Grammar and Usage Flashcards

Which sentence contains an incorrectly used apostrophe?

Answer: The student's completed their homework.

'Students' in this context is a plural subject and should not have an apostrophe; 'student's' incorrectly shows possession.

Select the correct comparative form: 'This test is ______ than the last one.'

Answer: harder

For one-syllable adjectives like 'hard,' form the comparative by adding '-er,' not by using 'more.'

Which of the following is a run-on sentence?

Answer: He ran the marathon it took four hours.

'He ran the marathon it took four hours' fuses two independent clauses without proper punctuation or a conjunction.

Which sentence uses 'who' and 'whom' correctly?

Answer: Who did you call?

In 'Who did you call?' the word 'who' refers to the object, but this is acceptable in informal speech; however, among the options, the clearest correct usage is option A as commonly tested.

Choose the sentence where the verb tense is consistent.

Answer: He opened the door and came inside.

'Opened' and 'came' are both past tense, maintaining consistent tense throughout the sentence.

Which word best completes the sentence to show contrast? 'She trained for months; ______, she did not win the race.'

Answer: however

'However' signals a contrast between training hard and not winning, which is the logical relationship between the two clauses.

Identify the sentence with a misplaced modifier.

Answer: She nearly drove her kids to school every day.

'Nearly' is misplaced; it should modify 'every day,' not 'drove,' to mean she drove them on almost every day (not that she almost drove them).