English Language: Grammar, Usage and Sentence Structure
What to master
A clerical test checks whether you can spot the sentence that is correct, not merely understandable. Learn subject–verb agreement, pronoun case and reference, verb tense consistency, modifier placement, parallelism, and the difference between a fragment and a run-on. Punctuation matters too: commas in lists and after introductory phrases, apostrophes for possession, and semicolons between related clauses.
Traps
- A prepositional phrase between subject and verb: The list of names is on the desk.
- Compound subjects joined by and take a plural verb; or/nor takes the verb of the nearer subject.
- Dangling modifiers: Walking to the office, the rain soaked me is wrong because the rain was not walking.
- Misplaced only changes meaning.
- Double negatives and nonstandard forms such as could of or irregardless are always wrong.
- Two independent clauses joined by only a comma make a run-on.
Worked example
Choose: Each of the clerks (was/were) asked to sign the register. The subject is Each, which is singular; of the clerks is a prepositional phrase, so the verb is was.
Rule of thumb
To test agreement, cover the phrase between the subject and verb and read the sentence aloud. Then check pronouns and tense in the same pass.