Verb Phrases

Link of the Day

Tibet, the highest nation in the world, has a rich history spanning well over a thousand years. If you have in interest in Chinese or Tibetan history and culture, excellent examples could be found in the Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace, or the Jokhang Temple.

4/11 Identifying Sentence Errors

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. IF the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E. 

First, read the sentence to see if anything "sounds wrong," and use that as your prediction. Check that section of the sentence against the English grammar rules you know, and if necessary continue to check the other options as well. Finally, select the section of the sentence that contains the error.

ALong been isolated Bfrom the outside world and perched Chigh in the Tibetan Himalayas, Lhasa is the capital of Tibet, Dan autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. ENo error

First, read the sentence. Does anything sound strange? A probably does, so check that answer choice first.

Focus on the word "been" first. Verbs are often the easiest to evaluate. "Been" is a helping verb, but there is not another verb here for it to help. The next word, "isolated," looks like a verb, but it is acting as an adjective in this sentence; therefore, "been isolated" cannot be the verb phrase of this sentence. the answer might be A, but check the other choices quickly before making a selection.

B: "from" is a preposition. Its object is "world," and it modifies the participle "insulated." It is used correctly.

C: "high in" functions as a single preposition with "Tibetan Himalayas" as its object. The prepositional phrase modifies "perched" and is used correctly.

D: "an autonomous region" is an appositive, a phrase that describes or defines a noun. They are almost always set off by commas. This phrase modifies "Tibet," so it is used correctly.

The answer is A.


On sat.collegeboard.org, 79% of responses were correct.


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