West B Test Writing: Grammar and Sentence Structure 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly uses 'who' versus 'whom'?
- Whom shall I say is calling?
- To whom should I address the complaint? (Correct answer)
- Who did you speak with yesterday?
- Whom is attending the conference?
Correct answer: To whom should I address the complaint?
'To whom' is correct because 'whom' is the object of the preposition 'to.'
Question 2: Which sentence correctly employs correlative conjunctions?
- She is not only talented but also hardworking. (Correct answer)
- She is not only talented but hardworking also.
- She is not only talented but also works hard.
- She not only is talented but also hardworking.
Correct answer: She is not only talented but also hardworking.
'Not only...but also' is a correlative conjunction pair that must connect parallel elements: 'talented' and 'hardworking.'
Question 3: Which sentence uses the past perfect tense correctly?
- By the time we arrived, the show already started.
- She had submitted the form before the deadline closed. (Correct answer)
- He has finished his homework yesterday.
- They were completing the task before we came.
Correct answer: She had submitted the form before the deadline closed.
The past perfect ('had submitted') correctly indicates an action completed before another past action.
Question 4: Identify the sentence with an incorrectly used transitional phrase:
- Furthermore, the study confirmed the hypothesis.
- However, the results were unexpected.
- Therefore, she decided to resign.
- In addition, he disagreed with the proposal. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: In addition, he disagreed with the proposal.
'In addition' introduces supplementary information, but 'disagreed' suggests contrast, making 'however' the logical choice.
Question 5: Which sentence demonstrates correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?
- Everyone must bring their own lunch to the meeting.
- Each student should submit their assignment by Friday.
- The team celebrated its championship win. (Correct answer)
- Nobody remembered to bring their badge.
Correct answer: The team celebrated its championship win.
'Team' is a collective noun treated as singular in American English, so 'its' is the grammatically correct pronoun.
Question 6: Which sentence correctly uses a gerund as the subject?
- To swim daily improves your endurance.
- Swimming daily improves your endurance. (Correct answer)
- Swim daily improves your endurance.
- Swims daily improve your endurance.
Correct answer: Swimming daily improves your endurance.
A gerund ('Swimming') is a verb form ending in -ing used as a noun, and it correctly functions as the subject here.
Question 7: Which revision best corrects the wordiness in: 'Due to the fact that it was raining, the game was cancelled.'
- Due to the reason that rain happened, the game was cancelled.
- Because it was raining, the game was cancelled. (Correct answer)
- Owing to the rainy weather conditions, the game was cancelled.
- The game was cancelled for the reason that there was rain.
Correct answer: Because it was raining, the game was cancelled.
Replacing 'due to the fact that' with 'because' eliminates wordiness while preserving the meaning.
West B Test Writing: Grammar and Sentence Structure 5
Which sentence correctly uses 'who' versus 'whom'?