Praxis Writing Usage Exam 1

Question 1

"Once you get the hang of it, surfing is one of the funnest activities around."

Accepted Answer

C: funnest

Answer

"Funnest" is an informal and non-standard superlative form. The correct superlative for "fun" is "most fun." While "funnest" is sometimes used colloquially, in formal writing, "most fun" is preferred to maintain grammatical correctness.

Question 2

"Turn off your lights!" he shouted at there father.

Accepted Answer

C: there

Answer

The original sentence incorrectly uses "there," which indicates a place, instead of "their." "Their" is the possessive pronoun needed to show that the father belongs to "them" (the implied subject). This is a common homophone error.

Question 3

"If only he had listened to the words of his mother, he wouldn't be in this silly situation."

Accepted Answer

E: No error

Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct, using the proper conditional structure ("If only he had listened... he wouldn't be"). There are no issues with punctuation, word choice, or verb tense. Therefore, the sentence requires no correction.

Question 4

Him and his sister ran and ran, but they could not seem to get away from the pack of dogs."

Accepted Answer

A: Him and his sister

Answer

The original sentence incorrectly uses the objective pronoun "Him" as part of the compound subject. As subjects of a sentence, pronouns should be in the nominative case, so "He" is required instead of "Him." The correct phrasing would be "He and his sister."

Question 5

The only person who can make that decision is the president of the United States.

Accepted Answer

D: the president

Answer

When referring to a specific person holding a high office, such as "President of the United States," the title should be capitalized. In this sentence, "the president" refers to a specific individual in that role, thus requiring capitalization for proper noun usage.

PRAXIS Practice Test

PRAXIS Practice Test

Praxis Writing Usage Exam 1