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Grade 9 English Language Arts — Editing at sentence level

Find the fault in a whole sentence — a missing word, a needless one, or a word standing in the wrong place — and put it right.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.In careful writing, "only" goes immediately before the words it limits. If the meaning is that she read one page and no more, which version places it correctly? "She read the first page of the letter."

    • a) She read the first page of the only letter.
    • b) Only she read the first page of the letter.
    • c) She read only the first page of the letter.
    • d) She only read the first page of the letter.

  2. 2.Put the steps of editing a sentence in the right order.

    • Next, find the subject and its verb, and check that they agree.
    • Then look for a word that is missing, doubled, or standing in the wrong place.
    • First, read the sentence straight through without stopping.
    • Finally, read the corrected sentence aloud to be sure nothing new has broken.

  3. 3.One word is missing. Which is it? "She is fond music and dancing."

    • a) with
    • b) of
    • c) in
    • d) for

  4. 4.One word must be taken out. Write the word to remove. "The two of them both agreed on the plan."

  5. 5.Match each faulty sentence to the correction it needs.

    • He is one of best players in the team.
    • Please return back the book.
    • The books were given to the students that were torn.
    • I am waiting my friend at the gate.
    • Running down the stairs, the bag slipped.
    • add a word after "waiting"
    • add a word before "best"
    • name the person who was running
    • take out a word the verb already says
    • move the description next to the books

  6. 6.Match each faulty sentence to the name of its fault.

    • He arrived to the station at six.
    • The letter was write by my sister.
    • He explained me the answer.
    • We reached at the airport late.
    • Seeing the crowd, the plan was changed.
    • a dangling opening phrase
    • a preposition that is not needed
    • a wrong preposition
    • a missing preposition
    • a wrong verb form

  7. 7.Every sentence below has exactly one fault. Sort by the kind of fault it is.

    Groups: A word is missing · A word or phrase is in the wrong place · A word is not needed at all

    • I am waiting my friend at the gate.
    • Please return back the book tomorrow.
    • The two of them both agreed on the plan.
    • He is one of best players in the team.
    • The teacher gave the books to the students that were torn.
    • Running down the stairs, the bag slipped from my hand.

  8. 8.One word is missing. Write the whole corrected sentence. "I have been waiting you since morning."

Answer key — Grade 9 English Language Arts — Editing at sentence level

  1. 1. c) She read only the first page of the letter.
  2. 2. 1. First, read the sentence straight through without stopping. 2. Next, find the subject and its verb, and check that they agree. 3. Then look for a word that is missing, doubled, or standing in the wrong place. 4. Finally, read the corrected sentence aloud to be sure nothing new has broken.
  3. 3. b) of
  4. 4. both
  5. 5. He is one of best players in the team. → add a word before "best"; Please return back the book. → take out a word the verb already says; The books were given to the students that were torn. → move the description next to the books; I am waiting my friend at the gate. → add a word after "waiting"; Running down the stairs, the bag slipped. → name the person who was running
  6. 6. He arrived to the station at six. → a wrong preposition; The letter was write by my sister. → a wrong verb form; He explained me the answer. → a missing preposition; We reached at the airport late. → a preposition that is not needed; Seeing the crowd, the plan was changed. → a dangling opening phrase
  7. 7. He is one of best players in the team. → A word is missing; I am waiting my friend at the gate. → A word is missing; The teacher gave the books to the students that were torn. → A word or phrase is in the wrong place; Running down the stairs, the bag slipped from my hand. → A word is missing; Please return back the book tomorrow. → A word is not needed at all; The two of them both agreed on the plan. → A word is not needed at all
  8. 8. I have been waiting for you since morning