Grammar
The HESI A2 Grammar section is a timed, multiple-choice test of standard edited American English. It asks you to choose the correct word, spot the error, or select the sentence that is punctuated and structured correctly-typically 50 questions in 50 minutes. Questions cluster around the eight parts of speech, sentence completeness, agreement, punctuation, capitalization, modifiers, parallelism, and commonly confused words.
Agreement is the highest-yield rule
A verb agrees with its grammatical subject, not the nearest noun. Prepositional phrases ("of the charts," "with the patients") never change the subject. Indefinite pronouns such as each, either, neither, everyone, and nobody are singular. Compound subjects joined by "and" are plural; joined by "or/nor," the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number and gender: "A nurse should check her or his equipment" or rewrite to plural.
Punctuation that the exam tests
Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) joining two independent clauses. Use a semicolon between closely related independent clauses without a conjunction. Use a colon after a complete clause to introduce a list or explanation. Apostrophes mark possession (the patient's chart) or contraction (it's = it is); "its" is possessive. Do not use an apostrophe for simple plurals.
Worked example
"Each of the nurses ___ completed the mandatory training." Options: has / have. Reasoning: The subject is "Each," an indefinite pronoun that is singular. "Of the nurses" is a prepositional phrase and cannot supply the subject. Therefore the singular verb "has" is correct. If the sentence began "The nurses," the plural "have" would be correct.
Traps
- A comma splice: two independent clauses joined only by a comma.
- A dangling modifier: "Walking into the room, the chart was on the desk" implies the chart walked.
- A pronoun shift: "A patient should take their medication" (formal edited English often requires "his or her" or a plural recast).
- Confused words: affect (verb) vs. effect (noun); then (time) vs. than (comparison); lie (recline) vs. lay (place).
- Apostrophe errors: "nurse's" (one nurse) vs. "nurses'" (several nurses) vs. "nurses" (plural).