Each of the following sentences demonstrates a faulty consistency of tense when the context calls for a shift to another tense. Revise each sentence as necessary. 1. I had wanted to show you where the Joneses lived. 2. She wrote a poem that began with an apt simile. 3. Einstein supposedly said positive-feedback loops were … Read more
Each of the following sentences includes an emphatic word that must be set off from the rest of the statement. Insert punctuation as necessary. 1. An heirloom plant may have been grown in the same location for say a hundred years. 2. It’s within this context then that we must consider the arrival of the … Read more
Each of the following sentences includes a dangling modifier, a phrase that provides additional information but, because of its erroneous placement, confuses readers about what it is modifying; revise the sentences as necessary: 1. To understand the subject more thoroughly, the book was read and reread. 2. Not his favorite subject, he participated in class … Read more
Each of the following sentences is structurally flawed because an interjected word or phrase is not correctly nested within or attached to another phrase that is itself an interruption in the flow of a sentence. Revise the sentences as necessary. 1. We did not want one of our own, a minority no less, to feel … Read more
Each of the following sentences demonstrates incorrect style for suspensive hyphenation; revise the style of the number as necessary. 1. For an eighteen or nineteen-year-old, it can just seem like old guys blowing hot air. 2. Cinder cones are formed by short eruptions of pea-to-walnut-sized lava rocks injected with gas and air. 3. The medication … Read more
Each of these sentences includes an erroneous version of an idiomatic expression based on misunderstanding of the phrase’s meaning. Revise each sentence by using the expression’s standard form. 1. His resignation played a factor in the controversy. 2. She’s simply grasping for straws. 3. His compliment was a real boost in the arm for my … Read more
All but one of the following sentences demonstrate incorrect use of a preposition; revise as necessary. 1. She is about to dive in to the pool. 2. I fell onto the platform. 3. When we disagreed, they turned in to our enemies. 4. John handed the paper into his teacher. 5. Do you have to … Read more
In each sentence, choose the correct word from the pair of similar terms. (If both words possibly can be correct, choose the more plausible one.) 1. Any business leader with a ______ of sense would say this is the perfect time to borrow money to rebuild the country. a) whit b) wit 2. In an … Read more
Each of the following sentences includes a modifying phrase that is incorrectly or awkwardly placed; revise the sentences as necessary: 1. I told my parents I wanted to transfer many times during that first semester. 2. Schools are wising up to the benefits of integrating technology into classroom instruction, but access still ends with the … Read more
All but one of the following sentences demonstrate incorrect style for punctuation of appositives; revise the sentences as necessary: 1. My friend, John, is coming over today. 2. He was compared to WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who has been provided asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. 3. The first mate, Smith, greeted the passenger. … Read more
In each sentence, choose the correct word from the pair of similar terms. (If both words possibly can be correct, choose the more plausible one.) 1. He runs the _________ from slapstick comedian to arch satirist. a) gamut b) gauntlet 2. We went to see her perform in a musical _______. a) revue b) review … Read more
All but one of the following sentences demonstrate incorrect style for punctuation and capitalization of quoted material according to The Chicago Manual of Style and other writing guides; revise the sentences as necessary: 1. The saying, “All’s well that ends well,” is the title of a Shakespeare play. 2. He only had this to say, … Read more