NoRedInk Editing Skills 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence uses a semicolon correctly?
- She studied hard; and passed the exam.
- She studied hard; she passed the exam. (Correct answer)
- She studied; hard for the exam.
- She; studied hard and passed.
Correct answer: She studied hard; she passed the exam.
A semicolon joins two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
Question 2: Identify the dangling modifier in: 'Walking to school, the rain began to fall.'
- 'Walking to school' correctly modifies 'rain'.
- There is no modifier in this sentence.
- 'Walking to school' has no logical subject because rain cannot walk. (Correct answer)
- 'began to fall' is the dangling modifier.
Correct answer: 'Walking to school' has no logical subject because rain cannot walk.
A dangling modifier occurs when the implied subject of the modifier doesn't match the sentence's subject.
Question 3: Which revision corrects the comma splice: 'I was tired, I went to bed early.'?
- I was tired; I went to bed early. (Correct answer)
- I was tired, so, I went to bed early.
- I was tired but I went to bed early.
- I was tired, and, I went to bed early.
Correct answer: I was tired; I went to bed early.
Replacing the comma with a semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses.
Question 4: Choose the sentence with correct subject-verb agreement:
- Neither the teachers nor the principal were informed.
- Neither the teachers nor the principal was informed. (Correct answer)
- Neither the teachers nor the principal are informed.
- Neither the teachers nor the principal have been inform.
Correct answer: Neither the teachers nor the principal was informed.
With 'neither/nor', the verb agrees with the subject closest to it ('principal' is singular).
Question 5: Which word is used incorrectly in: 'The affect of the medication was immediate.'?
- 'immediate' should be 'immediately'
- 'affect' should be 'effect' (Correct answer)
- 'medication' should be 'medicine'
- 'was' should be 'were'
Correct answer: 'affect' should be 'effect'
'Effect' is the noun form meaning a result; 'affect' is typically the verb form.
Question 6: Which sentence correctly uses an apostrophe?
- The dog wagged it's tail.
- Its' time to leave.
- The dog wagged its tail. (Correct answer)
- The dog's tail wagged it's way.
Correct answer: The dog wagged its tail.
'Its' is the possessive pronoun and never takes an apostrophe; 'it's' means 'it is'.
Question 7: What editing change would improve parallel structure in: 'She likes hiking, to swim, and running.'?
- She likes hiking, swimming, and running. (Correct answer)
- She likes to hike, swimming, and to run.
- She likes hiking, swims, and to run.
- No change is needed.
Correct answer: She likes hiking, swimming, and running.
Parallel structure requires all items in a list to use the same grammatical form (all gerunds here).
NoRedInk Editing Skills 2
Which sentence uses a semicolon correctly?