SAEE Language Usage Flashcards

Which sentence uses a comma correctly?

Answer: She loves cooking, her family, and her dog.

A serial (Oxford) comma separates three or more items in a list to avoid ambiguity.

Which word correctly completes the sentence: 'The committee made _____ decision unanimously.'

Answer: their

A committee is a collective noun; 'their' is used to refer to the group's collective action.

Which sentence is in the active voice?

Answer: The dog chased the ball across the yard.

In active voice, the subject (the dog) performs the action (chased) on the object (the ball).

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.

Answer: It's a beautiful day, isn't it?

'It's' is the contraction of 'it is,' and 'isn't it?' is a tag question requiring a comma before it.

Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?

Answer: Running quickly, the bus was missed.

A dangling modifier occurs when the phrase 'Running quickly' illogically modifies 'the bus' instead of a person.

Which option correctly uses a semicolon?

Answer: She studied hard; she passed the exam.

A semicolon joins two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.

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

Answer: She has fewer mistakes than him.

'Fewer' is used with countable nouns like 'mistakes,' while 'less' is used with uncountable nouns.