Grammar Errors – ParaPro Writing Section
A significant portion of the ParaPro Assessment Writing section focuses on identifying and correcting grammar errors. Understanding common grammar mistakes will help you recognize errors in student work and assist teachers in providing clear, correct instruction. This guide covers the most frequently tested grammar error types on the exam.
Types of Grammar Errors on the ParaPro Assessment
1. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors
Subjects and verbs must agree in number (singular or plural).
Incorrect:
The group of students were working on their projects.
Each of the books are available in the library.
Correct:
The group of students was working on their projects.
Each of the books is available in the library.
Key Rules:
- Collective nouns (group, team, committee) typically take singular verbs
- Expressions like “each of,” “every one of,” “neither of” take singular verbs
- When subjects are joined by “or” or “nor,” the verb agrees with the subject closest to it
- “The number of” takes a singular verb; “A number of” takes a plural verb
2. Pronoun Errors
Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number, gender, and person.
Incorrect:
Each student must bring their own materials.
If anyone needs help, they should raise their hand.
Between John and myself, me will complete the project.
Correct:
Each student must bring his or her own materials.
If anyone needs help, he or she should raise their hand.
Between John and me, I will complete the project.
Common Pronoun Issues:
- Case confusion: Subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, they) vs. object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them)
- Who/Whom confusion: “Who” for subjects, “whom” for objects
- Vague pronoun references: When “it,” “this,” “that,” or “which” has an unclear antecedent
- Reflexive pronoun misuse: Incorrectly using “myself,” “yourself,” etc.
3. Verb Tense Errors
Verbs must maintain consistent and appropriate tense throughout a sentence or paragraph.
Incorrect:
Yesterday, she goes to the store and bought groceries.
By the time the bus arrived, we wait for an hour.
Correct:
Yesterday, she went to the store and bought groceries.
By the time the bus arrived, we had waited for an hour.
Verb Tense Guidelines:
- Maintain consistent tense unless there’s a logical shift in time
- Use past perfect (had + past participle) for actions completed before another past action
- Use present perfect (have/has + past participle) for actions beginning in the past but continuing to the present
- Use future perfect (will have + past participle) for actions that will be completed before a specific time in the future
4. Double Negatives
Using two negative words in the same clause creates a double negative, which is grammatically incorrect in standard English.
Incorrect:
I don’t have no money.
She didn’t say nothing.
We can’t find it nowhere.
Correct:
I don’t have any money.
She didn’t say anything.
We can’t find it anywhere.
Common Negative Words:
- no, not, none, nobody, nothing, nowhere, never
- hardly, scarcely, barely (these function as negatives)
- Words with prefixes like un-, in-, non-
5. Parallel Structure
Items in a series or list should follow the same grammatical pattern.
Incorrect:
The teacher enjoys reading, to write, and drawing.
The assignment requires students to be creative, thoughtful, and to use proper grammar.
Correct:
The teacher enjoys reading, writing, and drawing.
The assignment requires students to be creative, thoughtful, and grammatically correct.
Parallel Structure Guidelines:
- Use the same grammatical form for all items in a list
- Maintain parallelism with correlative conjunctions (either/or, neither/nor, both/and, not only/but also)
- Keep verbs in the same tense and form when listing actions
6. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Modifiers should be positioned close to the words they modify to avoid confusion.
Incorrect (Misplaced):
The teacher only graded ten papers.
She bought a jacket for her daughter with a fur collar.
Correct:
The teacher graded only ten papers.
She bought a jacket with a fur collar for her daughter.
Incorrect (Dangling):
Walking to school, the rain soaked my clothes.
After completing the experiment, the results were recorded.
Correct:
While I was walking to school, the rain soaked my clothes.
After completing the experiment, we recorded the results.
Modifier Placement Rules:
- Place modifiers close to the words they modify
- Be careful with limiting modifiers like “only,” “just,” “nearly,” “almost”
- Ensure that introductory phrases have a clear subject to modify
7. Fragmented and Run-on Sentences
Fragment (Incomplete Sentence):
Because the student finished early. The teacher gave extra credit.
Running through the hallway.
Correct:
Because the student finished early, the teacher gave extra credit.
The student was running through the hallway.
Run-on Sentence:
The bell rang the students rushed to class.
He studied all night he still failed the test.
Correct:
The bell rang, and the students rushed to class.
He studied all night; he still failed the test.
He studied all night, but he still failed the test.
Sentence Structure Rules:
- A complete sentence must have a subject and verb and express a complete thought
- Join independent clauses with a comma and coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so)
- Use a semicolon to join closely related independent clauses
- Dependent clauses cannot stand alone as sentences
Practice Identifying Grammar Errors
Directions: Identify the grammar error in each sentence.
1. Neither the teacher nor the students was prepared for the surprise drill.
Error: Subject-verb agreement
Correction: Neither the teacher nor the students were prepared for the surprise drill.
Explanation: When subjects are joined by “neither/nor,” the verb agrees with the closest subject. Since “students” is plural, the verb should be plural (were).
2. Every one of the students brought their own lunch to the field trip.
Error: Pronoun agreement
Correction: Every one of the students brought his or her own lunch to the field trip.
Explanation: “Every one” is singular, so it requires a singular pronoun. (Note: In modern usage, “their” is increasingly accepted as a singular pronoun.)
3. Yesterday, the class begins their final project and finished most of it.
Error: Verb tense consistency
Correction: Yesterday, the class began their final project and finished most of it.
Explanation: The past tense “Yesterday” requires past tense verbs throughout.
4. I don’t have no time to complete this assignment today.
Error: Double negative
Correction: I don’t have any time to complete this assignment today.
Explanation: “Don’t” and “no” create a double negative. Replace “no” with “any” to correct the error.
5. The teacher asked us to read the chapter, to answer the questions, and writing a summary.
Error: Parallel structure
Correction: The teacher asked us to read the chapter, to answer the questions, and to write a summary.
Explanation: All items in the series should follow the same grammatical pattern (infinitive form: to read, to answer, to write).
6. Walking down the hall, the fire alarm startled the students.
Error: Dangling modifier
Correction: As the students were walking down the hall, the fire alarm startled them.
Explanation: The introductory phrase “Walking down the hall” must modify the subject of the main clause. In the original, it incorrectly modifies “the fire alarm.”
Test-Taking Strategies for Grammar Questions
- Identify the subject and verb first. This helps spot agreement issues.
- Look for pronouns and their antecedents. Check if they agree in number and gender.
- Check for consistency in verb tense throughout the sentence or paragraph.
- Look for negative words to identify potential double negatives.
- With items in a series, check that they follow the same grammatical pattern.
- Mentally rearrange modifying phrases to see if they clearly modify the intended word.
- When in doubt about sentence completeness, verify it has a subject, verb, and expresses a complete thought.
Key Points to Remember
- Grammar errors in the ParaPro Assessment typically focus on the rules of standard English.
- The most common error types include subject-verb agreement, pronoun errors, verb tense consistency, double negatives, parallel structure, and misplaced/dangling modifiers.
- Detecting errors requires careful attention to the relationship between words in sentences.
- When working with students, identifying grammar errors helps them develop stronger writing skills.