Written Communication and Grammar Flashcards

An officer writes: 'The suspect fled on foot, then him and his partner were apprehended.' What is the grammatical error?

Answer: Incorrect pronoun case ('him' should be 'he')

In a compound subject, the nominative pronoun 'he' must be used, not the objective 'him.'

Which sentence uses the passive voice correctly in a police report context?

Answer: Evidence was collected by Detective Harris.

Passive voice places the action's recipient first; 'Evidence was collected by Detective Harris' is a valid passive construction.

What does the term 'chronological order' mean in report writing?

Answer: Organizing events in the order they occurred

Chronological order presents events in the sequence they happened, which is the standard for incident reports.

Which of the following is an example of a compound sentence?

Answer: The officer secured the perimeter, and backup arrived within minutes.

A compound sentence joins two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction such as 'and.'

An officer's report states: 'The victim was very unique in her description of events.' What is wrong with this sentence?

Answer: 'Unique' cannot be modified by 'very' because unique is absolute

Unique means one of a kind, so it cannot be intensified with 'very'; something is either unique or it is not.

In a police report, which word best replaces the vague term 'thing' to improve clarity?

Answer: The specific noun naming what was observed

Precise, specific nouns improve clarity and credibility; replacing 'thing' with the actual name of the item is always preferred.

Which sentence correctly uses a semicolon?

Answer: The officer filed the report; however, the case remained open.

A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses, especially when the second begins with a conjunctive adverb like 'however.'