California POST Test Identifying Writing Errors 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains a dangling modifier? A) Running down the street, the dog chased the ball. B) Running down the street, the ball was chased by the dog. C) The dog ran down the street and chased the ball. D) While running, the dog chased the ball down the street.
- A) Running down the street, the dog chased the ball.
- B) Running down the street, the ball was chased by the dog. (Correct answer)
- C) The dog ran down the street and chased the ball.
- D) While running, the dog chased the ball down the street.
Correct answer: B) Running down the street, the ball was chased by the dog.
Option B has a dangling modifier because the phrase 'Running down the street' illogically modifies 'the ball,' which cannot run.
Question 2: Identify the sentence with incorrect comma usage: 'The officer, who responded first, filed the report.' vs. 'The officer who responded first, filed the report.'
- 'The officer, who responded first, filed the report.' — correct
- 'The officer who responded first, filed the report.' — correct
- 'The officer who responded first, filed the report.' — incorrect (Correct answer)
- Both sentences are equally correct
Correct answer: 'The officer who responded first, filed the report.' — incorrect
The restrictive clause 'who responded first' should not be separated from 'officer' by a comma, making option C the incorrect version.
Question 3: Which word is used incorrectly in the following sentence? 'The suspect tried to illicit a confession from the witness.'
- tried
- illicit (Correct answer)
- confession
- witness
Correct answer: illicit
'Illicit' is an adjective meaning unlawful; the correct word is 'elicit,' a verb meaning to draw out.
Question 4: Select the sentence that correctly uses a semicolon: A) The report was late; because the officer was in court. B) The report was late; the officer had been in court. C) The report was late; and the officer was in court. D) The officer was in court; but filed the report anyway.
- A) The report was late; because the officer was in court.
- B) The report was late; the officer had been in court. (Correct answer)
- C) The report was late; and the officer was in court.
- D) The officer was in court; but filed the report anyway.
Correct answer: B) The report was late; the officer had been in court.
A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses; it should never precede a conjunction like 'because,' 'and,' or 'but.'
Question 5: Which sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error? A) Each of the officers was briefed. B) Neither the sergeant nor the officers were notified. C) The team of detectives are investigating. D) Everyone has submitted their reports.
- Each of the officers was briefed.
- Neither the sergeant nor the officers were notified.
- The team of detectives are investigating. (Correct answer)
- Everyone has submitted their reports.
Correct answer: The team of detectives are investigating.
'Team' is a collective noun treated as singular in standard usage, so the correct verb is 'is,' not 'are.'
Question 6: Choose the sentence that correctly uses 'its' vs. 'it's': A) The department updated it's policy last year. B) The car lost it's bumper in the collision. C) Its clear the suspect fled on foot. D) The agency revised its training manual.
- The department updated it's policy last year.
- The car lost it's bumper in the collision.
- Its clear the suspect fled on foot.
- The agency revised its training manual. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The agency revised its training manual.
'Its' (no apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun; 'it's' is a contraction for 'it is,' so only option D uses 'its' correctly.
Question 7: Which option identifies the error in this sentence? 'Between you and I, the evidence was weak.'
- 'Between' should be replaced with 'among.'
- 'I' should be 'me' because it follows a preposition. (Correct answer)
- 'weak' should be 'weakly' to modify the verb.
- There is no error in the sentence.
Correct answer: 'I' should be 'me' because it follows a preposition.
Pronouns following prepositions must be in the objective case; 'between you and me' is correct, not 'between you and I.'
California POST Test Identifying Writing Errors 2
Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?
A) Running down the street, the dog chased the ball.
B) Running down the street, the ball was chased by the dog.
C) The dog ran down the street and chased the ball.
D) While running, the dog chased the ball down the street.