10th Grade Advanced Grammar Practice: Questions, Answers and Tips

Looking for 10th grade advanced grammar practice? Below are worked examples, the mistakes students make most, and practice questions with an answer key.

Every example below comes from BAMS Academy's Advanced Grammar practice, the same questions students answer on the site.

Advanced Grammar in 10th grade, skill by skill

Complex sentence structures and stylistic grammar choices. BAMS Academy breaks the unit into the skills below. Each comes with one of its practice questions.

Use semicolons, colons, dashes, and apostrophes correctly

Which is the correct way to show that the guitar belongs to several students? (Choices: the students' guitar; the students guitar; the students's guitar; the student's guitar.)

Answer: the students' guitar. "students" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the students' guitar".

Choose the correctly punctuated phrase for a bicycle shared by more than one student. (Choices: the students's bicycle; the students' bicycle; the students bicycle; the student's bicycle.)

Answer: the students' bicycle. "students" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the students' bicycle".

Repair dangling and misplaced modifiers and punctuate clauses correctly

Fixing: "She only eats vegetables on Tuesdays." (Choices: She eats only vegetables on Tuesdays.; Only she eats vegetables on Tuesdays.; She eats vegetables on Tuesdays only she does.; She eats vegetables only on Tuesdays.)

Answer: She eats vegetables only on Tuesdays. Placing "only" next to "on Tuesdays" limits the DAY, which is the intended meaning. Each placement means something different.

Modifier placement changes meaning, not just style. What a dangling modifier is (Choices: A modifier placed at the end of a sentence; A modifier longer than five words; Any phrase separated by a comma; A modifying phrase whose intended subject never appears in the sentence.)

Answer: A modifying phrase whose intended subject never appears in the sentence. It dangles because there is nothing in the sentence for it to attach to — position alone is not the problem.

Maintain parallel structure, agreement, and the subjunctive mood

Only one of these is correct. Which is the sentence with correct parallelism in a comparison? (Choices: Reading the primary source is more useful than relying on a summary.; Reading the primary source is more useful than a summary reliance.; Reading the primary source is more useful than to rely on a summary.; To read the primary source is more useful than relying on a summary.)

Answer: Reading the primary source is more useful than relying on a summary. Both sides of the comparison must take the same grammatical form — here, two -ing phrases.

Only one of these is correct. Which is the sentence with correct parallel structure? (Choices: The role requires drafting reports, to lead meetings, and new staff training.; The role requires drafting reports, leading meetings, and to train new staff.; The role requires reports drafted, leading meetings, and training staff.; The role requires drafting reports, leading meetings, and training new staff.)

Answer: The role requires drafting reports, leading meetings, and training new staff. All three items are -ing phrases. Switching to an infinitive or a noun phrase breaks the pattern.

Worked examples

Example 1

Question: Choose the correctly punctuated phrase for a bedroom shared by more than one teacher.

1. the teachers' bedroom
2. the teachers's bedroom
3. the teachers bedroom
4. the teacher's bedroom

How to solve it: "teachers" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the teachers' bedroom".

Answer: the teachers' bedroom

Why the other choices don't work:

• A student who picks "the teachers's bedroom" usually added an extra -s after the apostrophe on a regular plural.
• A student who picks "the teachers bedroom" usually wrote a plain plural with no apostrophe, so nothing shows ownership.
• A student who picks "the teacher's bedroom" usually used the singular possessive, which describes only one owner.

Example 2

Question: Choose the correctly punctuated phrase for a scarf shared by more than one volunteer.

1. the volunteers scarf
2. the volunteer's scarf
3. the volunteers' scarf
4. the volunteers's scarf

How to solve it: "volunteers" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the volunteers' scarf".

Answer: the volunteers' scarf

Why the other choices don't work:

• A student who picks "the volunteers scarf" usually wrote a plain plural with no apostrophe, so nothing shows ownership.
• A student who picks "the volunteer's scarf" usually used the singular possessive, which describes only one owner.
• A student who picks "the volunteers's scarf" usually added an extra -s after the apostrophe on a regular plural.

Try these practice questions

1. Choose the correctly punctuated phrase for a garden shared by more than one volunteer.

   1. the volunteers's garden
   2. the volunteers garden
   3. the volunteers' garden
   4. the volunteer's garden

2. Which is the correct way to show that the garden belongs to several neighbours?

   1. the neighbours's garden
   2. the neighbours' garden
   3. the neighbours garden
   4. the neighbour's garden

3. Choose the correctly punctuated phrase for a camera shared by more than one director.

   1. the directors camera
   2. the directors' camera
   3. the director's camera
   4. the directors's camera

4. Choose the correctly punctuated phrase for a backpack shared by more than one athlete.

   1. the athlete's backpack
   2. the athletes's backpack
   3. the athletes' backpack
   4. the athletes backpack

5. Which is the correct way to show that the jacket belongs to several doctors?

   1. the doctors' jacket
   2. the doctor's jacket
   3. the doctors's jacket
   4. the doctors jacket

6. Which is the correct way to show that the umbrella belongs to several doctors?

   1. the doctor's umbrella
   2. the doctors umbrella
   3. the doctors' umbrella
   4. the doctors's umbrella

Answer key

1. the volunteers' garden — "volunteers" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the volunteers' garden".
2. the neighbours' garden — "neighbours" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the neighbours' garden".
3. the directors' camera — "directors" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the directors' camera".
4. the athletes' backpack — "athletes" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the athletes' backpack".
5. the doctors' jacket — "doctors" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the doctors' jacket".
6. the doctors' umbrella — "doctors" is a regular plural already ending in -s, so the apostrophe goes after it: "the doctors' umbrella".

Keep practicing

The fastest way to build confidence is a few questions at a time, with feedback on each answer. Start with Advanced Grammar practice for grade 10, where every question comes with a step-by-step explanation.

More from BAMS Academy:

• BAMS Academy English practice by grade
• Every 10th grade subject