Improving Sentences

Tests your ability to correct faults in usage and sentence structure, and recognize effective

sentences that follow the conventions of Standard Written English.

1. Scenes from the everyday lives of African Americans, which are realistically depicted in the

paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner.

2. Looking up from the base of the mountain, the trail seemed more treacherous than it really

was.

3. One of the most common types of mistakes that inexperienced physicians make is misreading

symptoms, another that occurs about as frequently is recommending inappropriate treatment.

4. Underestimating its value, breakfast is a meal many people skip.

5. Certain shipwrecks have a particular fascination for those people which have a belief in

finding the treasure in them.

6. The revolt against Victorianism was perhaps even more marked in poetry than either fiction or

drama.

7. Many of the instruments used in early operations of the United States Army Signal Corps were

adaptations of equipment used by the Plains Indians, particularly that of the heliograph.

8. The problem of antibiotic resistance, frequently compounded in certain countries because the

sale and use of antibiotics are not tightly controlled.

Improving Sentences: Practice Answers

1. The paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner realistically depict scenes from the everyday lives of

African Americans.

For a sentence to be grammatically complete, it must include both a subject and a main verb.

When a sentence lacks either a subject or a main verb, the result is a sentence fragment. In this

example all options but (C) are sentence fragments.

In (A), the phrase "Scenes ... Americans " is modified by the dependent clause "which ...

Tanner," but there is no main verb.

In (B), the phrase "Scenes ... Tanner" contains no main verb.

In (D), the noun "Henry Ossawa Tanner" is modified by "depicting" but is not combined

with a main verb.

And in (E), the noun "Henry Ossawa Tanner" is modified by the dependent clause

"whose ... Americans" but not combined with a main verb.

(C) is correct. It is the only choice in which a subject ("The paintings of Henry Ossawa

Tanner") is combined with a verb ("depict") to express a complete thought

2. Viewed

When a modifying phrase begins a sentence, it must logically modify the sentence's subject;

otherwise, it is a dangling modifier. In this example, every option except (E) is a dangling

modifier.

In (A), the phrase "Looking up from the base of the mountain" does not logically modify

the subject "the trail." A person might stand at the base of a mountain and look up at a

trail, but it is illogical to suggest that a trail looks up from the base of a mountain.

(B), (C), and (D) are simply variations of the error found in (A). Each results in a

sentence that illogically suggests that a trail was looking up from the base of a mountain.

(E) is correct. Although a trail cannot itself look up from the base of a mountain, a trail

can be viewed by someone looking up from the base of a mountain, so the phrase

"Viewed from the base of the mountain" logically modifies the subject "the trail."

3. symptoms; another one that occurs

This sentence illustrates a comma splice, the incorrect use of a comma to connect two complete

sentences. Choice (B) correctly uses a semicolon to coordinate two independent clauses and form

a compound sentence (while at the same time keeping verb tenses parallel). The correct sentence

reads: One of the most common types of mistakes that inexperienced physicians make is

misreading symptoms; another one that occurs about as frequently is recommending

inappropriate treatment

4. Many people skip breakfast because they underestimate its value.

The problem with this sentence is that the opening phrase "underestimating its value" modifies

"breakfast," not "people." The order of the words in the sentence in choice (D) does not have this

problem of a misplaced modifying phrase. Choice (D) also clarifies the causal relationship

between the two clauses in the sentence. None of the other choices convey the information

presented in the sentence as effectively and directly as choice (D).

5. who believe that there is treasure to be found in them

This sentence is awkward as written, and the pronoun "which" is the wrong relative pronoun to

refer to "people" (the antecedent of the pronoun in this sentence). Choice (D) uses the correct

pronoun "who" and more effectively than the other choices states the characteristics of people

who are fascinated by shipwrecks. The correct sentence reads: Certain shipwrecks have a

particular fascination for those people who believe that there is treasure to be found in

them.

6. in either fiction or drama

Correcting the error in this sentence requires close attention to the need for parallelism. The

structure of the underlined portion should match the structure of the phrase "in poetry" that

appears earlier in the sentence. Neither choice (A) nor choice (B) includes the preposition "in."

Among the remaining choices, only choice (D) has the preposition "in" appropriately located in

the phrase. The correct sentence reads: The revolt against Victorianism was perhaps even

more marked in poetry than in either fiction or drama.

7. Corps, and in particular the heliograph, were adaptations of equipment used by the Plains

Indians

Correcting the error in this sentence requires moving the information about the heliograph closer

to "instruments," which is the material it relates to. Only choice (D) accomplishes this without

introducing an error in subject-verb agreement, as in (C), or producing a sentence fragment, as in

(E). The correct sentence reads: Many of the instruments used in early operations of the

United States Army Signal Corps, and in particular the heliograph, were adaptations of

equipment used by the Plains Indians.

8. resistance is frequently compounded in certain countries where

This sentence is a fragment as written; there is no verb in the main clause. Of the choices offered,

only (C) and (D) correct this problem. (D) is the best choice because the adverb "where"

connects the second part of the sentence in a way that clarifies the relationship between the two

parts of the sentence. The correct sentence reads: The problem of antibiotic resistance is

frequently compounded in certain countries where the sale and use of antibiotics are not

tightly controlled.