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VirginiaEnglish Language

Editing: Usage and Mechanics

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you find the true subject or antecedent in a sentence and make the verb or pronoun agree with it, especially when a phrase hides the real subject?

Subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement: matching a verb to the number of its true subject (despite intervening phrases or tricky subjects like collective nouns and indefinite pronouns), and matching a pronoun to the number of its antecedent, on the Virginia EOC Writing test's editing items and the Short Paper's Usage and Mechanics domain.
How to fix agreement errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: matching a verb to its true subject despite intervening phrases, handling collective nouns and indefinite pronouns, and matching a pronoun to its antecedent. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
9 min answer →

How do you apply the capitalization rules the EOC tests and catch the spelling errors, especially the commonly confused homophones, that it scores?

Capitalization and spelling: capitalizing proper nouns, the first word of a sentence, titles, and other required cases (but not common nouns), and correcting commonly misspelled words and confused homophones (their/there/they're, your/you're, to/too/two, affect/effect), on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix capitalization and spelling on the Virginia EOC Writing test: capitalizing proper nouns, sentence starts, and titles (not common nouns), and correcting commonly confused homophones (their/there/they're, your/you're, to/too/two, affect/effect). Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
8 min answer →

How do you apply the punctuation rules the EOC tests most, commas, apostrophes, and end and internal marks, to fix a sentence?

Punctuation: commas, apostrophes, and more: applying the high-frequency punctuation rules the EOC tests, commas in a series, after introductory elements, around nonessential phrases, and between coordinated clauses, apostrophes for possession and contractions, and end punctuation and quotation marks, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix punctuation on the Virginia EOC Writing test: commas in a series, after introductory elements, and around nonessential phrases; apostrophes for possession and contractions; and end punctuation and quotation marks. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
9 min answer →

How do you tell a complete sentence from a fragment, spot run-ons and comma splices, and fix each one correctly?

Sentence boundaries, fragments, and run-ons: identifying a complete sentence (a subject and a verb expressing a complete thought), recognizing sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and comma splices, and fixing each with correct punctuation, a conjunction, or restructuring, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix sentence-boundary errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: telling a complete sentence from a fragment, recognizing run-ons and comma splices, and fixing each with a period, semicolon, conjunction, or restructuring. Tested with multiple-choice and editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
9 min answer →

How do you keep verb tense consistent, use the correct pronoun case, and place a modifier next to the word it describes?

Verb tense, pronoun case, and modifiers: keeping verb tense consistent within a passage unless the meaning shifts, choosing subject versus object pronoun case (including who versus whom), and placing modifiers next to the words they describe to avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix verb tense, pronoun case, and modifier errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: keeping tense consistent, choosing subject versus object pronouns (and who/whom), and placing modifiers next to what they describe. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
9 min answer →