VCLA Written Expression and Grammar 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error?
- The students complete their assignments on time.
- The group of teachers are presenting at noon. (Correct answer)
- Each of the candidates has submitted a form.
- She writes clearly and concisely.
Correct answer: The group of teachers are presenting at noon.
The subject 'group' is singular, so the correct verb is 'is presenting,' not 'are presenting.'
Question 2: On the VCLA Writing subtest, which of the following is a run-on sentence?
- She studied hard, and she passed the exam.
- He was late he missed the meeting. (Correct answer)
- Although it was raining, she went for a walk.
- The teacher explained the lesson clearly.
Correct answer: He was late he missed the meeting.
'He was late he missed the meeting' is a run-on because two independent clauses are joined without proper punctuation or conjunction.
Question 3: Which sentence uses a comma splice incorrectly?
- She loves reading, and she visits the library weekly.
- It was cold outside, she wore a heavy coat. (Correct answer)
- After finishing the test, he felt relieved.
- The report was thorough; it impressed the committee.
Correct answer: It was cold outside, she wore a heavy coat.
'It was cold outside, she wore a heavy coat' is a comma splice—two independent clauses incorrectly joined with only a comma.
Question 4: Which of the following best corrects the dangling modifier in 'Running to catch the bus, the rain began to fall'?
- Running to catch the bus, she noticed the rain began to fall. (Correct answer)
- The rain began to fall, running to catch the bus.
- Running to catch the bus and the rain fell.
- She ran and the rain began to fall.
Correct answer: Running to catch the bus, she noticed the rain began to fall.
Adding 'she noticed' gives the participial phrase 'Running to catch the bus' a clear subject to modify.
Question 5: In VCLA writing tasks, which pronoun-antecedent agreement error appears in the following sentence: 'Everyone must submit their application by Friday'?
- There is no error; 'their' is now accepted as a singular pronoun. (Correct answer)
- 'Everyone' should be replaced with 'All persons.'
- The sentence contains a subject-verb disagreement.
- 'Application' should be plural.
Correct answer: There is no error; 'their' is now accepted as a singular pronoun.
Modern grammar widely accepts 'their' as a singular gender-neutral pronoun, so the sentence contains no error.
Question 6: Which punctuation mark correctly joins two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction on the VCLA?
- Comma
- Semicolon (Correct answer)
- Hyphen
- Ellipsis
Correct answer: Semicolon
A semicolon correctly joins two closely related independent clauses without requiring a coordinating conjunction.
VCLA Written Expression and Grammar 1
Which sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error?