Grammar and Language Practice

1. Select the sentence that is the best example of formal English.

A. Bailey was not happy with her boss’ decision to fire her due to her being late to
work alot.
B. Bailey wasn’t happy with her boss’ decision to fire her due to her always being late
to work.
C. Bailey was not happy with her boss’ decision to fire her due to her always being
late to work.
D. Bailey was dissatisfied with her employer’s decision to terminate her employment
due to excessive tardiness.

2. Select the underlined word or phrase that contains an error in subject-verb

agreement.

A. at
B. is
C. filled
D. No error

3. Which of the following sentences contains an error in agreement?

A. Starting at the train station on Main Street and ending at Wright Arena on Blue
Way Road, a parade of elephants are being led through the streets of downtown
Silver City.
B. The general manager of the two stores is going on vacation for two weeks and
must find a responsible employee at each store to oversee operations while he is
gone.
C. The director of the play has asked the actors to be prepared for a dress rehearsal
on Friday night.

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D. The speaker of the House of Representatives, currently Paul Ryan, is second in the
United States presidential line of succession, after the vice president.

4. Which is NOT a fused sentence?

High School Musical Trilogy

Disney's High School Musical (HSM) franchise consists of three musical films and
they're in the comedy-drama genre and are chiefly targeted towards children and
early-teens. Stars Zac Efron as Troy, Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella, Ashley Tisdale
as Sharpay, Lucas Grabeel as Ryan, Corbin Bleu as Chad and Monique Coleman as
Taylor. Themes include teamwork, integrity, avoiding stereotypes, exploring
possibilities and staying true to yourself. The first two installments were Disney
Channel Original Movies (DCOM). HSM was the first DCOM project to be BBC-
broadcasted and have a theatrical sequel (HSM 3: Senior Year). Earned several
awards. Including an Emmy. The soundtracks sold 9.8 million copies domestically

HSM premiered in 2006. At a resort, East High Wildcats basketball captain Troy and
shy bookworm Gabriella are randomly selected for a karaoke contest. They're
surprised to have wowed the crowd through their embarrassment. Gabriella later
enrolls at EHS. The pair entertains auditioning for a musical, which challenges EHS'
social hierarchy. Though Troy and Gabriella's endeavor inspires peers to admit their
own "taboo" interests, the "intellectuals" and "jocks" conspire to break them up.
Drama-club stars Sharpay and Ryan Evans work to concurrently schedule the
scholastic-decathlon and the basketball game Troy and Gabriella can't compete in
call-backs. Troy and Gabriella's friends see the hurt they've caused and they band
together to trump the Evans' plan and reunite the duo for a successful audition. The
students learn a lesson in loyalty. That they don't have to put themselves in a box.

In HSM 2, the Wildcats seek employment school's out for summer. College
preparation wears on Troy's mind. Hoping she'll regain drama department control by
getting close to Troy, Sharpay ensures he's hired at her parent's resort. However, he
gets his squad hired too. Sharpay tells the manager to promote Troy, and make the
others so miserable, they'll quit. Indebted to Sharpay and lured by her university
connections, Troy agrees to perform with her in the resort talent-competition. He
gets swept up in his pursuits and begins to flake out on the gang and angering them.
Ryan feels dismissed by Sharpay and befriends the others and helps them develop a
number for the contest. Sharpay counters by having all staff work the event.
Disenchanted, Gabriella dumps Troy and quits. Troy demotes himself. Refuses to
sing with Sharpay unless his friends are allowed in. Ryan maneuvers Sharpay out,
Gabriella returns, and the staff wins.

Senior Year surrounds commencement. Troy feels suffocated by expectations to

choose basketball or music. Gabriella fears distance at Stanford will end their
romance. Chad and Taylor are dismissive of their friend's concerns. Resolute about
parting ways themselves. Sharpay wants center-stage in the final musical to impress
Julliard recruits and she schemes to guarantee Gabriella accepts early enrollment
and vacates the lead role. To avoid multiple goodbyes, Gabriella decides not to
return for prom or graduation. A grand gesture by Troy convinces her otherwise.

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Further, he picks a university near Stanford both an arts and sports program. Ryan's
admitted to Julliard, and Sharpay oversees EHS' drama department while attending a
local college.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_School_Musical_(franchise)

A. “Further, he picks a university near Stanford both an arts and sports program.”
B. “That they don't have to put themselves in a box.”
C. “Sharpay and Ryan Evans work to concurrently schedule the scholastic-decathlon
and the basketball game Troy and Gabriella can't compete in call-backs.”
D. All of the sentences above are fused sentences.
5. Select the choice that contains an error.
A. The couple toured nearly fifty homes before finding one that they liked enough to
make an offer on.
B. The students at Southside Elementary performed exceptionally well this school
year. Of the one hundred students in the fifth grade, only ninety-eight of them earned
A’s on their report cards
C. The Hardy family recently announced that they are expecting to have twins in
November.

D. None of the sentences contain an error.

6. Select the word that best fills the blank to complete the sentence.

Many consumers do not realize the dangers of some insect catchers. People who
want to get rid of wasps buy traps that also catch other types of bees. _____, these
traps harm beneficial bee populations.
A. still
B. for example
C. consequently
D. to demonstrate

7. Select the underlined word or phrase that contains an error in pronoun usage.

A. she
B. they
C. her
D. him

8. Select the sentence that contains correct punctuation.

A. Yesterday, was their tenth anniversary, so she took the day off.
B. Yesterday was their tenth anniversary, so she took the day off.
C. Yesterday was their tenth anniversary; so she took the day off.

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D. Yesterday was their tenth anniversary . . . so she took the day off.

9. Select the most effective revision for the following sentence:

Most likely due to the ten-page research paper on the Civil War being due today,
there are several students absent from Mr. Jacob’s English class.
A. Most likely due to the ten-page research paper on the Civil War being due today, it
was several students absent from Mr. Jacob’s English class.
B. Most likely due to the ten-page research paper on the Civil War being due today,
there were several students absent from Mr. Jacob’s English class.
C. Most likely due to the ten-page research paper on the Civil War being due today,
several students are absent from Mr. Jacob’s English class.
D. Most likely due to the ten-page research paper on the Civil War being due today, it
is several students absent from Mr. Jacob’s English class.

10. Select the sentence that is written in the most effective manner.
A. Marcus found his old Halloween costume hanging in the back of his closet, which
was a werewolf.
B. Because he screamed at the judge when asked about how he spent the donated
monies, the politician was declared to be in contempt of court.
C. Vermont’s mountains are better for snow skiing because they have a deeper snow
base and are very tall, than the mountains of North Carolina.
D. Awaiting Christmas Day, Malcom’s presents were shaken many times by Malcom
as he tried to guess what was in each neatly wrapped box.

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Answer Key
1. The correct answer is D.

Explanation:

Informal English is the conversational language used when writing to or speaking

with friends. While informal English is acceptable when corresponding with friends,
formal English must be used when writing or speaking in academic or professional
environments. Word choice is extremely important in formal English, and non-
standard or informal usage must be avoided.

Choice D is the correct answer: Bailey was dissatisfied with her employer’s decision
to terminate her employment due to excessive tardiness.

Choice A: Bailey was not happy with her boss’ decision to fire her due to her being
late to work alot. Alot is not a word. Instead use a lot.

Choice B: Bailey wasn’t happy with her boss’ decision to fire her due to her always
being late to work. Contractions should be avoided in formal writing. Use was
not instead of wasn’t.

Choice C: Bailey was not happy with her boss’ decision to fire her due to her always
being late to work. Although this sentence is technically correct, the choice of words
(not happy, boss, fire, always, late) are not as formal as the words used in choice D
(dissatisfied, employer, terminate, excessive, tardiness).

2. The correct answer is B.

Explanation:

The subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. Singular subjects require
singular verbs. Singular verbs usually end in -s. Plural subjects require plural verbs.
Plural verbs usually do not end in -s.

Choice B contains the error.

The verb is is incorrect. The subject of the sentence is swimming pools, which is
plural, so the verb must also be plural. The correct (plural) form of the verb is are.

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The sentence should read: During the summer months, the swimming pools at local
parks are often filled to capacity.

3. The correct answer is A.

Explanation:

The subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. Singular subjects require
singular verbs. Singular verbs usually end in -s. Plural subjects require plural verbs.
Plural verbs usually do not end in -s.

Choice A is the sentence that contains an error in agreement: Starting at the train
station on Main Street and ending at Wright Arena on Blue Way Road, a parade of
elephants are being led through the streets of downtown Silver City.

The verb are is incorrect. The subject of a sentence comes before a phrase
beginning with the word of. The subject of this sentence is parade, which is singular,
so the verb must also be singular. The correct form of the verb is is.

The sentence should read: Starting at the train station on Main Street and ending at
Wright Arena on Blue Way Road, a parade of elephants is being led through the
streets of downtown Silver City.

4. The correct answer is B.

Explanation:

“That they don't have to put themselves in a box” is an example of a fragment, where
either a subject and/or verb is missing to make an independent clause. It is not a
fused sentence, in which two sentences are meshed together without proper
punctuation or a functioning word between them.

5. The correct answer is B.

Explanation:

A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies, or describes, another word or phrase.

Modifiers should be placed as close as possible to the word or phrase they modify.
A limiting modifier limits, or restricts, the meaning of another word in the sentence.
Limiting modifiers should always be placed directly before the word or phrase they
are supposed to limit. The misplacement of limiting modifiers creates illogical word
order and can cause a sentence to take on an entirely different meaning.

The most common limiting modifiers are: almost, even, exactly, hardly, just, merely,
nearly, simply, and only.

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For example: “Lauren only sings country songs.” The modifier, only, limits the
word sings. According to this sentence Lauren only sings (not hums, whistles, listens
to, etc.) country songs.

The sentence should read: Lauren sings only country songs. In this sentence, the
modifier, only, limits the phrase country songs. This sentence now suggest that
Lauren only sings country songs (not rock and roll, rap, heavy metal, etc.) songs.

Choice B contains an error: The students at Southside Elementary performed

exceptionally well this school year. Of the one hundred students in the fifth grade,
only ninety-eight of them earned A’s on their report cards.

The modifier, only, comes directly before the word ninety-eight. Therefore it seems
that the sentence is saying only ninety-eight of one hundred students earned A’s on
their report card.

The sentences should read: The students at Southside Elementary performed

exceptionally well this school year. Of the one hundred students in the fifth grade,
ninety-eight of them earned only A’s on their report cards.

6. The correct answer is C.

Explanation:

Answer choice C best fills in the blank to complete the sentence. The completed
sentence should read: “Consequently, these traps harm beneficial bee populations.”
This response is correct because the harming of beneficial bee populations is a
consequence of the insect traps catching multiple beneficial bee types.

7. The correct answer is D.

Explanation:

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun. The noun that a pronoun refers back to
and replaces is called its antecedent. Pronoun case is the form a pronoun takes
depending on its function in a sentence. There are three pronoun cases: subjective,
objective, and possessive.

Subjective case pronouns are used when the pronoun functions as the subject of the
sentence. Subjective case pronouns include: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, and who.

Objective case pronouns are used when the pronoun is used as an object of a verb or
preposition. Objective case pronouns include: me, you, him, her, it, us,
them, and whom.

Possessive case pronouns are used when the pronoun is used to show ownership.
Possessive case pronouns include: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, it, its, our,
ours, their, theirs, and whose.
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Choice D contains an error: In an instant she fell in love with him and knew she could
never be happy unless him could come home with her.

The pronoun him (as part of the phrase “unless him could come home with her”) is
incorrect. The subjective pronoun he is needed because the pronoun is functioning
as the subject for the verb phrase could come.

The sentence should read: In an instant she fell in love with him and knew she could
never be happy unless he could come home with her.

8. The correct answer is B.

Explanation:

Use a comma between two independent clauses that are joined by coordinate
conjunctions, such as: and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet.

Choice B correctly uses commas: “Yesterday was their tenth anniversary, so she
took the day off.” This answer is correct because the sentence uses the coordinating
conjunction "so" to join the independent clause “Yesterday was their tenth
anniversary” with the independent clause “she took the day off.”

9. The correct answer is C.

Explanation:

Effective writing has a clear, logical flow of ideas which allows the reader to
thoroughly understand the written material. Unnecessary wordiness disrupts the flow
of a sentence and can often lead to confusion. To make a sentence more effective,
simplify the structure of the sentence when doing so does not change the intended
meaning of the sentence. A sentence can often be simplified by avoiding the overuse
of there is, there are, there were, it is, it was, etc.

Choice C is the correct answer: “Most likely due to the ten-page research paper on
the Civil War being due today, several students are absent from Mr. Jacob’s English
class.”

The words there are have been removed from the original sentence to make it more
concise and effective, while still maintaining the intended meaning of the sentence.

10. The correct answer is B.

Explanation:

Effective writing has a clear, logical flow of ideas which allows the reader to
thoroughly understand the written material. Unnecessary wordiness disrupts the flow
of a sentence and can often lead to confusion. Modifying phrases can often be re-
written within a sentence to be more concise and eliminate wordiness.
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Choice B is the correct answer: Because he screamed at the judge when asked about
how he spent the donated monies, the politician was declared to be in contempt of
court.

The other answer choices can all be rewritten to be more concise.

Choice A: “Marcus found his old Halloween costume hanging in the back of his
closet, which was a werewolf.” This sentence could be rewritten more effectively as:
“Marcus found his old werewolf Halloween costume hanging in the back of his
closet.”

Choice C: “Vermont’s mountains are better for snow skiing because they have a
deeper snow base and are very tall, than the mountains of North Carolina.” This
sentence could be rewritten more effectively as: “Because Vermont’s mountains
have a deeper snow base and are very tall, they are better for snow skiing than the
mountains of North Carolina.”

Choice D: “Waiting for Christmas Day to arrive, Malcom’s presents were shaken may
times by Malcom as he tried to guess what was in each neatly wrapped box.” This
sentence could be rewritten more effectively as: “Waiting for Christmas Day to arrive,
Malcom shook his presents many times to try to guess what was in each neatly
wrapped box.”

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