Writing and Grammar Skills Flashcards

Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?

Answer: The officers' reports were filed on time.

When a plural noun already ends in 's', add only an apostrophe after the 's' to show possession.

A police report states: 'The suspect ran quick down the alley.' What is the grammatical error?

Answer: 'quick' should be 'quickly' because it modifies the verb 'ran'

Adverbs modify verbs; 'quick' is an adjective, so 'quickly' is the correct adverb form to modify the verb 'ran'.

Which of the following is a run-on sentence?

Answer: The witness refused to cooperate, he claimed he saw nothing.

Two independent clauses joined only by a comma (without a coordinating conjunction) create a comma splice, which is a type of run-on sentence.

In a police narrative, which word correctly completes this sentence? 'The sergeant asked whether the evidence ___ been logged.'

Answer: had

In indirect questions and past-tense contexts, 'had' (past perfect auxiliary) is the correct form to agree with the past-tense context.

Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?

Answer: Neither the detective nor the officers were present.

With 'neither/nor', the verb agrees with the subject closest to it; since 'officers' is plural, 'were' is correct.

Which version of this police report sentence is most clear and concise?

Answer: The vehicle was observed traveling at a high rate of speed.

Police report writing favors formal, concise language; 'observed traveling at a high rate of speed' is the most professional and precise phrasing.

Which sentence correctly uses a semicolon?

Answer: The patrol ended at midnight; the officers filed their reports immediately after.

A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses that are closely related in meaning without a coordinating conjunction.