PRAXIS Core Academic Skills: Writing Usage and Mechanics

Question 1

Which sentence contains a comma splice?

Accepted Answer

She studied all night, consequently she passed the exam.

Answer

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.

Question 2

Which of the following correctly uses a semicolon?

Accepted Answer

She was tired; she went to bed early.

Answer

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

Question 3

Which sentence uses apostrophes correctly?

Accepted Answer

The students' notebooks were on the desk.

Answer

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

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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.

Question 5

Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?

Accepted Answer

Neither the students nor the teacher was available.

Answer

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

PRAXIS Practice Test

PRAXIS Practice Test

PRAXIS Core Academic Skills: Writing Usage and Mechanics