Civil Service Written Expression and Grammar 1 Flashcards
6 cards from real NYC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Civil Service Written Expression and Grammar 1 flashcards as text
Which sentence is written correctly?
Answer: Neither the supervisor nor the employees were informed of the change.
When using 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Since 'employees' (plural) is closest, the plural verb 'were' is correct.
Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?
Answer: The department's policy requires all staff to submit their reports by Friday.
'Department's' correctly shows singular possession with an apostrophe before the 's', and 'their' is the correct possessive pronoun — not 'they're' (a contraction) or 'there' (a location).
Select the sentence that is free of a dangling modifier.
Answer: While reviewing the file, the clerk decided to close the case.
In option C, the subject 'the clerk' logically performs the action 'reviewing the file.' In the other options, the implied subject of the introductory phrase does not match the subject of the main clause, creating a dangling modifier.
Which word correctly completes the sentence? 'The memo was addressed to _____ will be attending the training session.'
Answer: whoever
'Whoever' is correct because it functions as the subject of the dependent clause 'will be attending the training session.' The entire clause acts as the object of the preposition 'to,' but within its own clause, 'whoever' is a subject, not an object.
Which sentence uses commas correctly?
Answer: The officer, who had been on duty since midnight, submitted the report before noon.
Option B correctly uses commas to set off the nonessential relative clause 'who had been on duty since midnight.' The other options insert commas incorrectly between a subject and verb or between a conjunction and its clause.
Which sentence avoids a double negative?
Answer: The clerk did not receive any confirmation of the updated address.
Option C uses the correct single negative construction 'did not receive any.' The other options each pair a negative verb ('did not,' 'couldn't,' 'didn't') with a negative indefinite ('no'), creating a grammatically incorrect double negative.