Usage Skills- Grammar and Punctuation

Question 1

Apostrophes - showing possession #1

Answer 1

1. sing. possessive - apostrophe before s (Laura’s hat)

2. plural possessive- apostrophe after s (kids’ toys)

Question 2

Apostrophes - showing possession #2

Answer 2

sing noun that ends in s still needs an additional s (Jonas’s train)

Question 3

Apostrophes - contraction

Answer 3

word + is → ‘s (he is → he’s)
word + are → ‘re (they are → they’re)
word + would → ‘d (you would → you’d)
word + have → ‘ve (I have → I’ve)

Question 4

use colon after ind. clause when it’s followed by list/quote /appositive/other idea directly related to ind. clause

Answer 4

The vote was unanimous: the older candidate had won.

Question 5

use semicolon to join 2 ind. clauses when 2nd clause restate first/when the 2 clauses are of equal emphasis

Answer 5

I’m not sure how to get there; let’s get directions.

Question 6

use semicolon to join 2 ind. clauses when 2nd clause begins w/ conjunctive verb (however) or transition (in fact)

Answer 6

The basement is scary; thus, I do not go down there alone.

Question 7

Dash - use to set off/emphasize content within dashes or content that follows a dash

Answer 7

Upon discovering the errors—all 124 of them—the publisher immediately recalled the books.

Question 8

Subjects “do” verbs and objects have verbs “done” to them

Answer 8

a dog (the subject noun) chases (the verb) its tail (the object noun)

Question 9

subject pronouns- name 7

Answer 9

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Question 10

object pronouns- name 7

Answer 10

me, you, him, her, it, us, them

Question 11

WHO is the pronoun for a person or people, and THAT is the pronoun for everything else

Answer 11

Error: The COACH is the person THAT is in charge of the team’s schedule.

Corrected: The COACH is the person WHO is in charge of the team’s schedule.

Question 12

pronoun error: “their” used to mean a sing. noun (everyone); used in common, everyday speech, using “their” as poss. pronoun for a sing person is not formally accepted as grammatically correct on ACT

Answer 12

Error: Every student must study hard if they want good grades.
Corrected: Every student must study hard if she wants good grades.

Error: Everyone should make their own decision.
Corrected: Everyone should make his own decision.

Question 13

Basic Verb Tense - name 6

Answer 13

1. Simple Present: They sing.
2. Present Perfect: They have sung.
3. Simple Past: They sang.
4. Past Perfect: They had sung.
5. Future: They will sing.
6. Future Perfect: They will have sung.

Question 14

noun and the verb have the same number (singular or plural)

Answer 14

Error: The CLIMATE in those cities ARE uncomfortably humid.
Corrected: The CLIMATE (singular) in those cities IS (singular) uncomfortably humid

Error: There WAS a rat and three buckets of whitewash in the corner of the basement.
Corrected: There WERE (plural) a rat and three buckets of whitewash (plural) in the corner of the basement.

Question 15

comparisons between 2 things = x is more/less [adjective]/[adjective]-er than y

Answer 15

Bill is more friendly than Louis.

Error: Between butterflies and spiders, humans admire butterflies THE MOST.
Corrected: Between butterflies and spiders, humans admire butterflies MORE.

Question 16

comparisons between 3 or more things = “x is the most [adjective]/[adjective]-est of the [things].”

Answer 16

Lucy was the most adept student in the class.

Cheetahs are the fastest of all land mammals.

Question 17

Its vs It’s

Answer 17

It’s contraction for it is / it has
Its show possession, like his/her
- These are its footprints.

Question 18

Their vs. There vs. They’re

Answer 18

Their = possessive pronoun
There = location (refers to a place)
They're = contraction of they are

Question 19

To vs. Too vs. Two

Answer 19

To = indicates direction and action
Too = "more than enough" / "also."
Two = a number (2)

Question 20

Then vs. Than

Answer 20

Then: mainly an adverb, often used to situate actions in time
- Then she said, “Hello.”
Than: conjunction used mainly in making comparisons
- Kate is taller than Sara.

Question 21

“Might Have” vs. “Might Of”

Answer 21

“Might have” is grammatically correct, “Might of” isn’t

Question 22

Idiom

Answer 22

expressions that mean something different than the actual words they use (raining cats and dogs)

Question 23

verbal phrases - verb + preposition pairs

Answer 23

Error: The show was followed on an encore.
Corrected: The show was followed by an encore.

Question 24

independent clause- can be a complete sentence

Answer 24

has a subject-verb pair and does not start with a word or phrase that makes the clause dependent, such as “when” or “because”

Question 25

dependent clause

Answer 25

must be attached to an independent clause in order to be a complete sentence

Question 26

run-on sentence- has mult ind clauses joined by only a comma or no punctuation at all

Answer 26

Run-on sentence: My favorite Mediterranean spread IS hummus it IS very garlicky.

Corrected: My favorite Mediterranean spread IS hummus, as IT IS very garlicky.

Question 27

Parallel Construction - present a list of things all in the same way

Answer 27

ex- 2 things in a list are adverbs, the third should also be an adverb

Error: The deer moved carefully, quietly and IN A WAY THAT WAS SLOW.
Corrected: The deer moved carefully, quietly and SLOWLY.

Question 28

Modifier is a word or phrase that describes (a.k.a. modifies) something - name 2

Answer 28

1. Dangling modifiers

2. Misplaced modifiers

Question 29

Dangling Modifier

Answer 29

begins a sentence, has a comma after it, and has the noun it describes NOT placed after the comma

Error: Coating the sidewalk (DM), we trudged through the heavy snow.
Corrected: We trudged through the heavy snow coating the sidewalk.

Question 30

Misplaced Modifier

Answer 30

modifier that’s not close enough to the thing it describes- looks like it’s describing the wrong thing

Error: The jacket was too small (MM) on the sale rack (MM).
Corrected: The jacket ON THE SALE RACK was too small.