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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
The boy's teacher had forgotten to correct their homework; she had spent the entire night planning the new geography lesson. No error
Be watchful of possessive plural nouns: here, the correct apostrophe will be at the end of the word: "boys'" is correct because the subject is plural.
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The Scottish highland cow is infamous for it’s prodigious methane production. No error
Here, the wrong form of “its/it’s” is used. With the apostrophe, "it's" means “it is.” The possessive form of "it" is "its." The corrected sentence reads: "The Scottish highland cow is infamous for its prodigious methane production."
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
There was outrage in the elementary school; the childrens’ recess was shortened by a full ten minutes. No error.
Because “children” is an irregularly formed plural, the normal apostrophe rules do not apply. The apostrophe goes before the "s": "There was outrage in the elementary school; the children’s recess was shortened by a full ten minutes."
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The football teams near defeat instigated riots through the streets of the city. No error
This sentence has an apostrophe mistake. Since "football teams defeat" has a possesive in it, it needs an "'s" ending. The corrected sentence reads, "The football team's near defeat instigated riots through the streets of the city."
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
Magazine advertisement’s from the 1950s frequently portrayed women cooking, cleaning, and playing with children. No error
The error in the sentence is “advertisement’s,” which should be written as “advertisements.” An apostrophe should be used to show possession (e.g. "Bob’s cat") or when combining two words in a contraction (ex. "it is" can be written as "it’s"). This sentence is referring to magazine advertisements from the 1950s, but the “women cooking, cleaning, and playing” in the magazine advertisements do not belong to the magazine advertisements.
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Distance was never an obstacle to the Gambardella's; no matter where they were, they made sure to stay in touch with each other. No error
It is clear from the excerpt that "Gambardella's" is a plural surname. It is not possessive and should not contain an apostrophe. The rest of the sentence is correct as written.
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Is vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry your favorite flavor of ice cream, or do you prefer another flavor. No error
The issue here has to do with punctuation. This sentence needs to end with a question mark because it is a question. The corrected sentence reads, "Is vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry your favorite flavor of ice cream, or do you prefer another flavor?"
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
How did Bosco the chihuahua get her name. The story begins with an act of heroism, a great surprise, and a feast of tamales. No error
"How did Bosco the chihuahua get her name?" is a rhetorical question and must be punctuated with a question mark. The rest of the sentence is correct as written.
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
Thomas had always struggled with trigonometry, he thought that circles should remain circles and let triangles and squiggles be their own shapes. No error
This sentence is an example of a run-on or comma splice. It has two independent clauses separated only by a comma. One way to fix this is to change the comma to a semicolon; if this were to be done, the corrected sentence would read, "Thomas had always struggled with trigonometry; he thought that circles should remain circles and let triangles and squiggles be their own shapes."
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The kids at the pumpkin patch screeched and spun around in circles all day, they bothered their teacher tremendously. No error
This is an example of a comma splice. The two independent clauses should be separated by a period, a semi-colon, or a comma and a conjunction, not by just a comma, which is used to separate independent and dependent clauses.
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Car, bicycle, and bus are the only means of transportation in this city, there is no metro system available yet. No error
A comma should only be used to separate an independent clause from a dependent clause: here it is separating two independent clauses, so a period or semi-colon is more appropritate.
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Anna, questioning her decision, looked to her brother, however he wouldn't meet her eye. No error
The clause, "however, he wouldn't meet her eye," is an independent clause and must be separated by a semicolon or a coordinating conjunction.
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I stayed up late last night baking chocolate chip cookies, this morning when I woke up the house smelled so good that it made me hungry. No error
This is a run-on sentence. The two independent clauses need to be split into two separate sentences, or separated by a semicolon.
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The eldest male dog became awfully selfish during feeding time, he would not even let his own pups get a scrap of food. No error
Two independent clauses that can each stand alone must be separated by either a period or a semicolon, or connected by a comma followed by a conjunction. Because this sentence doesn't include a conjunction like "and" after its comma, it is incorrect. (This error, where two independent clauses are incorrectly connected by a comma, is known as a "comma splice.")
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
The city’s youth take great pride in the local music scene, there are popular concerts every weekend. No error
This sentence has a comma splice, which means that it has two independent clauses separated only by a comma. A semicolon is appropriate here. The corrected sentence reads, "The city’s youth take great pride in the local music scene; there are popular concerts every weekend."
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
Although he initially refused to go to the cinema, James finally saw the movie, that his friends had recommended. No error
Commas, gramatically speaking, should never be used before or after the word "that." The correct sentence would have: "James finally saw the movie that his friends . . ."
"Had recommended" could be changed to "recommended", for the sake of simplicity, but the comma error is more flagrant.
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
Istanbul, despite being an old city has recently been the site of major commercial developments hoping to bring international business to the country. No error
Here "despite being an old city" needs to be separated by the main clause by two commas, not just one.
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At the insistence of the manager, the entire team dropped the project immediately_;_ the project leader however, continued her work without interruption. No error
The word "however" here is considered a non-essential phrase: it can be removed, leaving a complete sentence. So it must be surrounded with commas: "The project leader, however, continued . . ."
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Finally the teacher returned our papers, and despite our initial worries, we discovered all of us had received passing marks. No error
Here, "finally" is considered an introductory word, so it must be followed by a comma: "Finally, the teacher . . ."
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Despite disinterest in school elections, the majority of the students voted Shindra the treasurer, president of the student government. No error
"The treasurer" here is an appositive: it renames or restates Shindra in different words, and it should be surrounded with commas. The correct sentence should be: "the students voted Shindra, the treasurer, president . . ."
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