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Pretest
Ready for a test? The following sentences cover some of the most common errors in English. If you don’t know all the answers, don’t worry—the rest of the book can help. At the end of the Pretest you’ll find an Answer Key that not only gives the answers, but also refers you to the chapter that will explain each answer for you.
Pretest
Circle the correct choice.
1. Doris foolishly spent four hours (laying, lying) by the pool and now looks like a radish.
2. Each of those revolting insects (belong, belongs) to an endangered species.
3. The insects are no longer (lying, laying) on the table because every one of them (have fallen, has fallen) onto the carpet.
4. Pauline and a man with a large sheepdog (live, lives) in the apartment above mine.
5. My wife and (I, me, myself) have tickets to the submarine races tonight.
6. Harry was begging for disaster when he (set, sat) his new TV on a rickety table, (lay, laid) a glass of milk on the TV, and left the cat alone in the room.
7. I wish I (was, were) skydiving in the Andes alone with you.
8. It’s (he, him) who left the laundry out in the rain.
9. We surprised Rudolph and (she, her) with a gala anniversary bash.
10. My grandfather left most of his money to a home for wayward dentists; the rest went directly to my daughter and (I, me, myself).
11. I gave your car keys to the woman (who, whom) you recently sued.
12. I’ll give your car keys to (whoever, whomever) asks for them.
13. The machete, (that, which) he’d almost left back at camp, turned out to be critical when Jim was faced with jungle growth (which, that) was too dense to get through on his own.
14. Only Rhonda and the man in the black hat (is, are) doing the tango.
15. Either Phyllis or Leticia (is, are) staying up all night to finish the project.
16. Either Phyllis or the guys in the billing department (is, are) going on an emergency coffee run.
17. I want that pastry so (bad, badly) that I can almost taste it.
18. She spent the next six months looking for someone as (dif ferent than, different from) Reginald as possible.
19. Wanda correctly (inferred, implied) from Steve’s frantic signals that he meant to (imply, infer) that she should get off the train tracks.
20. The motion of the ship had little (affect, effect) on her, but the sudden appearance of her ex-husband on deck (affected, effected) her dramatically.
21. Her story (composes, comprises) many bizarre episodes, each (composed of, comprised of) moments more sordid than the last.
22. To win my love you must meet one simple (criteria, criterion): absolute perfection.
23. We stared (incredibly, incredulously) at the (incredible, incredulous) spectacle of Lulu dancing on the table.
24. I’m going to sell the house and become a cowpoke (irregardless, regardless) of what you say.
25. Angela kept a (respectful, respective) distance from the bears and the wolves, (that, which) eventually retreated to their (respectful, respective) dens.
Answer Key
1. lying. (See Chapter 2—verb tenses.)
2. belongs. (See Chapter 3—agreement.)
3. lying, has fallen. (See Chapter 3—agreement.)
4. live. (See Chapter 3—agreement.)
5. I. (See Chapter 3—agreement.)
6. set, laid. (See Chapter 2—verb tenses.)
7. were. (See Chapter 2—verb tenses.)
8. he. (See Chapter 1—problem pronouns.)
9. her. (See Chapter 1—problem pronouns.)
10. me. (See Chapter 1—problem pronouns.)
11. whom. (See Chapter 1—problem pronouns.)
12. whoever. (See Chapter 1—problem pronouns.)
13. which, that. (See Chapter 1—problem pronouns.)
14. are. (See Chapter 3—agreement.)
15. is. (See Chapter 3—agreement.)
16. are. (See Chapter 3—agreement.)
17. badly. (See Chapter 4—modifiers.)
18. different from. (See Chapter 5—prepositions.)
19. inferred, imply. (See Chapter 8—words that sound the same.)
20. effect, affected. (See Chapter 8—words that sound the same.)
21. comprises, composed of. (See Chapter 8—words that sound the same.)
22. criterion. (See Chapter 7—plurals.)
23. incredulously, incredible. (See Chapter 8—words that sound the same.)
24. regardless. (See Chapter 11—made-up words.)
25. respectful, which, respective. (See Chapter 8—words that sound the same; see also Chapter 1—problem pronouns.)
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