Pretest

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 en-
dangered species.
3. The insects are no longer (lying, laying) on the table be-
cause 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.

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 When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People

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 anniver-
sary bash.
10. My grandfather left most of his money to a home for way-
ward dentists; the rest went directly to my daughter and (I,
me, myself).
11. I gave your car keys to the woman (who, whom) you re-
cently 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 fin-
ish 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.
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 Pretest

20. The motion of the ship had little (affect, effect) on her, but
the sudden appearance of her ex-husband on deck (af-
fected, 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, crite-
rion): absolute perfection.
23. We stared (incredibly, incredulously) at the (incredible, in-
credulous) 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.)
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 When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People

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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