Writing and Language
The Writing and Language domain tests grammar, usage, punctuation, sentence structure, and revision. Questions often ask you to choose the version that is clearest and most conventional, not the most formal-sounding one.
Sentence-level rules
- Subject-verb agreement: find the true subject. Phrases such as along with, as well as, and each of do not create a plural subject.
- Pronouns: agree in number and case. Use between you and me because between takes an object pronoun.
- Tense: keep tense consistent unless the timeline requires a shift.
- Modifiers: place a descriptive phrase next to the noun it describes.
- Parallelism: lists and comparisons need matching grammatical forms.
- Punctuation: a comma cannot join two complete sentences. Use a period, semicolon, or conjunction. Use a colon after a complete sentence to introduce a list.
- Apostrophes: it's means it is; its is possessive.
Worked example
The committee, along with the department heads, (was/were) asked to submit a plan. The subject is committee, which is singular. The phrase along with the department heads is parenthetical and does not add a plural subject. The correct choice is was. If the sentence said The committee members, the verb would become were.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing the longest or most formal option.
- Treating however as a conjunction that can join two sentences with a comma.
- Putting commas around an essential clause that identifies the noun.
- Misplacing only so it modifies the wrong word.
- Mixing up their, there, and they're.
Read the full sentence before selecting an answer, and substitute the choice back into the sentence to test it.