FTCE General Knowledge Test (082)

The subtest is built on three competencies. Knowledge of language structure (about 25% of the subtest) covers modifiers, parallel structure, sentence boundaries and the organization of a passage. Knowledge of vocabulary application (about 25%) covers word meaning in context, commonly confused words, and diction and tone. Knowledge of standard English conventions (about 50%) covers verbs, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs, spelling, punctuation and capitalization. Because conventions make up half of the subtest, the last four chapters of this section carry the most weight. This section teaches every skill on the official list, shows the errors test writers like to plant, and explains how each skill tends to appear on the exam.

Most ELS questions fall into a handful of familiar formats. Learn them now so the format never slows you down on test day.

This chapter covers Competency 1 of the English Language Skills subtest: Knowledge of language structure. It explains how to place modifiers so they describe the right word, how to spot misplaced, dangling and squinting modifiers, and how to keep items in a series or comparison grammatically parallel.

A modifier is a word, phrase or clause that describes or limits another word. Adjectives and adverbs are single-word modifiers. Longer modifiers include prepositional phrases (with a red cover), participial phrases (walking to the car, written in pencil), infinitive phrases (to finish the report) and relative clauses (who teaches chemistry, that I borrowed). The basic rule is simple: put a modifier as close as possible to the word it describes, and make sure that word actually appears in the sentence.

A misplaced modifier sits next to the wrong word, so the sentence seems to say something the writer did not mean.

Limiting words such as only, just, almost, nearly, merely, hardly and even are the most commonly misplaced modifiers, because moving them changes the meaning. Each should sit directly in front of the word it limits.

How the Placement of Only Changes Meaning

Wrong: The class almost raised four hundred dollars. (They nearly raised it but raised nothing?)

Right: The class raised almost four hundred dollars.

A dangling modifier has nothing in the sentence to describe. It usually appears as an introductory phrase, and the word that follows the comma is not the one doing the action.

There are two ways to fix a dangling modifier. Either make the doer of the action the subject right after the comma, or rewrite the phrase as a full clause with its own subject (As I walked, When the teacher finished).

Memory Aid: The "Who's doing it?" test. Read the introductory phrase, then ask who is doing that action. The answer must be the first noun or pronoun after the comma.

A squinting modifier sits between two words and could describe either one, so the reader cannot tell which meaning is intended.

Parallel structure (parallelism) means that items performing the same job in a sentence share the same grammatical form. Nouns pair with nouns, -ing words with -ing words, infinitives with infinitives, and clauses with clauses. Parallelism matters in three main places: lists, paired conjunctions and comparisons.

Lists and series:

Comparisons with than or as:

Parallel Forms That Belong Together

Choose one form and convert the others. Gerunds work well after "goals are."

Rewrite: increasing attendance, improving test scores and involving more parents.

Result: The committee's goals are increasing attendance, improving test scores and involving more parents.

Place each modifier next to the word it describes, and put limiting words like only, almost and nearly directly before the word they limit.

An introductory phrase must describe the first noun or pronoun after the comma; if it does not, the modifier dangles.

A squinting modifier could describe two words; move it so only one reading is possible.

Compare like with like: one city's rainfall with another city's rainfall, not with the city itself.