Sentence Correction

Question 1

Which

Answer 1

Needs to be preceded by a comma and refer to the noun just before the comma, or else its use is wrong (except when it follows a preposition, as in the phrase “in which”

Question 2

Where

Answer 2

Must refer to an actual location

Question 3

When

Answer 3

Must refer to an actual time

Question 4

Subjunctive Mood : Orders/Recommendations

Answer 4

Orders and recommendations: with verbs such as ORDER, RECOMMEND, DEMAND, INSIST, what follows the verb should be THAT + New Subject + Infinitive form of Verb

He DEMANDED THAT the DOOR BE opened

Question 5

Subjunctive Mood : Hypothetical

Answer 5

when contemplating hypothetical or contrary to fact situations, use WERE and WOULD

If I WERE rich, I WOULD quit my job.

Question 6

Clauses and Connectors

Answer 6

• with compound and complex sentences
• clause: group of words that contains a subject and verb
• when two clauses appear in a sentence, the clauses should be connected by one, and ONLY ONE, connector (because, although, as, but…) and should make sense with the rest of the sentence

Question 7

Comparisons

Answer 7

• items being compared must be both grammatically correct and logically comparable
• must have parallel form
• make sure that the comparisons are correct and avoid any possibility of ambiguity
• don’t let intervening phrases or clauses distract you from what is being compared

Question 8

Parallelism

Answer 8

• items in a list must have parallel structure
• many two part constructions set up parallel elements (not only A but also B, from A to B, either A or B)
• analogies, metaphors, similes, and other comparisons all require parallel structure

Question 9

Verbs - subject/verb agreement

Answer 9

Singular subject has singular verb and plural subjects have plural verbs

Question 10

Common subject-verb agreement issues

Answer 10

• long modifying phrases or clauses following subject
• phrases and clauses in commas between subject and verb
• subjects joined with either/or, neither/nor
• sentences in which verb proceeds noun

Question 11

Collective nouns take singular verb when:

Answer 11

Members of the collective act as a unit or are non-countable

ex. Flock of geese, a lot of water

Question 12

Collective nouns take plural verb when:

Answer 12

Members of the collective act as individuals

ex. a number of solutions are possible

Question 13

Verb tense

Answer 13

Indicates the order in which separate actions/events occur

Make sequence of events clear

Question 14

To determine whether verbs are in proper tense:

Answer 14

Pick 1 event as standard and measure every event against it

Are the other events supposed to have happened before, after, or during standard event

Question 15

ING

Answer 15

Only reason to use ING - to emphasize an action is continuing or that 2 actions are occurring simultaneously

Avoid ING as much as possible

Question 16

Simple present

Answer 16

For an action happening NOW with no contextual info about whe. It started

I am

Question 17

Simple past

Answer 17

For an action that happened at a SPECIFIED time in the past

I was

Question 18

Simple future

Answer 18

For an action that will happen in the future

I will

Question 19

Past perfect

Answer 19

For an action that happened BEFORE another a past action

I had been…before I realized I realized…

Question 20

Pres

Answer 20

B

Question 21

Present perfect

Answer 21

An action that started in started in the past BUT is still continuing now

I have been…going!

OR for past events that occurred at an unspecified time

Question 22

Present progressive

Answer 22

ING

Question 23

Pronouns - Reference

Answer 23

A given pronoun does NOT refer to - or stand for - a specific noun or pronoun

It, its, they, their, them, which, that

Question 24

Pronouns - Agreement

Answer 24

Pronoun MUST agree (if noun is in singular form, pronoun must be in singular form) in number and gender

Question 25

When you see pronoun underlined in original sentence:

Answer 25

Focus on that pronoun and determine whether it is being used correctly

Question 26

Never use they to refer to 3rd person singular noun

Answer 26

Even if you don’t know/don’t want to specify gender

Question 27

Modification

Answer 27

Should be placed as CLOSE as possible to whatever it is modifying

• asks modify nouns/adverbs modify everything else

Question 28

Common modification errors

Answer 28

• modifier appears to describe a word it actually doesn’t
• long modifier at beginning of the sentence that should modify subject but doesn’t
• long modifier that appears in the middle or at the end of sentence that doesn’t modify the word that comes immediately BEFORE or AFTER it
• sentences beginning or ending with descriptive phrases
• that/which clauses (especially ones that come at end of sentence)

Question 29

When particular modifying word or phrase appear in many different positions in answer choices:

Answer 29

Determine exactly what is meant to be modified and pick the choice that places it where it belongs

Question 30

Key comparison words

Answer 30

Like,as, compared to, less/more than, that/those of