Each consecutive underlined section corresponds with an answer choice. Select the choice that has an error, or select choice E for no error.
1. A Because of the Internet, B working at jobs C at home D have become much more common. E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
2. “Pull it out A by B its plug, not by the C cord,” said D dad. E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
3. Symptoms of this illness A that warrant a doctor visit B includes fever, C vomiting, and diarrhea, as well as the D loss of appetite. E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
4. A Either Lisa or Karen B will always volunteer C their valuable D time to serve on our board. ENo error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
5. The conversation with her A mother had a more profound B affect on her C than D she expected. E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
6. The A President and the B Speaker of the House found the C Congressional Republicans’ filibusters to be D all together specious. E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
7. A Professor Lane, our B Computer Science teacher, was excited when he had the opportunity to meet C Bill Gates, the D president of Microsoft, Inc.E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
8. Do you think A they B will C except our plan D without an argument? E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
9. “They A had went to the lake B without me C by the time D I got there,” said Jacques. E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
10. Work A as quick B as you C can but D as carefully as possible when you take the test. E No error.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
Answers – Identifying Sentence Errors
1. D: The error is “have become,” which should be “has become.” The plural form of the auxiliary verb “have” is incorrect because the subject of the independent clause is “working,” which is singular and thus takes a singular verb—i.e. “working has…” The other underlined sections are correct.
2. D: “Dad” is a name or proper noun and should be capitalized. “By” is a correct preposition to use here. “Its” is the correct use of the third-person singular possessive impersonal pronoun. The punctuation at the end of the quotation is correct.
3. B: “Includes” is incorrect because it is the singular form of the verb, but the subject, “symptoms,” is plural. The verb should be “include.” The subordinating conjunction “that” introducing the dependent clause, and its plural verb “warrant,” (A) are both correct. “…vomiting, and” (C) is punctuated correctly as the last in a series of three or more words. The singular noun “loss” (D) is correct.
4. C: “Their” is incorrect because it is a plural third-person possessive pronoun, but the use of “either (A)…or” indicates a singular form. It should be “her.” “Will always volunteer” (B) is a singular verb phrase and is correct. “Time” (D) is correct regardless of whether it is modified by a singular (“her”) or plural (“their”) possessive pronoun, e.g. “They both volunteered their valuable time.”
5. B: The correct noun for this meaning is spelled “effect.” “Affect” when it is a noun means mood or emotional state, e.g. “The patient presented with a depressed affect.” When it is a verb, the meaning of “affect” is related to the meaning of the noun “effect;” e.g. “The experience had a harmful effect on her, but it did not affect her brother the same way.” “…her mother” (A) is correctly not capitalized as it is a noun, not a name/proper noun (e.g. “Hello, Mother.”) The other underlined parts are correct.
6. D: This is incorrectly spelled as two words. In this sentence, it should be “altogether,” a one-word adverb modifying the adjective “specious” and meaning “entirely” or “completely.” “All together” would be used for a different meaning, e.g. “The family members were all together at the reunion.” The President (A), Speaker of the House (B), and Republicans’ (C) are all correctly capitalized as they are titles. The adjective congressional (C) refers to Congress (a proper name and thus capitalized), but as an adjective it is lower-case unless part of a proper name.
7. E: There is no error in this sentence. Titles and proper names (A) are capitalized. Academic subjects or departments are lower-case (e.g. department of computer science) unless they are adjectives (Computer Science teacher) (B) or proper nouns (English, French, etc.) Bill Gates (C) is a proper noun, i.e. a name, and is always capitalized. “…the president” (D) is correctly lower-case both because it is used after a name, and because it is a used as a description rather than a title here.
8. C: The verb is misspelled here. For the correct meaning, it should be “accept,” i.e. to consent or agree to our plan. “Except” means other than, besides, but, etc. Used as a verb as in this sentence, it would mean to make an exception of our plan, which is incorrect as it contradicts the rest of the sentence (without an argument). “They” (A) and “will” (B) are used correctly as subject pronoun and auxiliary verb. “Without” (D) is correctly used as a preposition.
9. A: The correct form for the past perfect tense of the irregular verb “to go” is “had gone,” not “had went.” “Went” is only used as the past tense, without the auxiliary “had.” The prepositional phrase (B) is correct. The two parts of the dependent clause (C and D) “by the time I got there” are correct.
10. A: The error is “quick,” which is an adjective; here it should be the adverb “quickly” instead, describing manner (how) to modify the verb “Work.” “…as carefully” (D) is an example of the correct usage. The other underlined sections are correct.