How do you spot and fix grammar and usage errors in a draft, the agreement, tense, and modifier problems the editing items target?
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.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this skill is asking
Editing for grammar and usage is the mechanics half of the revising and editing items: spotting an error in a draft and choosing the correction that follows standard English. The errors LEAP English I and II target most are the same high-frequency conventions covered in the language module, subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement and clear reference, verb tense consistency, and modifier placement, now applied to finding and fixing mistakes in a passage. You will see items that present a sentence and ask which version is correct, or that underline part of a sentence and ask for the best correction. This page covers the common error types and how to fix them in context. The transferable skill is proofreading: reading a draft to catch the errors that standard English forbids, which is exactly what protects the conventions score on your own written responses.
The high-frequency error types
A handful of error types account for most editing items.
The indefinite-pronoun trap is worth special note: "each," "every," "everyone," "either," and "neither" are singular, so "each of the students has" is correct, not "have," even though "students" is plural. The between-the-subject-and-verb trap ("the box of nails is") works the same way. These are the same conventions taught in the grammar-and-usage page; the difference here is the task, finding and fixing the error rather than just recognizing the rule. Editing also overlaps with sentence boundaries (the next skill) and word choice, the other mechanics-and-precision targets.
Why editing practice pays off twice
These conventions are scored on your writing too.
This double payoff is the reason to take editing seriously even though it tests rules rather than ideas. The habit of reading a sentence and asking "does the verb match the subject? does this pronoun clearly point to one noun? is the tense consistent? is the modifier in the right place?" is the same habit that keeps your written responses clean. The writing-rubric page sets out how conventions are scored; this page builds the proofreading skill that earns those points.
Working an editing item
Try this
Q1. Why is "Each of the students have a locker" incorrect, and what is the fix? [Recall]
- Cue. "Each" is a singular indefinite pronoun, so it takes a singular verb: "Each of the students has a locker." The phrase "of the students" does not control the verb. Indefinite pronouns like "each" and "everyone" are singular.
Q2. A draft reads, "The committee announced its decision, and members celebrates the result." What is the error, and how would you fix it? [Short explanation]
- Cue. "Members celebrates" is a subject-verb agreement error: "members" is plural and needs the plural verb "celebrate." The fix is "members celebrated" or "members celebrate," keeping the verb in agreement (and consistent in tense with "announced").
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 marksEdit for correctness: 'Each of the students have turned in their project.' Which correction follows standard English? (1) 'Each of the students have turned in their project.' (2) 'Each of the students has turned in their project.' (3) 'Each of the students having turned in their project.' (4) No change is needed.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). The subject is "Each" (singular), so it takes the singular verb "has," not "have." The phrase "of the students" is a prepositional phrase and does not control the verb. "Each ... has turned in" is correct.
Why not the others: (1) keeps the agreement error ("Each ... have"); (3) "having turned" creates a fragment; (4) a change is needed because "have" is wrong. Indefinite pronouns like "each," "every," and "everyone" are singular, a frequent editing target under L.9-10.1.
LEAP 2025 English II (style)1 marksEdit for tense consistency: 'She opened the letter and reads it twice.' Which correction is best? (1) 'She opened the letter and reads it twice.' (2) 'She opened the letter and read it twice.' (3) 'She opens the letter and reads it twice.' (4) Both (2) and (3) are acceptable corrections.Show worked answer →
Answer: (4). The error is a tense shift: "opened" (past) does not match "reads" (present). Making both verbs past ("opened ... read") or both present ("opens ... reads") fixes the inconsistency, so (2) and (3) are both acceptable corrections.
Why not (1): it keeps the inconsistent shift. The key point is consistency: within a sentence (and usually a passage), keep the tense steady unless the meaning calls for a change. LEAP editing items frequently test unintended tense shifts.
Related dot points
- Revising for clarity and organization: improving a draft's focus, development, and organization by choosing the best transition, the most logical sentence order, the sentence that best supports a point, or the change that sharpens meaning, distinguishing revising (content and clarity) from editing (mechanics) on a LEAP English I or II revising and editing item.
How to revise a draft on a LEAP English I or II revising and editing item: improving focus, development, and organization by choosing the best transition, sentence order, or supporting sentence. Revising targets clarity and content; editing targets mechanics, and these items reward the change that improves meaning.
- Sentence boundaries and combining: recognizing and correcting comma splices, run-on sentences, and fragments, and combining short or choppy sentences into clearer, more varied ones using coordination, subordination, and appositives, on a LEAP English I or II revising and editing item.
How to handle sentence boundaries on a LEAP English I or II item: fixing comma splices, run-ons, and fragments, and combining choppy sentences using coordination, subordination, and appositives for clearer, more varied writing. These boundary skills are tested in editing items and rewarded on the writing rubrics.
- Word choice and precision: improving a draft by choosing the most precise and appropriate word, cutting wordiness and redundancy, matching tone and register to the writing, and selecting words for their connotation, on a LEAP English I or II revising and editing item, the skill that also lifts written expression on the prose responses.
How to improve word choice on a LEAP English I or II item: choosing the most precise, appropriate word, cutting wordiness and redundancy, and matching tone and connotation. Precise word choice is tested in editing items and rewarded in the written-expression and conventions dimensions of the writing rubrics.
- 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.
- 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)