CBST Grammar and Punctuation 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement?
- The team of players are warming up.
- The team of players is warming up. (Correct answer)
- The team of players were warming up.
- The team of players have warming up.
Correct answer: The team of players is warming up.
The subject is 'team,' a collective noun treated as singular, so the singular verb 'is' is correct.
Question 2: Which sentence contains a correctly placed apostrophe?
- The dog's are barking loudly.
- The dogs are barking loudly.
- The dog's bowl is empty. (Correct answer)
- The dogs' are running fast.
Correct answer: The dog's bowl is empty.
'Dog's bowl' correctly uses an apostrophe to show possession — the bowl belongs to the dog.
Question 3: Choose the sentence with correct comma usage.
- Although it was raining we went outside.
- Although it was raining, we went outside. (Correct answer)
- Although, it was raining we went outside.
- Although it was raining we, went outside.
Correct answer: Although it was raining, we went outside.
A comma should follow an introductory dependent clause ('Although it was raining') before the main clause.
Question 4: Which word correctly completes the sentence? 'She _____ to the store every Friday.'
- go
- goes (Correct answer)
- gone
- going
Correct answer: goes
With a third-person singular subject ('She'), the present-tense verb takes an -s ending: 'goes.'
Question 5: Which sentence avoids a dangling modifier?
- Running down the street, the rain soaked her.
- Running down the street, she got soaked by the rain. (Correct answer)
- Running down the street, her clothes got wet.
- Running down the street, it started to rain.
Correct answer: Running down the street, she got soaked by the rain.
The participial phrase 'Running down the street' must modify the subject of the main clause — 'she' is the one running.
Question 6: Select the correctly punctuated sentence.
- We need: milk, bread, and eggs.
- We need milk bread and eggs.
- We need milk, bread, and eggs. (Correct answer)
- We need milk; bread; and eggs.
Correct answer: We need milk, bread, and eggs.
Items in a series of three or more should be separated by commas, including an Oxford comma before 'and.'
Question 7: Which option corrects the run-on sentence: 'It was hot outside we stayed inside'?
- It was hot outside, we stayed inside.
- It was hot outside; we stayed inside. (Correct answer)
- It was hot outside but, we stayed inside.
- It was hot outside: we stayed inside.
Correct answer: It was hot outside; we stayed inside.
A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses that are closely related without using a conjunction.
CBST Grammar and Punctuation 1
Which sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement?