage” means “to make less bad”.
“Aggravate” means “to make worse”.

aggravate - mitigate

Question 45

algorithm or logorithm

Which word is correct here?

The tutor searched for the right ( algorithm, logarithm ) to help his writing student follow a better process for doing his state writing standards.

Answer 45

algorithm

“Algorithm” means “a sequence of instructions, often used for calculation and processing data.”
“Logarithm” means “a mathematical function that indicates a specific relationship between numbers”.

algorithm - logorithm

Question 46

assume or presume

Which is correct here?

(a) Claudio ( assumes, presumes ) that since his girlfriend didn’t answer the phone, she must be with some other guy.
(b) I ( assume, presume ) that the pool will put off opening until next Saturday, since the weather looks so bad this weekend.

Answer 46

(a) presumes
(b) assumes

“Assume” means “suppose to be true, especially without proof”
“Presume” means “take for granted as being true in the absence of proof to the contrary.”

assume - presume

Question 47

cache or cachet

Which is correct here?

The archery equipment lay within a locked ( cache, cachet ) to the left of the range.

Answer 47

cache

“Cache” means “a storage place from which items may be quickly retrieved”.
“Cachet” means a “mark of excellence, distinction or superiority”.

cache - cachet

Question 48

contiguous or continuous

Which is correct here?

Not noticing that there were ( contiguous, continual, continuous ) seats available at the front of the plane, Julian and his friends sat in separate rows.

Answer 48

contiguous

“Contiguous” means “touching” or “adjoining in space”.
“Continual” means “repeated in rapid succession”.
“Continuous means “uninterrupted” (in time or space).

contiguous - continuous - continual

Question 49

contingency or contingent

Which is incorrect here?

International bidding begins well in advance for cities to host the Olympics; the decision is ( contingent, contingency ) on numerous factors.

Answer 49

contingent

“Contingent” means “a representative group”.
“Contingency” means “a possible event or situation”.

contingency - contingent

Question 50

disassemble or dissemble

Which is correct here?

After the prom, the seniors exaggerated their exploits to one another and ( dissembled, disassembled ) to their morally upright parents.

Answer 50

dissembled

“Disassemble means “to dismantle or take apart”.
“Dissemble” means “to tell lies”.

disassemble - dissemble

Question 51

economic - economical

Which is correct here?

Since the deadline approached, I appreciated both her prioritizing and her ( economic, economical ) use of time.

Answer 51

economical

“Economic” means “having to do with money”.
“Economical” means “financially prudent, frugal”.

economic - economical

Question 52

exacerbate or exasperate

Which is correct here?

During mom and dad’s argument, my little brother John tumbled off the sofa and cried wildly, which only ( exacerbated, exasperated ) their anger at each other.

Answer 52

exacerbate

“Exacerbate” means “to make worse”.
“Exasperate” means “to exhaust or wear down”.

exacerbate - exasperate

Question 53

hangar or hanger

Which is correct here?

William bent the ( hangar, hanger ) carefully, slipped it under the window, and unlocked the door for the woman.

Answer 53

hanger

“Hangar” means “a place for the storage and maintanence of airplanes”.
“Hanger” means “a wire or wooden triangular shaped tool for keeping coats off of surfaces”.

hangar - hanger

Question 54

historic or historical

Which is correct here?

Writing about such an obscure moment, the graduate student had difficulty keeping the ( historic, historical ) facts straight.

Answer 54

historical

“Historic” means “an event of such importance that it may shape history”.
“Historical” means “something that happened in the past”.

historic - historical

Question 55

inherent or inherit

Which is correct here?

The difficulty of keeping quality teachers on staff stem from two ( inherent, inherit ) problems: working conditions and poor salary.

Answer 55

inherent

“Inherent” means “something that is logically inseparable from something else.”
“Inherit” means to “have [things] pass down [things] from the previous generation”.

inherent - inherit

Question 56

levee or levy

Which word is correct here?

Throughout that night of heavy rain, the townspeople worried about the strain upon the old, earthen ( levee, levy ).

Answer 56

levee

“Levee means “a wall like structure designed to hold a river within its bounds.
“Levy” means “to impose a tax, fine or other assessment, or to institute a military draft”.

levee - levy

Question 57

loose or lose

Which word is correct here?

The Lady struggles to write her name round the prow, step into the boat, and ( lose, loose ) its chain, but she easily reclines and begins to sing her last song.

Answer 57

loose

“Lose” means “fail to win”, “misplace”, or “cease to be in possession”.
“Loose” means “slack”or “not pulled under tension”.

loose - lose

Question 58

passed or past

Which is correct here?

Whether influenced by the ambitious head coach, or moved by the content of the final paper, the teacher ( passed, past ) him for the term.

Answer 58

passed

“Past” means “the time before the present”’.
“Psssed”, means “go by” or “give approving marks”.

passed - past

Question 59

perspicacity or perspicuity

Which is correct here?

With customer returns due to failure to assemble at less than one percent, the ( perspicuity, perspicacity ) of the instructions needs to be noted and the person responsible rewarded.

Answer 59

perspicuity

“Perspicuity” means “easy to understand” or “obvious”.
“Perspicacity” means “a quality that shows a person is quick to understand or has good insight”.

perspicacity - perspicuity

Question 60

photogenic or photographic

Which is correct here?

The fashion model was not always so ( photogenic, photographic ); in her early teens, she considered herself “funny looking”.

Answer 60

photogenic

“Photogenic” means “likely to look good in a photograph”.
“Photographic” means “having to do with pictures taken by sampling light”.

photogenic - photographic

Question 61

prescribe or proscribe

Which is correct here?

The directors of FBI, through their Terrorism Watch Lists for the past 11 years, ( prescribe, proscribe ) dealing with groups known to have commited violent acts.

Answer 61

proscribe

“Proscribe” means “outlaw”.
“Prescribe” means “to order or recommend a medicine or solution”.

prescribe - proscribe

prescription - proscription

Question 62

prodigy or progeny

Which is correct here?

Mozart was celebrated as a ( progeny, prodigy ) in musical performance and composition.

Answer 62

prodigy

“Prodigy” means “someone who shows expert skill at an early age” or a “marvel; genius”.
“Progeny” means “offspring; children of”.

prodigy - progeny

Question 63

acute or chronic

Which is correct here?

He had to abort the marathon, because of ( acute, chronic ) pains in his lower back.

Answer 63

acute

“Acute” means “sharp” with medical conditions it refers to “rapid onset”.
“Chronic” means “a lasting or lingering condition” which may be severe.

acute - chronic

Question 64

regimen or regiment

Which word is correct here?

General Lee regretted the loss of such a fine ( regimen, regiment ) of men.

Answer 64

regiment

“Regiment” means “a group of soldiers” usually commanded by a colonel.
“Regimen” means “a systematic order” as of medication or diet.

regimen - regiment

Question 65

reign or rein

Which word is correct here?

He cinched the saddle and tightened the ( reign, rein ) in the bridle.

Answer 65

rein

“Rein” means “the leather strap” used to control horse.
“Reign” means “the rule of a king”.

reign - rein

Question 66

shirk or shrink

Which is correct here?

George was not the type of hero to ( shirk, shrink ) from danger.

Answer 66

shrink (from)

“Shrink from” means “to hesitate or show reluctance toward”. There are other meanings of shrink, but this is the most easily confusable with “Shirk.”
“Shirk” means “constantly avoid or neglect” as of a responsibility.

shirk - shrink

Question 67

venal or venial

Which is correct here?

In that area, they had only to find some ( venal, venial ) official to take “a bon-bon” and they were in business.

Answer 67

venal

“Venal” means “corrupt”, “able to be bribed”, or “for sale”.
“Venial” means “pardonable, not serious”.

venal - venial

Question 68

How should you use the knowledge of wrong words, irregular verbs, and special idiom forms in your process to identify errors?

Answer 68

Treat them as flags that trigger you to narrow your focus to those particular errors.

Question 69

What words in the following sentence do you recognize from the study lists that lead you to check for certain errors?

If one wants their progeny to do well in life, then one should do everything to raise and nurture them well.

Answer 69

• progeny
• raise
• one

“Progeny” and “raise” are on this list, but “one” comes from pronoun errors. These should each trigger a direct check of “progeny vs. prodigy”, “raise vs. rise”, and “one”- check for shift error, which is the case here.

Question 70

When you see any of these words, what error is likely present?

barely, hardly, scarcely

Answer 70

Double negative

Double Negative: “He hardly never eats veggies.”
Correct: “He hardly ever eats veggies.”

Question 71

When you see an adjective with either of these endings, what do you check?

-er, -est
(like stronger, strongest)

Answer 71

Check the number of things compared.

For 2, use -er;
for 3 or more, use -est.

He is stronger than I.
Wilbur is the best pig in Iowa.

Question 72

When you see any of these phrases, what should you check?

As well as, along with, in addition to

Answer 72

Subject / verb agreement

These make a singular subject appear plural.

Cloud cover along with high winds and dropping temperatures bring delays to the launch schedule.

Question 73

When you see these phrases, what error should you expect?

hitherto, up to [then], For [an amount of time], when, before, since [something happened]

(definite time indicators)

Answer 73

Error in verb tense

He only visited Berlin twice before the Berlin Wall fell.
He had only visited Berlin twice before the the Berlin Wall fell.

Question 74

When you see this form, for what should you check?

[verb]+ing acting as a noun

Acting like a fool can only upset your mother.

Answer 74

Gerund error

(try the same verb with “to” in front of it to check this error)

Question 75

What should you look for when you read to the end of a clause and find just a comma?

Gloria had a tendency to correct the grammar of all her friends, …

Answer 75

Run-on

…they found it annoying.

(check for subject and predicate on both sides of the comma without conjunctions)

Question 76

What error should you check as you read if you see a noun followed by a long prepositional phrase starting with “of”, “in”, or “at”?

The plan of both the mayor and city fathers…

Answer 76

verb agreement

(check “plan” with the verb)

Question 77

What error do you expect when you see a phrase like?

She prefers going to the movies, shopping for shoes, and..

Answer 77

parallelism error

…finding friends to text with her

[verb]+ing [prep] [noun]
(predict)

…texting with friends.

Question 78

What error should you expect when a sentence begins with a name you don’t know?

Lord Baltimore, who…,

Answer 78

fragment

…continuing the legacy of religious tolerance.

Look at the verb on the other side of the “who, that or which” clause. It is usually for this error in the form of a gerund or participle.

Question 79

What error should you expect when you see either of these phrases?

There is…/There are…

Answer 79

verb agreement

…at least one American who never gives up in a time of crisis.

(inverted order: subject comes after verb)

Question 80

When you see any of these words or phrases in a sentence, for what error should you check?

• Like, as, than, more than, less than, neither… nor, either…or*
• He favored Emmy’s approach to raising children more than…*

Answer 80

comparison errors

…Uncle Lasker.

(compare apples to apples)

Question 81

When you see two adjectives stacked in front of a noun without a comma between them, which error can you verify?

…extreme old man…

Answer 81

adjective used as adverb

…extremely old man…

Question 82

When you see the word “one” in a sentence, for what error should you check?

When one is concerned for the well being of others,…

Answer 82

pronoun shift

…it permeates every aspect of their lives.

Check to see if a different pronoun is used for the same antecedent later in the sentence.

Question 83

When you see a participle phrase starting a sentence, for what error should you look?

Swinging the bat wildly in the on-deck circle,…

Answer 83

misplaced modifier

• …the catcher was injured putting on his equipment by his teammate.*
• “Swinging the bat”… is the participle here and it gives info about the teammate who injured the catcher.*

Question 84

When you see any of these words or phrases in a sentence, for what errors should you check?

Not only …but also, the more of…the more of, the less of…the less of …, both [this] and [that], If [this] …then [that]

Answer 84

comparison errors

parallel errors

The less negativity we have during practice, the more chance we have to get things done.

Question 85

When you see these phrases, for what errors should you check?

• have + [verb], has + [verb], had + [verb]*
• have shown, has cracked, had been*

Answer 85

tense error

agreement error

He had spoken to her sister before on the subject,..

Remember the strategy to skip checking for tense error until last, since other errors are easier to check.

Question 86

When you see this form is underlined, for what error should you check?

to [verb]

Like to play, to sing, to prohibit, etc.

Answer 86

These are infinitives. Check if an -ing (gerund) form works better for every infinitive you see.

Infinitives can sometimes be involved in parallel structure errors, too.

Question 87

When you see this kind of phrase in the sentence, for what error should you check?

…Uncle Thomas and me…

Answer 87

Pronoun case error

(check this by removing “Uncle Thomas and” rereading–the error becomes obvious)

For the inconvenience, the manager gave Uncle Thomas and me a free dessert.

Uncle Thomas and me watched the tragedy unfold on the news.

Question 88

When you see two men or women by name, for what error should you check?

When Aunt Matilde took Jennifer to the mall,..

Answer 88

pronoun ambiguous

Only when a sentence has two or more proper nouns can one be confused about whom or what the pronoun refers.

Question 89

When a sentence starts with a prepositional phrase, but that phrase isn’t closed with a comma, for what error should you check?

Somewhere deep within the caverns awaits Shelob for Frodo and his servant.

Answer 89

verb agreement

“Within the caverns” usually would have a comma [,] after “caverns”, and the subject “Shelob” would follow, but in this structure, the verb comes before the noun.

Question 90

When the underlined word is a noun, for what errors should you check?

Answer 90

faulty comparison

number agreement

wrong word