The identifying sentence errors questions will present you with a sentence and ask you to identify the mistake in it (there will be no more than one mistake, and in some cases there will be none). The error, if there is one, will be one of several underlined and lettered elements in the sentence. Elements of the sentence that are not underlined do not contain errors. In choosing answers, you must follow the rules of standard written English.
These questions are designed to test your knowledge of:
- grammar
- usage
- word choice
- idioms (a speech expression that means something beyond its individual words and cannot be translated exactly into another language--for example, "many a day has passed," or "according to" as opposed to the incorrect "according with")
Here are some hints for answering identifying sentence errors questions:
- Read the entire sentence first.
- Look at the underlined portions to see if you can quickly spot an error.
- If you see an error, mark your answer and move on (remember, there will be only one error--if you spot it quickly, there's no need to linger).
- If you don't see an error immediately, read the sentence again, and if it sounds right to you, mark (E), No error, and move on.
The directions you'll find on the test will be similar to the following:
Directions: No sentence contains more than one error. The error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered; elements that are not underlined are correct. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English. If there is an error, select the
one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct, and fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet. If there is no error, fill in oval E.
