PSSA Practice (grammar, usage, mechanics, style, tone, effect)

Which word in all capitals verb or verb phrase is NOT used correctly?

• They WILL HAVE ARGUED in the past about who should be captain.

• Mindy ASKED me to meet her by the water filler station.

• By evening, the snow HAD REACHED the car's window.

• So far, Joe HAS RELIED on his sister to drive him home.

After Luke arrived at school, he remembered he has promised to let Kelly borrow his spare goggles.

Which part of the sentence has an error in verb tense?

• After Luke arrived at school

• he remembered

• he has promised

• to let Kelly borrow his spare goggles

Joe wanted to learn TO PLAY the trombone BECAUSE she ALREADY knew HOW to play the French horn.

Which word in all capital letters is used as a conjunction?

• to play

• because

• already

• how

THEY'RE TOO tired TO EXCEPT the dinner invitation.

What change needs to be made to correct the error?

• Change THEY'RE to THEIR

• Change TOO to TO

• Change TO to TWO

• Change EXCEPT to ACCEPT

Neither Mike BUT ALSO Ralph can make it to practice today.

Which of these words should replace the all capital words?

• and

• but

• or

• nor

1. Marie's palms were sweaty as she boarded the plane.

2. Marie had never traveled on an airplane by herself.

3. Marie was nervous but also excited because she was going to visit her cousins.

4. Marie had not seen her cousins since theirs visit two years ago.

Which sentence has a pronoun-antecedent error?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Andy was hungry before the movie he bought a pretzel.

Which corrects the run-on sentence above?

• Andy was hungry before the movie so he bought a pretzel.

• Andy was hungry before the movie, so he bought a pretzel.

• Andy was hungry before the movie so, he bought a pretzel.

• Andy was hungry before the movie, so, he bought a pretzel.

By the end of the year, Mrs. Clark ____ volunteered at the school ten years.

Which verb or verb phrase correctly completes the sentence?

• had

• has

• have

• will have

(1) Saul's favorite basketball player had always been Timothy Dugan of the NY Commandos. (2) Yesterday, Dugan had visited Saul's school. (3) Saul has waited in line for more than an hour. (4) But getting his basketball signed by Dugan had been worth the wait.

Which sentence in the paragraph has an error?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Leslie keeps all of her running trophies ____ the shelf.

Which preposition completes the sentence?

• about

• on

• through

• to