OSSLT - Ontario Secondary School Literacy Using Correct Grammar Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?
- The students they're waiting for there bus over their.
- They're waiting for their bus over there. (Correct answer)
- There waiting for they're bus over their.
- Their waiting for there bus over they're.
Correct answer: They're waiting for their bus over there.
Option B correctly uses all three words. 'They're' is a contraction for 'they are'. 'Their' is a possessive pronoun indicating the bus belongs to them. 'There' is an adverb indicating a location.
Question 2: Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
- The list of required items are on the school website.
- Each of the players have their own equipment.
- The dog, as well as the cats, need to be fed.
- The members of the club are planning a fundraiser. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The members of the club are planning a fundraiser.
In option D, the plural subject 'members' correctly pairs with the plural verb 'are planning'. In option A, the singular subject 'list' requires the singular verb 'is'. In option B, the singular subject 'Each' requires the singular verb 'has'. In option C, the singular subject 'dog' requires the singular verb 'needs'.
Question 3: Read the following paragraph and identify the sentence that contains a verb tense error. (1) Last week, our class went on a field trip to the science centre. (2) We saw many exciting exhibits and performed a cool experiment. (3) A guide explains how the new virtual reality display worked. (4) We all had a fantastic time.
- Sentence 1
- Sentence 2
- Sentence 3 (Correct answer)
- Sentence 4
Correct answer: Sentence 3
The paragraph is written in the past tense to describe a past event ('went', 'saw', 'performed', 'had'). Sentence 3 incorrectly uses the present tense verb 'explains' instead of the past tense verb 'explained', which creates an inconsistent verb tense.
Question 4: Which of the following is a complete and correctly punctuated sentence?
- After the team won the championship game.
- The crowd cheered loudly, the players celebrated on the field.
- The coach was proud of the team's effort and dedication. (Correct answer)
- Because everyone had worked so hard throughout the season and it paid off.
Correct answer: The coach was proud of the team's effort and dedication.
Option C is a complete sentence with a subject ('The coach') and a verb ('was') that expresses a complete thought. Option A is a sentence fragment because it's an introductory phrase without a main clause. Option B is a comma splice, incorrectly joining two independent clauses with only a comma. Option D is a sentence fragment because it begins with 'Because' and is a dependent clause.
Question 5: Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?
- The dog wagged its tail because it's happy to see its owner's car. (Correct answer)
- The dog wagged it's tail because its happy to see its owners' car.
- The dog wagged its tail because its happy to see it's owners car.
- The dog wagged it's tail because it's happy to see its owners car.
Correct answer: The dog wagged its tail because it's happy to see its owner's car.
Option A is correct. 'Its' (no apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun used twice: for the dog's tail and the car's owner. 'It's' (with an apostrophe) is a contraction for 'it is'. 'Owner's' is the correct singular possessive form.
Question 6: Choose the option that correctly punctuates the sentence: 'After the long and difficult exam the students were relieved.'
- After the long and difficult exam the students, were relieved.
- After the long and difficult exam, the students were relieved. (Correct answer)
- After the long, and difficult exam the students were relieved.
- After the long and difficult exam the students were, relieved.
Correct answer: After the long and difficult exam, the students were relieved.
A comma is required after a long introductory phrase to separate it from the main clause of the sentence. 'After the long and difficult exam' is the introductory phrase that sets the stage for the main idea, 'the students were relieved'.
OSSLT - Ontario Secondary School Literacy Using Correct Grammar Questions and Answers
Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?