Writing: 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.
Always
read the entire sentence to yourself so that you understand its structure and
meaning. Listen for errors as you read the
sentence, and then evaluate each underlined portion using the Big 8 Grammar
Rules. Identify any error that you find
and mark it, but be sure to quickly check all of your choices.
Aside from Shakespeare, perhaps no writer in English have engaged the public’s imagination more thoroughly than Charles Dickens. No error
(A) This is an idiomatic
phrase that means the same thing as “apart from” or “except for.” The word “from” is the correct preposition to
follow “aside.” There is no error here.
(B) The word “perhaps” adds
a degree of uncertainty to the sentence.
Of course you could eliminate it, but that would change the meaning of
the sentence. There is no error here.
(C) When you have a verb underlined, always check
that it matches the subject. Here the
subject is separated from the verb by the prepositional phrase “in English.” Ignore that phrase. Would you say “no writer have engaged?” No!
You must use the singular verb “has” instead of the plural verb “have” because “writer” is singular. Mark this error and move on.
(D) The word “more” is used when only two things
or people are being compared. Here a nonexistent,
hypothetical writer (singular) is compared to Charles Dickens, so “more” is
correct. The word “thoroughly” is a
modifier. It ends in “-ly,”
as adverbs should, and is placed as close as possible to the word it
modifies. The word “than” is used for
comparisons; the word “then” is related to time and used for sequences. There is no error here.
(E) This cannot be the
correct answer because you have already identified an error.
The correct answer is (C).
On sat.collegeboard.org, 81% of the
responses were correct.
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