Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner Quiz: Editing For Common Errors
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Editing For Common ErrorsQuestion 1 of 10

A student wrote this sentence: "I am very exciting about the concert, and I buyed my ticket yesterday." Which edited version correctly fixes ALL the errors?

"I was very excited about the concert, and I bought my ticket yesterday." — 'am' becomes 'was' and 'buyed' becomes 'bought' to keep all verbs in the past tense.
"I am very exciting about the concert, and I have bought my ticket yesterday." — 'buyed' becomes 'have bought' to form the present perfect for a recent action.
"I am very excited about the concert, and I bought my ticket yesterday." — 'exciting' becomes 'excited' and 'buyed' becomes 'bought.'
"I am very excited about the concert, and I have buyed my ticket yesterday." — 'exciting' becomes 'excited' and the verb becomes present perfect to match the time word.
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Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner Quiz

Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner Quiz: Editing For Common Errors

Practice Editing For Common Errors in Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Editing For Common Errors, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Adult ESL/ELL High Beginner.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

A student wrote this sentence: "I am very exciting about the concert, and I buyed my ticket yesterday." Which edited version correctly fixes ALL the errors?

  1. "I was very excited about the concert, and I bought my ticket yesterday." — 'am' becomes 'was' and 'buyed' becomes 'bought' to keep all verbs in the past tense.
  2. "I am very exciting about the concert, and I have bought my ticket yesterday." — 'buyed' becomes 'have bought' to form the present perfect for a recent action.
  3. "I am very excited about the concert, and I bought my ticket yesterday." — 'exciting' becomes 'excited' and 'buyed' becomes 'bought.' (correct answer)
  4. "I am very excited about the concert, and I have buyed my ticket yesterday." — 'exciting' becomes 'excited' and the verb becomes present perfect to match the time word.
Explanation: When you see a sentence with two errors, slow down and fix each one separately before looking at the answer choices. This question tests two common grammar trouble spots: adjective confusion (exciting vs. excited) and irregular past tense verbs. The first error is "exciting." Feelings use -ed adjectives, not -ing ones. "Exciting" describes what causes a feeling — a concert can be exciting. "Excited" describes how a person feels — you feel excited. Since the sentence is about how the speaker feels, "excited" is correct. The second error is "buyed." The verb buy is irregular, so it doesn't follow the normal -ed rule. Its simple past form is bought, not "buyed." The sentence also includes "yesterday," a specific past time marker, which tells you simple past tense is needed. Answer C makes both fixes cleanly: "excited" replaces "exciting," and "bought" replaces "buyed" — while keeping "am" in present tense, which is perfectly fine since the excitement is ongoing. Answer A is a trap. It changes "am" to "was," putting everything in past tense, but nothing in the sentence requires that. The speaker can currently be excited about an upcoming concert. Answer B doesn't fix the first error at all — "exciting" stays in place — and "have bought yesterday" is incorrect because present perfect cannot be used with specific past time words like "yesterday." Answer D also keeps the present perfect with "yesterday," which is the same grammar mistake as B, even though it correctly fixes "excited." Your study tip: memorize common irregular verbs (buy/bought, go/went, take/took) and remember — if you feel it, use the -ed form.

Question 2

Tomás wrote a note to his teacher:

"Dear Mr. Lee I am sorry I miss class on friday I had a doctor appointment and my mom drive me there thank you for understanding"

Tomás's note has several punctuation and capitalization errors. Which sentence correctly describes the MINIMUM number of corrections needed to fix only the punctuation and capitalization errors (not grammar errors)?

  1. Four corrections: add a comma after 'Lee,' capitalize 'friday' to 'Friday,' add a period after 'appointment,' and add a period after 'there.'
  2. Two corrections: add a comma after 'Lee' and capitalize 'friday' to 'Friday,' since those are the only punctuation and capitalization issues in the note.
  3. Three corrections: add a comma after 'Lee,' capitalize 'friday' to 'Friday,' and add a period at the very end of the note after 'understanding.'
  4. Five corrections: add a comma after 'Lee,' capitalize 'friday' to 'Friday,' and add periods after 'appointment,' after 'there,' and after 'understanding.' (correct answer)
Explanation: When checking writing for punctuation and capitalization errors, go through the text carefully from start to finish — don't stop after finding one or two mistakes. This question tests exactly that skill. Look at Tomás's note piece by piece. After "Dear Mr. Lee," a comma is required in a letter greeting — that's correction one. The word "friday" must be capitalized as "Friday" because days of the week are always proper nouns — that's correction two. Now here's where students often go wrong: the note contains three separate sentences, and each one needs a period. "I am sorry I miss class on Friday" is a complete thought — add a period, correction three. "I had a doctor appointment and my mom drive me there" is a second complete sentence — add a period, correction four. Finally, "Thank you for understanding" is a third complete sentence that ends the note — add a period, correction five. That gives you five total corrections, making D the correct answer. Choice A is wrong because it only counts four corrections and misses the period needed after "understanding." Choice B is the biggest trap — it only identifies two corrections, ignoring that three separate sentences inside the note are missing periods entirely. Choice C gets closer with three corrections but only adds one period at the very end, missing the two periods needed inside the note after "appointment" and "there." A useful strategy: when counting punctuation corrections, identify every complete sentence first, then check that each one ends with a period. Students often spot the first error and assume they've found them all — always read the entire passage.

Question 3

Dear ms johnson

I am writing to apply for the job. I have three year of experience in customer service. I beleive I am a good fit for this position.

Sincerely Ana Rivera

Ana is editing her letter before sending it. Which edit corrects ONE punctuation error AND ONE spelling error in the letter?

  1. Capitalize 'ms' to 'Ms.' and change 'three year' to 'three years' — fixing the capitalization of a title and correcting a noun agreement error.
  2. Add a comma after 'Johnson' in the greeting (so it reads 'Dear Ms. Johnson,') and change 'beleive' to 'believe' — fixing the missing punctuation after the greeting and correcting the misspelled word. (correct answer)
  3. Add a comma after 'Sincerely' and change 'beleive' to 'believe' — fixing the punctuation after the closing and correcting the misspelled word.
  4. Change 'three year' to 'three years' and add a comma after 'Johnson' — fixing a noun agreement error and adding missing punctuation in the greeting.
Explanation: When editing a formal letter, you need to check two things separately: punctuation rules (commas, periods) and spelling. The question asks you to find one fix for each category. In a formal letter greeting like "Dear Ms. Johnson," a comma is required after the person's name. Ana's letter is missing that comma, writing "Dear ms johnson" instead of "Dear Ms. Johnson," — that's the punctuation error. The spelling error is "beleive," which should be "believe" (remember: i before e, except after c). Answer B correctly identifies both of these fixes, making it the right choice. Now let's look at why the other answers miss the mark. Answer A fixes the capitalization of "ms" to "Ms." — but capitalization is not punctuation. It also changes "three year" to "three years," which is a grammar error (noun agreement), not a spelling error. So A addresses neither a punctuation error nor a spelling error as the question defines them. Answer C correctly fixes "beleive" to "believe," but adding a comma after "Sincerely" is actually correct style — the comma belongs after the closing word in American letter format. However, the bigger problem is that this edit ignores the more obvious missing comma in the greeting, leaving a clear error unfixed. Answer D fixes "three year" to "three years" (grammar, not spelling) and adds a comma after "Johnson" (punctuation) — so it only fixes one of the two required error types. A helpful tip: on editing questions, always identify the type of error first — punctuation, spelling, grammar, or capitalization — before choosing your answer. The question will often tell you exactly what types to look for.

Question 4

Carlos: did you finish the report Maria: yes i finished it this morning but i forgot to save it Carlos: Oh no. Can you write it again

A student is editing the dialogue above. Which line has BOTH a missing capital letter AND missing end punctuation?

  1. 'Oh no. Can you write it again' — 'Oh' should not be capitalized because it is an exclamation in the middle of dialogue, and a period is missing.
  2. 'did you finish the report' — 'did' should be capitalized, and since Carlos already knows the answer, no end punctuation is needed.
  3. 'Can you write it again' — 'Can' is already capitalized, so only a question mark is missing, making it one error, not two.
  4. 'yes i finished it this morning but i forgot to save it' — 'yes' should be capitalized and the sentence needs a period at the end. (correct answer)
Explanation: When editing dialogue, you need to check two things for every line: Does the sentence start with a capital letter? Does it end with the right punctuation mark (period, question mark, or exclamation point)? This question asks you to find the one line that is missing both. Look at answer D — Maria's line "yes i finished it this morning but i forgot to save it." The word "yes" begins a new sentence spoken by a new speaker, so it must be capitalized: "Yes." The line also ends with no punctuation at all, so a period is needed. That gives you two errors in one line: a missing capital letter and missing end punctuation. D is your correct answer. Now let's look at why the others don't work. Answer A is tricky because "Oh no. Can you write it again" actually does have two problems — "Can you write it again" is missing a question mark — but the explanation in choice A is wrong on the facts. It incorrectly claims "Oh" shouldn't be capitalized, when in reality "Oh" correctly begins Carlos's line and should be capitalized. Reading the explanation carefully reveals it contains false information, so A is incorrect. Answer B claims Carlos "already knows the answer," which is not a rule in grammar — every question still needs a question mark, and "did" still needs a capital. B is wrong on both its reasoning and its conclusion. Answer C correctly identifies that "Can you write it again" is missing a question mark, but since "Can" is already capitalized, there is only one error in that portion, not two. A helpful strategy: go through each line like a checklist — capital letter at the start, correct punctuation at the end. Count your errors before choosing.

Question 5

Last weekend, my friends and I goes to the park. We bringed sandwiches and drinks. The weather was beautiful, and we have a great time.

A student wants to correct ONE error in the passage. Which correction fixes a verb form error without introducing a new mistake?

  1. Change 'goes' to 'went' to match the past time signal 'Last weekend' and the plural subject 'my friends and I.' (correct answer)
  2. Change 'bringed' to 'brought' and leave 'goes' as it is, since 'goes' is correct for a group activity done regularly.
  3. Change 'have' to 'had' and leave 'goes' unchanged, since 'goes' agrees with the word 'weekend,' which is singular.
  4. Change 'bringed' to 'brang' to form the correct irregular past tense, since 'bring' follows the same pattern as 'sing/sang.'
Explanation: When you see a passage with time signals like "last weekend," that's your cue to check every verb — they all need to be in the simple past tense to match. The passage has three verb errors, but the question asks you to fix just one without creating a new mistake. "Goes" is present tense and is used with singular subjects (she goes), but the subject here is "my friends and I," which is plural — and the action happened in the past. Changing "goes" to "went" fixes both the tense and subject-agreement problem at once, making A the correct answer. B is wrong for two reasons: "brought" is actually the correct fix for "bringed," but leaving "goes" unchanged is not acceptable — "goes" is present tense and doesn't fit a past event. The explanation that "goes" is correct for group routines is a trap; regular habits still need context to justify present tense, and "last weekend" overrules that. C is wrong because it misidentifies why "goes" could stay. "Goes" doesn't agree with "weekend" — verbs agree with their subject, not nearby nouns. The subject is "my friends and I," which is plural. D is wrong because "brang" is not a standard English word. While "bring/brought" does share a pattern with some irregular verbs, it does not follow the sing/sang pattern. "Brought" is the only correct past form. Your study tip: always identify the subject and the time signal first — they tell you exactly what verb form you need.

Question 6

My sister work at a hospital. She help sick people every day. Yesterday, she worked very hard and come home late.

Which sentence in the passage contains an error that needs to be corrected?

  1. "My sister work at a hospital" — 'work' should be 'works' because 'my sister' is a third-person singular subject. (correct answer)
  2. "Yesterday, she worked very hard" — 'worked' should be 'works' because the sentence describes a habit she has every day.
  3. "She help sick people every day" — 'help' should be 'helped' because the next sentence talks about yesterday, so past tense is needed.
  4. "She come home late" — 'come' should be 'comes' because she does this every day as part of her regular job routine.
Explanation: When you see a question about verb errors, your first job is to identify the subject of each sentence and ask: does this verb match the subject, and does the tense match the time frame? In English, present tense verbs follow a key rule: with a third-person singular subject (he, she, it, or any single person/thing), you must add -s to the verb. "My sister" means one person — she — so the correct verb is "works," not "work." This makes A the sentence containing the error that needs correcting. Now let's look at why the other choices are wrong. B is actually correct as written — "worked" is simple past tense, which is exactly right because the sentence describes something that happened "yesterday." Changing it to "works" would be the error, not the fix. C tries to trick you by suggesting that because the next sentence mentions yesterday, this sentence should also be past tense. But "She help sick people every day" describes a regular, ongoing habit — it belongs in the present tense. The real problem with that sentence is the missing -s ("helps"), but that wasn't the correction offered in choice C, making C's reasoning incorrect. D points to "come home late" but claims the fix is "comes" because it's a routine. However, "come home late" in that sentence refers to yesterday — a past event — so the correct fix would actually be "came," not "comes." Study tip: Always match your verb to two things: the subject (add -s for he/she/it) and the time frame (past event = past tense). Check both every time.

Question 7

A student wrote this paragraph: "Every morning, my father make breakfast. He always fry eggs and toast the bread. My brother and I eats quickly because we are late for school." Which sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error involving a PLURAL subject?

  1. 'He always fry eggs' — the subject 'He' is singular, so 'fry' should be 'fries,' making this a singular subject-verb agreement error, not a plural one.
  2. 'Every morning, my father make breakfast' — the subject 'my father' is plural in meaning because it refers to daily family activity, so 'make' is correct.
  3. 'My brother and I eats quickly' — the subject 'my brother and I' is plural (two people), so the verb should be 'eat,' not 'eats.' (correct answer)
  4. 'My brother and I eats quickly' — the subject 'I' is first-person singular, so 'eats' is actually correct for the first-person speaker in the sentence.
Explanation: When checking subject-verb agreement, your first job is to identify the complete subject — not just the first word you see. A key rule: when two subjects are joined by "and," they form a plural subject, and plural subjects need a base-form verb (no "-s" ending). In the sentence "My brother and I eats quickly," the subject is "my brother and I" — that's two people, making it plural. Plural subjects take the base form of the verb, so the correct verb is "eat," not "eats." Answer C correctly identifies this as a plural subject-verb agreement error. Now let's look at why the other choices miss the mark. Answer A points to "He always fry eggs," which is a real error — but "He" is singular, not plural. This is a singular subject-verb agreement mistake (it should be "fries"), so it doesn't answer what the question is asking about. Answer B claims "my father" is plural "in meaning" because it refers to a daily family activity — this is completely false. "My father" refers to one person and is singular. The error in that sentence (make instead of makes) is another singular agreement mistake, not a plural one. Answer D tries to argue that "eats" is correct because "I" is first-person singular — but the subject isn't just "I." When you have "my brother AND I," both people together form the subject, overriding any singular analysis of "I" alone. A useful tip: whenever you see subjects connected by "and," automatically treat them as plural and reach for the base verb form — no "-s" needed.

Question 8

A student wrote this sentence: "I recieved a letter from my freind last tuesday." How many spelling and capitalization errors does the sentence contain, and which words need to be corrected?

  1. Three errors: 'recieved' should be 'received,' 'freind' should be 'friend,' and 'tuesday' should be capitalized as 'Tuesday.' (correct answer)
  2. Two errors: 'recieved' should be 'received,' and 'freind' should be 'friend.' The word 'tuesday' is correct as written in informal writing.
  3. Two errors: 'freind' should be 'friend,' and 'tuesday' should be 'Tuesday.' The word 'recieved' is spelled correctly with 'ie' after 'c.'
  4. One error: only 'freind' is misspelled; it should be 'friend.' The other words follow standard spelling and capitalization rules.
Explanation: When proofreading a sentence, you need to check two separate things: spelling rules and capitalization rules. Treating them as one task helps you catch every error without missing anything. In the sentence "I recieved a letter from my freind last tuesday," there are exactly three errors. First, "recieved" violates the classic spelling rule "i before e, except after c." Because the letter c comes right before this vowel pair, the correct order flips: it must be "received" (e before i). Second, "freind" also involves ei versus ie, but here there is no c before it, so the rule applies normally — the correct spelling is "friend" (i before e). Third, "tuesday" names a specific day of the week. In English, all days of the week are proper nouns and must always be capitalized, no matter the writing style: "Tuesday." This gives you three total corrections, making A the right answer. Choice B is a trap because it claims "tuesday" is acceptable in informal writing — that is false. Days of the week are always capitalized in standard English, formal or informal. Choice C incorrectly states that "recieved" is spelled correctly with ie after c — this is exactly backwards; after c, you need ei, not ie. Choice D drastically undercounts the errors by calling only "freind" wrong, ignoring both the misspelling of "received" and the capitalization issue. A handy study tip: memorize "i before e, except after c" as your spelling check, and remember that days, months, and proper names always get a capital letter — no exceptions, even in texting or casual writing.

Question 9

A student wrote this sentence: "She doesn't knows where the library is, but she will asked someone for help." Which edit correctly fixes BOTH verb errors in the sentence?

  1. Change 'knows' to 'know' and change 'asked' to 'ask,' so the sentence reads: "She doesn't know where the library is, but she will ask someone for help." (correct answer)
  2. Change 'doesn't' to 'don't' and change 'will asked' to 'will asking,' so the verb forms match the plural meaning of the sentence.
  3. Change 'knows' to 'known' and change 'asked' to 'asks,' making both verbs agree with the subject 'she' in the present tense.
  4. Change 'doesn't knows' to 'don't know' and change 'will asked' to 'would have asked,' since the sentence describes a past situation with a future result.
Explanation: When you see a sentence with helping verbs like doesn't or will, remember this rule: the main verb that follows a helping verb must stay in its base form (the simple, unchanged verb). This question tests whether you can spot two different helping-verb errors in one sentence. Look at the original: "She doesn't knows... she will asked." The helping verb doesn't already carries the third-person singular ending, so the main verb must be plain know, not knows. Adding "-s" to both words is doubling up the grammar work. Similarly, will signals future tense on its own, so the verb after it must be the base form ask, not asked (past tense). Choice A fixes both problems cleanly: doesn't know and will ask. The helping verbs do their job, and the main verbs stay in base form. This is the correct answer. Choice B changes doesn't to don't, which would only be correct for plural subjects like they — but the subject is she, so doesn't is actually right. It also introduces will asking, which is never grammatically correct in English. Choice C changes knows to known, creating doesn't known — this is not a valid structure in English. Known is a past participle and needs a different helping verb like has. It also changes asked to asks, which ignores the will entirely. Choice D introduces would have asked, which implies something already happened in the past. The sentence describes a present situation with a future action, so that shift in meaning is incorrect. Your study tip: whenever you see does/doesn't or will, immediately check that the verb right after it is in base form — no "-s," no "-ed," no "-ing."

Question 10

A student wrote: "She has went to the store every day this week, but she don't buy anything yet." A classmate says there are two verb errors. Which response correctly identifies BOTH errors?

  1. 'Has went' should be 'has gone' (incorrect past participle used), and 'don't buy' should be 'doesn't buy' (wrong auxiliary verb for third-person singular subject 'she').
  2. 'Has went' should be 'has gone' (incorrect past participle used), and 'don't buy' should be 'hasn't bought' (wrong auxiliary for third-person singular, and 'yet' signals present perfect is needed). (correct answer)
  3. 'Has went' should be 'went' (present perfect is unnecessary here since no time frame is given), and 'don't buy' should be 'didn't buy' (past tense needed to match the earlier verb form).
  4. 'Has went' should be 'has gone' (incorrect past participle used), and 'don't buy' should be 'don't buys' (the base verb must add -s when used in the present perfect construction).
Explanation: When you see a sentence with multiple verb errors, slow down and check two things: (1) is the correct verb form used, and (2) does the tense match the time signal words like "yet," "already," or "every day this week"? In the original sentence, "has went" is wrong because "went" is the simple past tense, not the past participle. With the helping verb "has," you always need the past participle — and the past participle of "go" is "gone," not "went." So "has gone" is correct. For the second error, the word "yet" is a strong signal for the present perfect tense, and since the subject is "she" (third-person singular), the negative form must be "hasn't bought." This makes B the correct answer — it fixes both the past participle error AND uses the right tense and subject-verb agreement. Answer A correctly fixes "has went" to "has gone," but stops short on the second error. Changing "don't buy" to "doesn't buy" only fixes the subject-verb agreement; it leaves the tense wrong entirely. The word "yet" tells you the action is being described in relation to now, which requires present perfect. Answer C is wrong on both counts. "Every day this week" is exactly the kind of ongoing time frame that calls for present perfect, so removing "has" is incorrect. Switching to "didn't buy" also ignores the signal word "yet." Answer D correctly fixes the first error but invents a grammar rule that doesn't exist — you never add "-s" to a base verb inside a present perfect construction. Study tip: Memorize common irregular past participles (go → gone, eat → eaten, do → done), and remember that "yet," "already," and "just" are your cues to use present perfect.