Written Communication: Grammar, Usage, and Clarity
What is being measured
Items test standard written English as used in correctional reports: grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice, sentence structure, and clarity. You will often be asked to choose the best version of a sentence or to spot the error.
Core concepts
Subject-verb agreement - locate the true subject and ignore interrupting phrases. Pronoun agreement and case - singular antecedents take singular pronouns; between you and me, not between you and I. Parallel structure - items in a list take the same grammatical form. Modifier placement - a descriptive phrase at the start of a sentence must describe the subject that follows. Sentence boundaries - avoid comma splices and run-ons; join independent clauses with a period, semicolon, or conjunction. Apostrophes - its is possessive, it's means it is.
Frequently confused pairs
affect/effect, their/there/they're, principal/principle, ensure/insure, precede/proceed, quiet/quite, accept/except, than/then. Learn these as pairs; they appear constantly.
Traps
- A long phrase between subject and verb hides disagreement.
- Each, every, either, neither, everyone are singular.
- Starting a sentence with a modifier that describes the wrong noun (Walking to the gate, the radio crackled - the radio was not walking).
- Choosing a wordy option that "sounds official": due to the fact that should be because.
Rule of thumb
Cross out prepositional phrases to find the subject: The officer, along with two supervisors, (was/were) on duty → was, because along with does not create a compound subject. For clarity items, prefer the shortest option that preserves the original meaning and keeps the tone professional.