Core Academic Skills: Writing Usage and Mechanics Flashcards

Which sentence contains a comma splice?

Answer: She studied all night, consequently she passed the exam.

A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined only by a comma. Option A joins two independent clauses ('She studied all night' and 'consequently she passed the exam') with just a comma.

Which of the following correctly uses a semicolon?

Answer: She was tired; she went to bed early.

A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses. 'She was tired' and 'she went to bed early' are both complete independent clauses.

Which sentence uses apostrophes correctly?

Answer: The students' notebooks were on the desk.

When a noun is plural and possessive, the apostrophe comes after the 's'. 'Students'' indicates possession by multiple students.

Identify the correct use of a colon in the following sentences.

Answer: She needed three things: a map, a compass, and water.

A colon is correctly used after a complete independent clause to introduce a list. Option B has a complete clause before the colon followed by a list.

Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?

Answer: Neither the students nor the teacher was available.

With 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the closer subject. 'Teacher' is singular, so 'was' is correct.

Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?

Answer: Running to catch the bus, the phone was dropped.

In option B, the participial phrase 'Running to catch the bus' has no logical subject — the phone cannot run.

Which of the following is a run-on sentence?

Answer: The test was hard most students still passed.

Option B joins two independent clauses without any punctuation or conjunction, making it a run-on sentence.

Which sentence uses parallel structure correctly?

Answer: She likes reading, swimming, and hiking.

Parallel structure requires that all items in a series use the same grammatical form. Option B uses gerunds (-ing forms) consistently.

In which sentence is the pronoun used correctly?

Answer: Everyone should bring their own materials.

Using 'their' as a singular gender-neutral pronoun with 'everyone' is now accepted in standard usage.

Which option corrects the following fragment: 'Because the roads were icy.'

Answer: Because the roads were icy, the school was closed.

A sentence fragment lacks an independent clause. Option C adds 'the school was closed' to complete the sentence.

Which sentence uses capitalization correctly?

Answer: She is studying French and mathematics.

Proper nouns like 'French' (a language/nationality) are capitalized, while common nouns like 'mathematics' are not.

Which sentence correctly uses a hyphen?

Answer: She is a well-known author.

Compound modifiers before a noun are hyphenated. 'Well-known' modifies 'author' and precedes it, so a hyphen is required.

Identify the correct sentence with respect to comma usage.

Answer: Before leaving, the teacher checked the roster.

An introductory phrase should be followed by a comma. 'Before leaving' introduces the main clause, so a comma after it is correct.

Which sentence avoids a misplaced modifier?

Answer: She drove her children to school almost every day.

In option B, 'almost' correctly modifies 'every day,' indicating frequency rather than implying she barely drove at all.

Which of the following sentences uses the active voice?

Answer: The committee submitted the report.

Active voice has the subject performing the action. In option B, 'the committee' (subject) performs 'submitted' (verb).

Which sentence uses quotation marks correctly?

Answer: She said, "I am tired."

Direct speech should use double quotation marks in American English. Option C correctly uses double quotes with a comma before the quoted speech.

Which sentence correctly uses the word 'fewer' vs. 'less'?

Answer: There are fewer students in class today.

'Fewer' is used with countable nouns like 'students.' 'Less' is used with uncountable nouns.

Which of the following demonstrates correct use of a dash (em dash)?

Answer: She had one goal—to graduate.

An em dash (—) is used without spaces to set off an explanatory phrase. Option B correctly uses the em dash.

Which verb tense is correct in the following sentence? 'By the time the bell rings, the students _____ their exams.'

Answer: will have finished

The future perfect tense ('will have finished') is used to show an action that will be completed before a specific future time.

Which of the following is an example of correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

Answer: Every teacher must submit his or her grades.

Option B uses 'his or her' to agree with the singular antecedent 'every teacher,' avoiding gender assumptions.