What conventions of standard English grammar and usage does LEAP expect, and how do they affect both the editing items and the conventions score on your writing?
Grammar and usage conventions: applying the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and clear pronoun reference, consistent verb tense, and correct modifier placement, as tested in revising and editing items and rewarded in the Knowledge of Language and Conventions dimension of the LEAP writing rubrics.
The grammar and usage conventions LEAP English I and II expect: subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement and clear reference, consistent verb tense, and modifier placement. These are tested in editing items and scored in the Knowledge of Language and Conventions dimension of the writing rubrics.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this skill is asking
Grammar and usage conventions are the rules of standard English that LEAP English I and II expect you to apply, both when you spot errors in revising and editing items and when you write your prose responses. Louisiana standard L.9-10.1 asks you to demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, and these same conventions are scored in the Knowledge of Language and Conventions dimension of the writing rubrics. The high-frequency conventions are subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and clear pronoun reference, consistent verb tense, and correct modifier placement. You will see editing items that ask you to choose the correct version of a sentence, and your own writing is judged on the same rules. This page covers those core conventions and the traps that go with them. The transferable skill is writing and reading sentences that follow the rules readers expect.
The core conventions
A handful of rules account for most tested errors.
The most common subject-verb trap is words between the subject and verb, often a prepositional phrase ("the list of materials is," not "are"), because the verb agrees with "list," not "materials." The most common pronoun trap is an ambiguous "she," "it," or "they" that could point to more than one noun or to none. Tense shifts and dangling modifiers round out the frequent errors. These conventions connect to punctuation and sentence structure (the next skill) and to editing items (where you fix them), and they directly feed the conventions score on the writing rubric.
Why conventions count twice
These rules are not just for the editing items.
This double payoff is the reason to drill conventions even though they can feel like dry rules. The same command of grammar that lets you pick the correct sentence in an editing item lets you write clean sentences under time pressure. It pairs with sentence structure and punctuation, the mechanics of joining and bounding sentences, to cover the full conventions picture. Louisiana standard L.9-10.1 and L.9-10.2 together define what "command of conventions" means, and the rubric rewards it directly.
Working a grammar item
Try this
Q1. In checking subject-verb agreement, why must you ignore words between the subject and the verb? [Recall]
- Cue. Because the verb agrees with the true subject, not with a noun in a phrase that comes between them. In "the list of materials is posted," the verb matches "list" (singular), not "materials."
Q2. Why is "When Carla met Devi, she smiled" a problem, and how would you fix it? [Short explanation]
- Cue. The pronoun "she" is ambiguous: it could refer to Carla or Devi, so the reference is unclear. Fix it by naming the person ("When Carla met Devi, Carla smiled") or rewriting so only one antecedent is possible. Clear pronoun reference is what L.9-10.1 expects.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of LDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
LEAP 2025 English I (style)1 marksChoose the correct version: 'The list of required materials ___ posted online.' (1) are, (2) is, (3) were, (4) have been.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). The subject is "list" (singular), not "materials." The prepositional phrase "of required materials" comes between the subject and the verb, but the verb agrees with "list," so "is" is correct.
Why not the others: (1), (3), and (4) are all plural verbs that would agree with "materials," but "materials" is the object of the preposition, not the subject. This is a classic subject-verb agreement trap LEAP tests under L.9-10.1: ignore the words between the subject and the verb when checking agreement.
LEAP 2025 English II (style)1 marksWhich sentence has a clear pronoun reference? (1) 'When Maria spoke to Jordan, she was nervous.' (2) 'When Maria spoke to Jordan, Maria was nervous.' (3) 'They said it was fine.' (with no antecedent) (4) 'Everyone brought their own lunch, but it was late.'Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). The pronoun reference is clear because the sentence repeats "Maria" instead of using an ambiguous "she" that could point to either Maria or Jordan. Clear pronoun reference means a pronoun unmistakably matches one antecedent.
Why not the others: (1) "she" is ambiguous (Maria or Jordan?); (3) "they" and "it" have no stated antecedent; (4) "it" is vague (what was late?). Louisiana standard L.9-10.1 expects clear pronoun reference, and ambiguous pronouns are a common editing-item target.
Related dot points
- Punctuation and sentence structure: applying the conventions of capitalization, punctuation (commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, and end marks), and correct sentence boundaries, recognizing and fixing comma splices, run-on sentences, and fragments, as tested in editing items and rewarded in the Knowledge of Language and Conventions dimension of the LEAP writing rubrics.
The punctuation and sentence-structure conventions LEAP English I and II expect: commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, and correct sentence boundaries, including fixing comma splices, run-ons, and fragments. Tested in editing items and scored in the conventions dimension of the writing rubrics.
- Vocabulary in context: determining the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues (definition, example, contrast, and inference from surrounding sentences), and choosing the meaning that fits the passage, on a LEAP English I or II reading passage where vocabulary is tested in context.
How to determine word meaning in context on a LEAP English I or II passage: using definition, example, contrast, and inference clues, and choosing the meaning that fits the passage rather than a memorized definition. LEAP tests vocabulary in context, often with multiple-meaning words, not as isolated lists.
- Word parts: using knowledge of Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar words, recognizing how a suffix can change a word's part of speech, and combining word-part analysis with context clues on a LEAP English I or II reading passage.
How to use word parts on a LEAP English I or II passage: Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes to determine word meaning, recognizing how suffixes change part of speech, and combining word-part analysis with context. A second tool, alongside context clues, for unknown words under L.9-10.4.
- Editing for grammar and usage: identifying and correcting errors in subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and reference, verb tense, and modifier placement within a draft passage, choosing the correction that follows standard English, on a LEAP English I or II revising and editing item.
How to edit for grammar and usage on a LEAP English I or II item: spotting and fixing subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement and reference, tense, and modifier errors in a draft, and choosing the correction that follows standard English. The same conventions are scored on the writing rubrics.
- The LEAP writing rubric and scoring: how the two prose constructed-response rubrics work, the analytic rubric for the Literary Analysis and Research Simulation tasks (Reading Comprehension and Written Expression, holistic 0 to 4 times 4, plus Knowledge of Language and Conventions 0 to 3, up to 19) and the narrative rubric for the Narrative Writing Task (Written Expression 0 to 4 times 3, plus conventions 0 to 3, up to 15), the rule that an unscorable response earns 0, and how to write toward the top of each, for LEAP English I and II.
How the LEAP English I and II prose responses are scored: the analytic rubric (Reading Comprehension and Written Expression 0 to 4 times 4, plus conventions 0 to 3, up to 19) for the Literary Analysis and Research Simulation tasks, and the narrative rubric (Written Expression 0 to 4 times 3, plus conventions, up to 15). What each dimension rewards and how to write toward the top.
Sources & how we know this
- LEAP 2025 Assessment Guide for English I and English II — LDOE (2025)
- Louisiana Student Standards for English Language Arts — LDOE (2025)