Regents English Grammar and Language Usage

Question 1

Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?

Accepted Answer

The group of teachers is meeting today.

Answer

The subject 'group' is singular, so it takes the singular verb 'is'; collective nouns are treated as singular when acting as a unit.

Question 2

Which sentence uses a comma correctly?

Accepted Answer

She ran quickly, but she did not win the race.

Answer

A comma is placed before a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) when joining two independent clauses in a compound sentence.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of a 'run-on sentence'?

Accepted Answer

He ran the race he won the trophy.

Answer

A run-on sentence incorrectly joins two independent clauses without proper punctuation or a conjunction.

Question 4

Which sentence uses the correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

Accepted Answer

Everyone must bring their own pencil.

Answer

In modern English usage, 'their' is widely accepted as a singular gender-neutral pronoun, especially with indefinite pronouns like 'everyone.'

Question 5

Which of the following corrects a 'dangling modifier'?

Accepted Answer

Walking to school, she got caught in the rain.

Answer

A dangling modifier must logically refer to a named subject; 'Walking to school, she got caught in the rain' correctly identifies the person walking.

Regents English Practice Test