7.3 Core Grammar Editing Toolkit

Find the sentence core

Long sentences hide simple grammar. Strip away prepositional phrases, appositives, and parenthetical material until the subject and verb remain.

• "The box of identification cards is on the desk."
• "The cards inside the box are expired."

The noun nearest the verb is not always the subject. Agreement follows the core subject.

Indefinite pronouns such as each, everyone, anyone, neither, and either are normally singular in formal test sentences: "Each of the entries is dated." Words such as several, both, and many are plural.

Compound subjects

Subjects joined by and normally take a plural verb: "The officer and the supervisor are present." With or/nor, agreement normally follows the nearer subject:

• "Neither the officers nor the supervisor is available."
• "Neither the supervisor nor the officers are available."

Check meaning as well as form. A phrase naming one unit may remain singular, while two distinct people or things are plural.

Pronoun agreement and reference

A pronoun should agree with its antecedent and identify only one possible referent.

Ambiguous: "Davis spoke with Morgan after he submitted the form." Who submitted it?

Clear: "After Morgan submitted the form, Davis spoke with Morgan."

Modern singular they is standard in many contexts, but a test item may still focus on consistency. Do not shift from one person to they, he, or she without a clear antecedent.

Pronoun case

Use subject forms for subjects: I, he, she, we, they, who. Use object forms after verbs and prepositions: me, him, her, us, them, whom.

Remove the other person from a compound phrase to test it:

• "The supervisor spoke to Lee and me" because "spoke to me" is correct.
• "Lee and I completed the form" because "I completed" is correct.

For who/whom, substitute he/him. If he fits, use who; if him fits, use whom.

Tense and sequence

A narrative may use past tense, but the important rule is logical consistency. Shift tense only when the time changes.

• Correct: "The officer arrived, observed the open door, and called the desk."
• Incorrect: "The officer arrived, observes the open door, and called the desk."

Use past perfect to mark an earlier past event when needed: "The visitor had left before the supervisor arrived." Do not add past perfect to every verb; once order is clear, simple past may continue.

Fragments

A complete independent clause contains a subject, a finite verb, and a complete thought. A dependent clause alone is a fragment:

• Fragment: "Because the west entrance was closed."
• Complete: "Because the west entrance was closed, visitors used the east entrance."

Participial and infinitive phrases also need a main clause: "Waiting near the desk" is not a complete sentence by itself.

Run-ons and comma splices

Two independent clauses need correct connection.

• Period: "The alarm sounded. The officer responded."
• Semicolon: "The alarm sounded; the officer responded."
• Conjunction: "The alarm sounded, and the officer responded."
• Subordination: "When the alarm sounded, the officer responded."

A comma alone is insufficient. Choose the repair that preserves the intended relationship.

Active and passive voice

Active voice often clarifies the actor: "Officer Lee recovered the bag." Passive voice can be grammatical and useful when the actor is unknown or less important: "The bag was found near the entrance."

Do not apply a false rule that passive voice is always wrong. Ask whether the sentence is grammatical and clear. If the item concerns who performed an action, active wording may be the best improvement.

Modifier control

Place descriptive phrases near the words they modify.

• Ambiguous: "The officer photographed the package near the gate with a red label." What had the label?
• Clear: "The officer photographed the package with a red label near the gate."

With an opening phrase, the next noun should perform the action: "While walking to the gate, Lee saw the vehicle."

Editing pass

Use two passes on difficult sentences:

1. Structure: clause boundary, subject, verb, modifier, parallel series.
2. Surface: punctuation, spelling, apostrophes, and exact word choice.

Then read for literal meaning. A sentence can be mechanically grammatical yet unclear about the actor, time, or event order. The Officer Writing section asks for clarity as well as correctness.

Compare only complete revisions

When two choices seem plausible, substitute each into the full sentence and test structure before style. The stronger answer must preserve the intended actor, time, and relationship while satisfying every grammar rule at once.