Adult Literacy Intermediate Quiz: Editing Grammar Errors
10 questions · exam conditions
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Editing Grammar ErrorsQuestion 1 of 10

Nadia usually opens the clinic at 8:00 and checks the appointment book before patients arrive. Yesterday, she arrives early, checked the alarm, and unlocked the front door.

Which revision of the second sentence correctly maintains the tense required by the time word "Yesterday"?

Yesterday, she arrived early, checked the alarm, and unlocked the front door.
Yesterday, she arrives early, checks the alarm, and unlocks the front door.
Yesterday, she had arrived early, checks the alarm, and unlocked the front door.
Yesterday, she will arrive early, check the alarm, and unlock the front door.
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Adult Literacy Intermediate Quiz

Adult Literacy Intermediate Quiz: Editing Grammar Errors

Practice Editing Grammar Errors in Adult Literacy Intermediate 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 Grammar Errors, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Adult Literacy Intermediate.

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

Nadia usually opens the clinic at 8:00 and checks the appointment book before patients arrive. Yesterday, she arrives early, checked the alarm, and unlocked the front door.

Which revision of the second sentence correctly maintains the tense required by the time word "Yesterday"?

  1. Yesterday, she arrived early, checked the alarm, and unlocked the front door. (correct answer)
  2. Yesterday, she arrives early, checks the alarm, and unlocks the front door.
  3. Yesterday, she had arrived early, checks the alarm, and unlocked the front door.
  4. Yesterday, she will arrive early, check the alarm, and unlock the front door.
Explanation: When a sentence includes a time word like "yesterday," every verb in that sentence must match — and "yesterday" signals simple past tense. This question tests your ability to recognize verb tense consistency: all actions in a single sentence describing the same time period should use the same tense form. The original sentence mixes tenses ("arrives" is present tense, while "checked" and "unlocked" are past tense), which creates an inconsistency. Since "yesterday" clearly places the events in the past, every verb needs to shift to simple past tense. That means "arrives" must become "arrived," giving you: she arrived early, checked the alarm, and unlocked the front door. All three verbs now consistently describe completed past actions — making A the correct revision. B is wrong because it keeps all verbs in present tense ("arrives, checks, unlocks"), which contradicts "yesterday." Present tense describes habits or current facts, not completed past events. C creates a new inconsistency by mixing past perfect ("had arrived") with present ("checks") and simple past ("unlocked") — three different tenses in one sentence. D uses future tense ("will arrive, check, unlock"), which directly contradicts "yesterday"; you cannot describe something that already happened with future tense. A helpful strategy: whenever you spot a time clue word in a sentence — like yesterday, last week, tomorrow, currently, or now — let it anchor your tense choice for every verb in that sentence. Scan all the verbs and ask, "Do they all match this time signal?" That one check will catch most tense-consistency errors on this exam.

Question 2

The supervisor must sign each invoice before the office assistant files it. A draft instruction says: "Place the invoice in the folder after it is signed."

Which revision removes the unclear pronoun reference while preserving the intended procedure?

  1. After the assistant signs the invoice, place the invoice in the folder.
  2. After it is signed by the supervisor, place the folder with the invoice.
  3. Place the invoice in the folder after the folder has been signed.
  4. After the supervisor signs the invoice, place the invoice in the folder. (correct answer)
Explanation: When a sentence uses a pronoun like "it," the reader must be able to instantly identify what that word refers to. If two or more nouns could logically be the antecedent, the reference is "unclear" or "ambiguous." The original sentence — "Place the invoice in the folder after it is signed" — contains this problem: "it" could refer to either the invoice or the folder, and the sentence also omits who does the signing, which was critical information from the passage. The revision in D solves both problems cleanly. It names the actor ("the supervisor"), specifies what gets signed ("the invoice"), and repeats "the invoice" rather than using a pronoun — leaving zero ambiguity about the intended procedure. Choice A is tempting but introduces a factual error: it says the assistant signs the invoice, when the passage clearly states the supervisor must sign it. Changing who performs the action violates the intended procedure. Choice B keeps the vague pronoun "it" out of the sentence but creates a new logical problem — it says to "place the folder with the invoice," reversing the correct action, which is placing the invoice into the folder. The instruction no longer makes practical sense. Choice C is almost nonsensical: it says the folder has been signed, but folders don't get signed — invoices do. This replaces one unclear reference with an outright error. A useful strategy: whenever a revision question involves pronouns, ask yourself two things — (1) does every pronoun have one clear, correct antecedent, and (2) does the revision preserve the original meaning exactly? Both conditions must be met.

Question 3

The list of available evening shifts, including two weekend shifts, are posted beside the time clock. Employees should check them before requesting a schedule change.

Which revision best corrects the agreement and pronoun-reference errors in the passage?

  1. The list of available evening shifts is posted beside the time clock. Employees should check it before requesting a schedule change. (correct answer)
  2. The list of available evening shifts are posted beside the time clock. Employees should check it before requesting a schedule change.
  3. The list of available evening shifts is posted beside the time clock. Employees should check them before requesting a schedule change.
  4. The list of available evening shifts are posted beside the time clock. Employees should check them before requesting a schedule change.
Explanation: When a sentence contains a prepositional phrase between the subject and the verb, you need to mentally "strip out" that phrase to find the true subject. You also need to make sure any pronouns clearly and correctly refer back to their antecedents. In the original passage, the true subject is "list" (singular), not "shifts" (plural). The phrase "of available evening shifts, including two weekend shifts" is just a prepositional modifier — it doesn't change the subject. So the verb must be singular: "is posted," not "are posted." That fixes the subject-verb agreement error. The second sentence originally used "them," which is plural — but "them" should refer back to "list," which is singular. The correct pronoun is "it." Answer A makes both corrections: singular verb ("is posted") and singular pronoun ("it"), making it the right choice. Answer B fixes the pronoun ("it") but keeps the wrong verb ("are posted"), leaving the agreement error in place. Answer C fixes the verb ("is posted") but keeps the wrong pronoun ("them"), leaving the pronoun-reference error unresolved. Answer D keeps both errors from the original — plural verb and plural pronoun — so it corrects nothing at all. A good strategy here is the "cross out the middle" trick: whenever you see a long subject with modifying phrases, cross them out mentally and match the verb directly to the core noun. Then check that every pronoun matches that same core noun in number. On grammar questions, fixing only one of two errors is a common trap — always verify that your chosen answer resolves every error the question identifies.

Question 4

Rosa supervises Mei at a community center. When Rosa noticed that Mei's monthly report was missing, Rosa told Mei that she must submit her report by Friday.

Which revision most clearly identifies who must submit the report?

  1. Rosa told Mei that she must submit the missing monthly report by Friday.
  2. Rosa told Mei that Rosa must submit the missing monthly report by Friday.
  3. Rosa told Mei, "You must submit your missing monthly report by Friday." (correct answer)
  4. Mei told Rosa, "You must submit your missing monthly report by Friday."
Explanation: When a sentence uses a pronoun like "she" or "her," readers need to know exactly who that pronoun refers to. This is called pronoun clarity (or antecedent clarity). In the original sentence, "she must submit her report" is ambiguous — "she" could refer to either Rosa or Mei, leaving the reader to guess. The most powerful tool for eliminating this confusion is direct quotation. Choice C — Rosa told Mei, "You must submit your missing monthly report by Friday" — places Rosa's words inside quotation marks. Now "you" unmistakably refers to Mei, the person being spoken to. The meaning is locked in. Choice A keeps the indirect phrasing ("Rosa told Mei that she must submit...") and simply adds "missing monthly report." The pronoun "she" is still ambiguous — it still could mean either woman, so the core problem isn't solved. Choice B replaces "she" with "Rosa," which does clarify the subject — but it makes Rosa responsible for submitting the report. Since Rosa is the supervisor and Mei is the one who missed the deadline, this reverses the intended meaning entirely. Choice D flips the speakers: it has Mei telling Rosa that "you must submit your report." This completely reverses the supervisory relationship and changes who is being directed, which contradicts both the passage and common sense. Study tip: Whenever you see a revision question involving pronouns, ask yourself: Who does this pronoun refer to? If there's any doubt, look for the answer that eliminates ambiguity — direct quotation is often the clearest fix.

Question 5

A safety notice assigns responsibility for the final inspection to either the site manager or the two assistants.

Which sentence uses correct subject-verb and pronoun agreement?

  1. Either the site manager or the two assistants is responsible for completing his or her checklist.
  2. Either the site manager or the two assistants are responsible for completing their checklist. (correct answer)
  3. Either the site manager or the two assistants are responsible for completing his or her checklist.
  4. Either the site manager or the two assistants is responsible for completing their checklist.
Explanation: When a sentence uses "either...or," the verb must agree with the subject closest to it — this is called the proximity rule (or "the nearest subject rule"). At the same time, any pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents. In this sentence, "either the site manager or the two assistants" pairs a singular subject with a plural one. Because "the two assistants" is the subject closest to the verb, the verb should be plural: are. The pronoun referring back to "the two assistants" must also be plural: their. That combination — are + their — is exactly what answer B provides, making it the correct choice. Answer A fails on both counts. It uses the singular verb is and the singular pronouns his or her, both of which match the distant subject ("the site manager") rather than the nearer plural subject. Answer C gets the verb right (are) but then pairs it with the singular pronouns his or her — a mismatch, since "the two assistants" demands their. Answer D does the reverse: it uses the plural pronoun their correctly but pairs it with the singular verb is, which should be are to match the nearer plural subject. A helpful tip: whenever you see "either...or" or "neither...nor," circle the subject closest to the verb and make both the verb and any pronouns agree with that subject. This single rule will help you eliminate most traps on agreement questions quickly.

Question 6

Emergency instructions should use a consistent verb form: "If the fire alarm sounds, leave by the nearest safe exit, report to the meeting area, and waited for a supervisor."

Which revision correctly maintains verb tense and form throughout the instruction?

  1. If the fire alarm sounded, leave by the nearest safe exit, report to the meeting area, and wait for a supervisor.
  2. If the fire alarm sounds, left by the nearest safe exit, reported to the meeting area, and waited for a supervisor.
  3. If the fire alarm sounds, leave by the nearest safe exit, report to the meeting area, and wait for a supervisor. (correct answer)
  4. If the fire alarm will sound, leaving by the nearest safe exit, reporting to the meeting area, and waiting for a supervisor.
Explanation: When a sentence lists multiple actions in a row — like a set of instructions — every verb in that list needs to match in form. This is called parallel structure, and it's especially important in emergency or procedural writing where clarity can matter a great deal. In this sentence, the structure is a conditional instruction: "If [condition], [do this], [do this], and [do this]." The "if" clause sets up a present-tense condition ("sounds"), and the action steps should all be simple command verbs — also called the imperative form — like leave, report, and wait. That's exactly what option C gives you: "If the fire alarm sounds, leave by the nearest safe exit, report to the meeting area, and wait for a supervisor." Every verb is in the same form, and the list flows smoothly and logically. Option A breaks the conditional by switching "sounds" to "sounded," which puts the alarm in the past tense and makes the instruction feel like it already happened — not a reliable safety guide. Option B keeps "sounds" correctly but then shifts the action verbs to past tense (left, reported, waited), creating a confusing mix that makes the instructions sound like a report after the fact rather than directions to follow. Option D uses "will sound" and then switches to -ing verb forms (leaving, reporting, waiting), which removes the clear command structure entirely and sounds awkward and incomplete. A quick tip: whenever you spot a list of actions in a sentence, check that all the verbs match in form. If one is out of step with the others, that's your error — and likely your answer.

Question 7

A city employee is revising a public notice about permit delays. The draft says: "There is several reasons that an application may be returned, and each reason are explained on the city website."

Which revision corrects both subject-verb agreement errors?

  1. There is several reasons that an application may be returned, and each reason are explained on the city website.
  2. There is several reasons that an application may be returned, and each reason is explained on the city website.
  3. There are several reasons that an application may be returned, and each reason are explained on the city website.
  4. There are several reasons that an application may be returned, and each reason is explained on the city website. (correct answer)
Explanation: Subject-verb agreement means the verb in a sentence must match its subject in number — singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs. When you see a sentence with multiple clauses, check the subject and verb in each clause separately. In this sentence, there are two clauses to fix. The first clause is "There is several reasons." Here, the real subject is "reasons" (plural) — "there" is just a placeholder word, not the true subject. Because "reasons" is plural, the correct verb is "are," giving you "There are several reasons." The second clause is "each reason are explained." The subject here is "each reason." The word "each" always acts as a singular subject, even when it refers to multiple things, so it requires the singular verb "is." The corrected clause reads "each reason is explained." Choice D — "There are several reasons that an application may be returned, and each reason is explained on the city website" — fixes both errors correctly, making it the right answer. Choice A keeps both original errors ("is several reasons" and "each reason are"), so nothing is corrected. Choice B fixes the second clause but leaves the first error intact ("is several reasons" still mismatches the plural subject). Choice C fixes the first clause correctly but leaves the second error ("each reason are" incorrectly uses a plural verb with the singular subject "each reason"). A useful tip: watch out for sentences that start with "there" — always look past it to find the real subject. And remember that "each," "every," and "either" are always singular, even when they seem to point to multiple items.

Question 8

The human-resources office is sending instructions to all employees. The draft says: "All employees should update his or her emergency contact information before receiving new identification badges."

Which revision gives the plural subject a consistent pronoun reference?

  1. All employees should update their emergency contact information before receiving new identification badges. (correct answer)
  2. All employees should update its emergency contact information before receiving new identification badges.
  3. All employees should update our emergency contact information before receiving new identification badges.
  4. All employees should update your emergency contact information before receiving new identification badges.
Explanation: When a sentence uses a plural subject, any pronoun that refers back to it must also be plural — this is called pronoun-antecedent agreement. The original sentence fails this rule: "All employees" is plural, but "his or her" is singular. Your job is to find the revision that fixes this mismatch. The subject "All employees" is a plural noun referring to a group of people, so the correct pronoun must be third-person plural. That pronoun is their. Choice A reads: "All employees should update their emergency contact information..." — "their" is plural, it refers to people, and it agrees perfectly with "All employees." This is the correct revision. Choice B uses "its," which is a third-person singular pronoun typically used for objects or organizations, not people. Using "its" for employees sounds unnatural and is grammatically wrong in this context. Choice C uses "our," a first-person plural pronoun, which would mean the writer is including themselves among the employees — that's a shift in perspective that doesn't match the tone of an official HR notice. Choice D uses "your," a second-person pronoun. While HR might address employees directly in some documents, "your" clashes with the third-person subject "All employees" right in the same sentence, creating an inconsistency. A quick tip: whenever you spot a plural subject like "employees," "students," or "members," scan the sentence for pronouns and ask yourself — is the pronoun also plural? If the pronoun is singular (he, she, his, her, it) or shifts person (our, your), it's likely wrong. "Their" is almost always your best friend with plural human subjects.

Question 9

The building inspector arrived at 7:00 on Tuesday morning. By that time, the cleaning crew locked all the doors and has gone home.

Which revision of the second sentence most clearly shows that both actions were completed before the inspector arrived?

  1. By that time, the cleaning crew locks all the doors and goes home.
  2. By that time, the cleaning crew has locked all the doors and went home.
  3. By that time, the cleaning crew had locked all the doors and had gone home. (correct answer)
  4. By that time, the cleaning crew will lock all the doors and will go home.
Explanation: When a passage describes two past events where one happened before the other, English uses a special verb tense called the past perfect to show which event came first. The past perfect is formed with had + the past participle of the verb (e.g., had locked, had gone). Think of it as the "further back in the past" tense — it signals that something was already finished before another past moment arrived. In this question, both actions (locking the doors, going home) happened before the inspector arrived at 7:00. To show that clearly, both verbs need to be in the past perfect. Choice C — "the cleaning crew had locked all the doors and had gone home" — does exactly that. Both verbs use had + past participle, signaling that both actions were completed before the inspector's arrival. That's your correct answer. Choice A uses simple present tense (locks, goes), which describes ongoing or habitual actions — not something already finished in the past. Choice B mixes tenses incorrectly: has locked is present perfect (still connected to now) while went is simple past, so the sentence is inconsistent and unclear about timing. Choice D uses future tense (will lock, will go), which suggests these actions haven't happened yet — the opposite of what the passage means. A useful tip: whenever you see phrases like "by that time," "before," or "already," those are signals that the past perfect (had + past participle) is likely the correct tense to use for the earlier action.

Question 10

Mina is one of the volunteers who delivers meals to older residents every Friday. The other volunteers deliver meals on different days.

Which edit makes the first sentence agree with the meaning of the passage?

  1. Mina are one of the volunteers who deliver meals to older residents every Friday.
  2. Mina is one of the volunteers who deliver meals to older residents every Friday. (correct answer)
  3. Mina is one of the volunteer who delivers meals to older residents every Friday.
  4. Mina are one of the volunteer who delivers meals to older residents every Friday.
Explanation: When a sentence contains the phrase "one of the volunteers," you need to manage two separate subject-verb agreements at once — and that's exactly what this question tests. First, focus on the main subject: "Mina." Mina is a single person, so the verb that goes with her must be singular: is, not are. That eliminates choices A and D immediately, since "Mina are" is grammatically incorrect regardless of anything else in the sentence. Now look at the second verb in the sentence — the one inside the relative clause "who   meals." The word "who" refers back to "volunteers" (plural), not to "Mina" alone. The passage confirms this: multiple volunteers deliver meals, just on different days. Because "volunteers" is plural, the verb in that clause must also be plural: deliver, not delivers. This is the key distinction between B and C. Choice C reads "one of the volunteer who delivers," which has two problems: "volunteer" should be plural ("volunteers"), and "delivers" incorrectly treats the plural group as singular. Choice B — "Mina is one of the volunteers who deliver meals" — gets both agreements right: singular "is" for Mina, and plural "deliver" for the group of volunteers. Study tip: When you see "one of the [plural noun] who...," remember that the verb after "who" agrees with the plural noun, not with "one." A helpful test: ask yourself, who is doing the action in the "who" clause? It's the whole group, so use a plural verb.