Literacy Skills Flashcards

Which of the following sentences contains a spelling error?

Answer: It is a seperate issue that requires further investigation.

The word 'seperate' is a common misspelling. The correct spelling is 'separate', with an 'a' in the middle. The other sentences use correct spelling for potentially tricky words like 'necessary', 'commitment', and 'apparent'.

Which sentence uses apostrophes correctly?

Answer: The two officers' reports were identical in their details.

'It's' is a contraction of 'it is'. 'Its' is a possessive pronoun. 'The two officers' reports' is correct because it shows possession for more than one officer (plural possessive). 'Police's' is the correct singular possessive form for the collective noun 'police'.

Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?

Answer: The sergeant, along with the constables, is reviewing the case file.

The subject of the sentence is 'The sergeant'. The phrase 'along with the constables' does not change the subject. Therefore, the singular verb 'is' correctly agrees with the singular subject 'sergeant'. The other options have incorrect subject-verb agreement.

Which of the following sentences is punctuated correctly?

Answer: The suspect was apprehended, and he was then transported to the station.

A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined only by a comma (as in option A). To fix this, you can add a coordinating conjunction like 'and' after the comma, which makes option B grammatically correct. Option C is a fused sentence, and D uses 'therefore' incorrectly.

Which sentence uses the correct word in context?

Answer: Please ensure you file the report with the principal investigator.

'Affect' is usually a verb, while 'effect' is usually a noun. 'Elicit' means to draw out, while 'illicit' means illegal. 'Principal' means main or chief, while 'principle' is a rule. 'Wary' means cautious, while 'weary' means tired. Option C correctly uses 'principal' to mean the main investigator.

Which sentence is grammatically correct in its use of pronouns?

Answer: The supervisor gave the assignment to him and me.

Pronouns that are the object of a verb or preposition should be in the objective case (me, him, her, us, them). In option C, 'him' and 'me' are the objects of the preposition 'to', which is correct. In option A, it should be 'my partner and me'. In option B, it should be 'She and the sergeant'.

Identify the sentence that contains a punctuation error.

Answer: The constable, who joined the service last year made the arrest.

The phrase 'who joined the service last year' is a non-restrictive clause, meaning it adds extra information but is not essential to the sentence's meaning. Such clauses must be set off by commas on both sides. The sentence is missing the second comma after 'year'.