19 Writing & Grammar Practice Questions & Answers
Every Writing & Grammar practice question from the Police Officer Entrance Exam Practice Test, with the correct answer and a short explanation.
Start practice test →1. Choose the sentence with correct word usage: The witness said the suspect ran ___ before the officer arrived.
- A.The suspect fled over there, near the fence.✓ Answer
- B.The suspect fled over their, near the fence.
- C.The suspect fled over they're, near the fence.
- D.The suspect fled over theyre, near the fence.
'There' indicates a place or location, which is what the sentence requires; 'their' is a possessive and 'they're' is a contraction of 'they are,' neither of which fits a location.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Vocabulary/word choice (homophones: there/their/they're)Report a problem with this question
2. Which word correctly completes the report: The delay did not ___ the outcome of the investigation.
- A.affect✓ Answer
- B.effect
- C.effected
- D.affects
'Affect' is a verb meaning to influence, which is needed after 'did not'; 'effect' is normally a noun meaning result, and 'affects' would not agree with the auxiliary 'did.'
Source: PELLETB Writing — Vocabulary/word choice (affect vs. effect)Report a problem with this question
3. Choose the grammatically correct sentence.
- A.Each of the officers was assigned a patrol car.✓ Answer
- B.Each of the officers were assigned a patrol car.
- C.Each of the officers are assigned a patrol car.
- D.Each of the officers have been assigned a patrol car.
'Each' is a singular indefinite pronoun and takes a singular verb ('was'); the prepositional phrase 'of the officers' does not change the subject's number.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Subject-verb agreement (indefinite pronoun 'each')Report a problem with this question
4. Select the correctly spelled word.
- A.separate✓ Answer
- B.seperate
- C.seperete
- D.separete
The correct spelling is 'separate,' with an 'a' in the middle syllable; the common misspelling 'seperate' incorrectly uses an 'e.'
Source: PELLETB Writing — Spelling (commonly misspelled words)Report a problem with this question
5. Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?
- A.The dog wagged its tail as it approached.✓ Answer
- B.The dog wagged it's tail as it approached.
- C.The dog wagged its' tail as it approached.
- D.The dog wagged its's tail as it approached.
'Its' is the possessive form and takes no apostrophe; 'it's' with an apostrophe is only the contraction of 'it is' or 'it has,' which does not fit here.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Punctuation (apostrophe: its vs. it's)Report a problem with this question
6. Choose the sentence with correct word usage.
- A.The suspect was taller than the victim.✓ Answer
- B.The suspect was taller then the victim.
- C.The suspect was taller than then the victim.
- D.The suspect was tallor than the victim.
'Than' is used for comparisons, which the sentence makes between two people's heights; 'then' refers to time or sequence and cannot show comparison.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Vocabulary/word choice (than vs. then)Report a problem with this question
7. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
- A.The officer interviewed the driver, the passenger, and the witness.✓ Answer
- B.The officer interviewed the driver the passenger and the witness.
- C.The officer interviewed the driver, the passenger and, the witness.
- D.The officer interviewed, the driver, the passenger, and the witness.
Items in a series are separated by commas, and a comma should not separate the verb 'interviewed' from its first object; option A places commas only between the three list items.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Punctuation (commas in a series)Report a problem with this question
8. Which sentence uses the semicolon correctly?
- A.The suspect refused to talk; the officer read him his rights.✓ Answer
- B.The suspect refused to talk; and the officer read him his rights.
- C.The suspect refused to talk, the officer read him his rights.
- D.The suspect refused to talk; because the officer read him his rights.
A semicolon joins two independent clauses that are closely related without a conjunction; option C is a comma splice, and the others add a conjunction that makes the semicolon incorrect.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Punctuation (semicolon joining independent clauses)Report a problem with this question
9. Which is the clearest and most grammatical version of the sentence?
- A.Running down the alley, the officer spotted the suspect.✓ Answer
- B.Running down the alley, the suspect was spotted by the officer.
- C.The suspect was spotted by the officer running down the alley.
- D.Spotted running down the alley, the officer saw the suspect.
The introductory participial phrase 'Running down the alley' must modify the noun right after the comma; option A correctly makes the officer the one running, avoiding the misplaced or dangling modifier in the others.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Clarity (misplaced/dangling modifiers)Report a problem with this question
10. Which is the clearest and most concise version of the sentence?
- A.The officer arrested the suspect.✓ Answer
- B.The suspect was placed under arrest by the officer at that point in time.
- C.At that point in time, an arrest of the suspect was made by the officer.
- D.The suspect, who was there, ended up being arrested by the officer then.
The clearest report writing uses the active voice and removes wordy filler like 'at that point in time'; option A states the same fact directly with a subject-verb-object structure.
Source: PELLETB Writing — Clarity/conciseness (active voice, eliminate wordiness)Report a problem with this question
11. Complete the report correctly: Neither the sergeant nor the responding officers ___ the incident report before the shift ended.
- A.have completed✓ Answer
- B.has completed
- C.completes
- D.was completing
With the correlative conjunction 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it; here the nearer subject 'officers' is plural, so the plural verb 'have completed' is required.
Source: Standard American English — subject-verb agreement with correlative conjunctions (neither...nor: verb agrees with the nearer subject)Report a problem with this question
12. Choose the correct pronoun: The lieutenant assigned the surveillance detail to Officer Ramirez and ___.
- A.me✓ Answer
- B.I
- C.myself
- D.mine
The pronoun is the object of the preposition 'to,' so the objective case 'me' is correct; 'I' is the subjective case and 'myself' is a reflexive pronoun that needs an antecedent in the same clause.
Source: Standard American English — pronoun case (objective case required as the object of a preposition)Report a problem with this question
13. Choose the correct word: The patrol car was taken out of service because ___ brakes had failed.
- A.its✓ Answer
- B.it's
- C.its'
- D.it is
'Its' is the possessive form showing the brakes belong to the car; 'it's' is a contraction of 'it is,' and 'its'' is not a valid English word.
Source: Standard American English — possessive 'its' vs. contraction 'it's'Report a problem with this question
14. Choose the correct word: The suspect ___ the checkpoint without slowing down.
- A.passed✓ Answer
- B.past
- C.pased
- D.passt
'Passed' is the past-tense verb meaning to go by, which the sentence needs; 'past' functions as a noun, preposition, or adjective and cannot serve as the main verb here.
Source: Standard American English — homophones: passed (verb) vs. pastReport a problem with this question
15. Which sentence forms the possessive correctly?
- A.Both witnesses' statements matched the victim's account.✓ Answer
- B.Both witness's statements matched the victim's account.
- C.Both witnesses statements matched the victims account.
- D.Both witnesses's statements matched the victims' account.
For a regular plural noun already ending in -s, the possessive is formed by adding only an apostrophe after the s ('witnesses''), while the singular 'victim's' correctly adds apostrophe-s.
Source: Standard American English — plural possessive apostrophe (regular plural ending in -s takes apostrophe only)Report a problem with this question
16. Which sentence correctly joins the two independent clauses?
- A.I secured the perimeter, and my partner detained the suspect.✓ Answer
- B.I secured the perimeter, my partner detained the suspect.
- C.I secured the perimeter my partner detained the suspect.
- D.I secured the perimeter and, my partner detained the suspect.
Two independent clauses are correctly joined by a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction ('and'); the second option is a comma splice, the third is a run-on, and the fourth misplaces the comma after the conjunction.
Source: Standard American English — joining independent clauses (comma + coordinating conjunction; comma-splice and run-on errors)Report a problem with this question
17. Which version is the most concise and free of redundancy for a report?
- A.At 2200 hours, I returned to the station.✓ Answer
- B.At 2200 hours, I returned back to the station again.
- C.At the time of 2200 hours, I returned back to the station.
- D.At approximately around 2200 hours, I returned back again to the station.
The verb 'returned' already means to go back, so 'returned back' and 'again' are redundant, and phrases like 'at the time of' and 'approximately around' repeat meaning; concise report writing removes such duplication.
Source: Standard American English — conciseness and redundancy in report writing (avoid 'returned back,' 'again,' padded phrases)Report a problem with this question
18. Select the correctly spelled word for the report.
- A.surveillance✓ Answer
- B.surveilance
- C.survaillance
- D.surveillence
'Surveillance' is spelled s-u-r-v-e-i-l-l-a-n-c-e, with the 'ei' vowel pair, a double 'l,' and the ending '-ance'; the other options drop a letter or misspell the ending.
Source: Standard American English — spelling of the commonly misspelled word 'surveillance'Report a problem with this question
19. Choose the grammatically correct sentence (strict pronoun-antecedent agreement).
- A.Each officer must submit his or her report by the end of the shift.✓ Answer
- B.Each officer must submit their report by the end of the shift.
- C.Each officer must submit they're report by the end of the shift.
- D.Each officer must submit there report by the end of the shift.
The antecedent 'each officer' is grammatically singular, so strict agreement requires the singular pronoun 'his or her'; 'their' is plural, and 'they're' (they are) and 'there' (a place) are the wrong words entirely.
Source: Standard American English — pronoun-antecedent agreement (singular 'each' takes a singular pronoun)Report a problem with this question
Practice questions modeled on the common domains of police officer written entrance exams (reading, writing/grammar, math, reasoning). Not legal advice and not affiliated with or endorsed by any law-enforcement agency or testing vendor. Agencies use different exams — check your agency's announcement for its specific format. BLS occupation profile →