Applied grammar and sentence correction
Applied grammar and sentence correction tests whether you can spot and repair errors in agreement, case, tense, preposition and pronoun. The MSBSHSE paper may use fill-in-the-blank, choose-the-correct-form, transform the sentence, or correct the underlined word. You need a checklist, not guesswork.
Checklist
- Subject-verb agreement: gender, number, person; non-human plural often takes feminine singular.
- Case: fa'il marfu', maf'ul mansub, noun after preposition majrur, idafa second term majrur.
- Particles: إنّ and sisters; كان and sisters; لا الناهية + majzum mudari'.
- Tense: past/present/command; do not mix unless the meaning requires it.
- Pronoun: does هو/هي/هم refer to the right noun?
- Preposition: does the verb require بـ, إلى, عن, على?
Worked example
Incorrect: ذهبتْ الطلابُ إلى المدرسةِ. Correct: ذهبَ الطلابُ إلى المدرسةِ. Reasoning: الطلابُ is a masculine human plural, so the verb must be masculine singular ذهبَ, not feminine ذهبتْ. إلى makes المدرسةِ majrur. If the subject were الكتبُ (non-human plural), a feminine singular verb or adjective would be normal.
Traps
Correcting the case but not the verb; overcorrecting a correct sentence; treating non-human plurals like human plurals; forgetting that إنّ makes the noun mansub; changing the meaning while fixing grammar. Always reread the corrected sentence whole.