Choosing What Grammar to Review in Two Days
A classmate asks you to look at this sentence from her practice exam: 'The government should invests more in public transit because it reduce pollution and commuters which take the bus save money. However, many people prefers cars, so maybe we need a campaign that explain the benefits.' She has two days before the exam and can focus on only one grammar pattern. She wants to know which error is most worth reviewing and which errors are less urgent. Your teacher has said the exam rewards control of basic verb forms and sentence structure more than rare vocabulary. You notice five errors: modal + base form, subject-verb agreement (twice), relative pronoun for people, and third-person singular after 'campaign that'. You must give advice that is realistic for two days.
1. Identify the five errors, correct them, and rank them from most to least urgent for this student. Explain your ranking using error gravity and the teacher's guidance.
Read the worked answer
Corrections:
| Error | Correction | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| should invests | should invest | modal + base form |
| it reduce | it reduces | subject-verb agreement |
| commuters which | commuters who | relative pronoun for people |
| people prefers | people prefer | subject-verb agreement |
| campaign that explain | campaign that explains | subject-verb agreement |
Urgency ranking for two days:
- Subject-verb agreement - three occurrences, basic, and likely to appear in any paragraph. It affects accuracy across the whole text.
- Modal + base form - one occurrence but easy to self-check and very frequent in opinion writing ('should invest,' 'must reduce').
- Relative pronoun 'who' vs 'which' - least urgent here because the meaning is clear and it is a narrower convention. It matters, but it is not worth two days when agreement is unstable.
Reasoning: error gravity depends on frequency, comprehensibility, and transfer. Agreement errors recur and look careless to a marker; 'which' for people is noticeable but does not block meaning.
2. Write a 10-minute review plan for the most urgent pattern, including two example sentences and a quick self-check. Explain why this plan is better than reviewing all five errors.
Read the worked answer
10-minute plan:
- Rule (2 min): A verb agrees with its subject in number; after a modal, use the base form with no -s. Write the rule in your own words.
- Contrast pairs (4 min): 'The government should invest.' / 'It reduces pollution.' 'Many people prefer cars.' / 'The campaign explains the benefits.' Underline the subject and verb each time.
- Self-check (4 min): In your own practice paragraph, circle every verb. Ask: Is there a modal before it? Is the subject singular or plural? Does the verb match? Fix only agreement errors.
Why this beats reviewing all five: two days is short, and splitting attention across five patterns produces recognition without control. One frequent pattern practiced to automaticity is more likely to transfer to exam writing. The relative pronoun can be checked last, in the final proofread, if time remains.