NCDAP English Grammar & Writing Mechanics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence is written in active voice?
- The report was written by the manager.
- Mistakes were made during the project.
- The manager wrote the report. (Correct answer)
- The meeting had been scheduled by the team.
Correct answer: The manager wrote the report.
In active voice, the subject ('the manager') performs the action ('wrote'), making the sentence direct and clear.
Question 2: Which of the following is a sentence fragment?
- She ran to the store.
- Although the weather was terrible. (Correct answer)
- He finished his homework early.
- They celebrated the victory.
Correct answer: Although the weather was terrible.
'Although the weather was terrible' is a dependent clause and cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
Question 3: Choose the correct verb form: 'By the time she arrived, we ______ dinner.'
- already ate
- had already eaten (Correct answer)
- have already eaten
- already eat
Correct answer: had already eaten
The past perfect 'had already eaten' is used for an action completed before another past action.
Question 4: Which sentence avoids a comma splice?
- I was hungry, I ate a sandwich.
- I was hungry, so I ate a sandwich. (Correct answer)
- I was hungry, then I ate a sandwich.
- I was hungry, therefore I ate a sandwich.
Correct answer: I was hungry, so I ate a sandwich.
Using the coordinating conjunction 'so' after the comma correctly joins the two independent clauses.
Question 5: Which word is spelled correctly?
- occurance
- occurrence (Correct answer)
- occurrance
- occurence
Correct answer: occurrence
The correct spelling is 'occurrence,' with double 'c' and double 'r.'
Question 6: Which sentence uses parallel structure correctly?
- She likes hiking, to swim, and running.
- She likes to hike, to swim, and to run. (Correct answer)
- She likes hiking, swimming, and to run.
- She likes to hike, swimming, and runs.
Correct answer: She likes to hike, to swim, and to run.
Parallel structure requires all items in a list to use the same grammatical form; 'to hike, to swim, and to run' maintains the infinitive form.
Question 7: Select the sentence that correctly uses a colon.
- She needed: milk, eggs, and bread.
- The ingredients are: flour, sugar, and butter.
- She brought three things to the party: chips, dip, and drinks. (Correct answer)
- He likes: hiking and swimming.
Correct answer: She brought three things to the party: chips, dip, and drinks.
A colon is correctly used after a complete independent clause to introduce a list.
NCDAP English Grammar & Writing Mechanics 3
Which sentence is written in active voice?