Writing and Language Conventions
What this domain tests
Writing and Language Conventions tests standard Edited American English: sentence boundaries, agreement, pronoun case and reference, modifier placement, parallelism, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and effective revision. Questions often ask you to choose the version that is grammatical, clear, and idiomatic-not merely the shortest.
Core rules
- A sentence needs an independent clause; a comma alone cannot join two independent clauses.
- Subject-verb agreement is determined by the grammatical subject, not by a phrase between subject and verb.
- Pronouns need a clear antecedent and correct case: subject pronouns for subjects, object pronouns for objects, possessive forms before gerunds.
- Modifiers should sit next to what they modify.
- Items in a list or comparison must be parallel in form.
- Restrictive clauses take no commas; nonrestrictive clauses take commas.
- Apostrophes mark possession or contraction, not plural nouns.
Worked example
Sentence: ‘Walking past the lab, the experiment’s results surprised Maya.’
Reasoning: The introductory participial phrase ‘Walking past the lab’ should modify Maya, but the sentence places it before ‘the experiment’s results,’ producing a dangling modifier. Revision: ‘Walking past the lab, Maya was surprised by the experiment’s results.’ The key is that the modifier’s logical subject appears immediately after the comma.
Traps that cost marks
Letting a prepositional phrase hide the subject (‘The box of samples was’); using ‘they’ with an unclear singular antecedent; confusing ‘its/it’s,’ ‘their/there/they’re,’ and ‘affect/effect’; joining clauses with ‘however’ and a comma; and choosing a bulky revision when a concise, grammatical one exists. On revision questions, check meaning first, then grammar, then concision.