FBAT Writing Mechanics 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence is grammatically correct?
- The officer seen the suspect flee.
- The officer saw the suspect flee. (Correct answer)
- The officer has saw the suspect flee.
- The officer seened the suspect flee.
Correct answer: The officer saw the suspect flee.
'Saw' is the correct simple past tense of 'see'; 'seen' requires a helping verb.
Question 2: Which sentence uses correct punctuation?
- The report was filed, however the supervisor rejected it.
- The report was filed; however, the supervisor rejected it. (Correct answer)
- The report was filed however the supervisor rejected it.
- The report was filed; however the supervisor rejected it.
Correct answer: The report was filed; however, the supervisor rejected it.
A semicolon before 'however' and a comma after it is the correct punctuation when connecting two independent clauses.
Question 3: Identify the misspelled word: 'The officer maintaned her composure during the incident.'
- officer
- maintaned (Correct answer)
- composure
- incident
Correct answer: maintaned
The correct spelling is 'maintained,' with an 'i' before the 'n.'
Question 4: Which word correctly completes the sentence? 'The witness could not recall _____ she had seen the suspect before.'
- weather
- whether (Correct answer)
- wether
- whither
Correct answer: whether
'Whether' introduces a doubt or choice, which is what the sentence requires.
Question 5: Which sentence uses the correct form of 'their/there/they're'? 'The officers left _____ vehicles in the lot.'
- there
- they're
- their (Correct answer)
- thier
Correct answer: their
'Their' is the possessive pronoun used to show the vehicles belong to the officers.
Question 6: Which sentence is written in the active voice?
- The suspect was arrested by the officer.
- The arrest was made at midnight.
- The officer arrested the suspect. (Correct answer)
- A report was filed after the incident.
Correct answer: The officer arrested the suspect.
In active voice, the subject (officer) performs the action (arrested); the other options are passive.
FBAT Writing Mechanics 1
Which sentence is grammatically correct?