California POST Test Grammar and Punctuation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly uses 'its' versus 'it's'?
- The department updated it's policy manual.
- The department updated its' policy manual.
- The department updated its policy manual. (Correct answer)
- The department updated its's policy manual.
Correct answer: The department updated its policy manual.
'Its' is the possessive pronoun; 'it's' is a contraction of 'it is' or 'it has.'
Question 2: Choose the sentence that is written in past perfect tense.
- The officer filed the report.
- The officer had filed the report before the shift ended. (Correct answer)
- The officer was filing the report.
- The officer files the report every day.
Correct answer: The officer had filed the report before the shift ended.
Past perfect tense uses 'had' plus a past participle to show an action completed before another past action.
Question 3: Which sentence avoids wordiness and redundancy?
- The suspect made an attempt to flee from the scene of the incident.
- The suspect attempted to flee the scene. (Correct answer)
- The suspect tried and made an attempt to flee from the location.
- The suspect, in an attempt to flee, tried to run away from the scene.
Correct answer: The suspect attempted to flee the scene.
'The suspect attempted to flee the scene' conveys the same meaning concisely without redundant phrases.
Question 4: Which punctuation mark should end an indirect question?
- A question mark
- An exclamation point
- A period (Correct answer)
- A semicolon
Correct answer: A period
Indirect questions are statements that report a question, so they end with a period, not a question mark.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly forms the plural possessive of 'witness'?
- The witness's testimonies were recorded.
- The witnesses' testimonies were recorded. (Correct answer)
- The witnesses's testimonies were recorded.
- The witness' testimonies were recorded.
Correct answer: The witnesses' testimonies were recorded.
The plural of 'witness' is 'witnesses'; to show possession, add only an apostrophe after the final 's.'
Question 6: Select the sentence with the correct use of a hyphen.
- The well known detective solved the case.
- The well-known detective solved the case. (Correct answer)
- The well known-detective solved the case.
- The well-known-detective solved the case.
Correct answer: The well-known detective solved the case.
A hyphen joins compound adjectives like 'well-known' when they precede the noun they modify.
Question 7: Which sentence demonstrates correct use of a comma with a coordinating conjunction?
- The report was detailed, but it was submitted late. (Correct answer)
- The report was detailed but, it was submitted late.
- The report was detailed but it, was submitted late.
- The report was, detailed but it was submitted late.
Correct answer: The report was detailed, but it was submitted late.
A comma precedes a coordinating conjunction (but, and, or, so) that joins two independent clauses.
California POST Test Grammar and Punctuation 5
Which sentence correctly uses 'its' versus 'it's'?