NTN Police Writing and Grammar Skills 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?
- The officers' reports were filed on time. (Correct answer)
- The officer's' reports were filed on time.
- The officers report's were filed on time.
- The officers reports' were filed on time.
Correct 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.
Question 2: A police report states: 'The suspect ran quick down the alley.' What is the grammatical error?
- 'quick' should be 'quickly' because it modifies the verb 'ran' (Correct answer)
- 'suspect' should be capitalized
- 'alley' should be 'ally'
- There is no error in the sentence
Correct 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'.
Question 3: Which of the following is a run-on sentence?
- The witness refused to cooperate, he claimed he saw nothing. (Correct answer)
- The witness refused to cooperate because he claimed he saw nothing.
- Although the witness refused to cooperate, investigators continued.
- The witness, who refused to cooperate, was later re-interviewed.
Correct 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.
Question 4: In a police narrative, which word correctly completes this sentence? 'The sergeant asked whether the evidence ___ been logged.'
- had (Correct answer)
- have
- has
- having
Correct answer: had
In indirect questions and past-tense contexts, 'had' (past perfect auxiliary) is the correct form to agree with the past-tense context.
Question 5: Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
- Neither the detective nor the officers were present. (Correct answer)
- Neither the detective nor the officers was present.
- Neither the detective nor the officers is present.
- Neither the detective nor the officers are present.
Correct 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.
Question 6: Which version of this police report sentence is most clear and concise?
- The vehicle was observed traveling at a high rate of speed. (Correct answer)
- The vehicle was seen going really fast by me.
- I observed the vehicle, and it was going at a very fast speed.
- What was observed by me was a vehicle that seemed to be going quite fast.
Correct 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.
Question 7: Which sentence correctly uses a semicolon?
- The patrol ended at midnight; the officers filed their reports immediately after. (Correct answer)
- The officers filed; their reports, after the patrol ended.
- Officers must file reports; after each patrol.
- The report was complete; but it lacked the suspect's description.
Correct 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.
NTN Police Writing and Grammar Skills 4
Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?