U.S. Border Patrol Entrance Exam (BPA) Writing Skills (Standard English Usage) Flashcards

24 sample cards from the Writing Skills (Standard English Usage) deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. How do you form the possessive of a plural noun ending in s?

   Add only an apostrophe after the s (e.g., 'the agents' reports').

2. What is the difference between 'its' and 'it's'?

   'Its' is the possessive (belonging to it); 'it's' is the contraction for 'it is' or 'it has.'

3. How do you show joint versus individual possession with an apostrophe?

   For joint possession, add 's to the last name (Tom and Mary's car); for individual possession, add 's to each name (Tom's and Mary's cars).

4. Do possessive pronouns (yours, hers, theirs, ours, its) use apostrophes?

   No. Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe.

5. What punctuation ends a declarative versus an interrogative sentence?

   A declarative (statement) ends with a period; an interrogative (question) ends with a question mark.

6. In American English, where do periods and commas go relative to closing quotation marks?

   Always inside the closing quotation marks (e.g., 'He said, "Stop."').

7. Where do colons and semicolons go relative to closing quotation marks?

   Always outside the closing quotation marks.

8. When are quotation marks used?

   To enclose a speaker's exact words (direct quotation) and titles of short works such as articles, poems, and songs.

9. What are the basic rules of capitalization?

   Capitalize the first word of a sentence, the pronoun 'I,' and all proper nouns and proper adjectives.

10. When are titles capitalized before a name versus after?

    Capitalize a title directly before a name (President Lincoln) but generally lowercase it when it stands alone or follows a name ('the president spoke').

11. Are compass directions capitalized?

    Capitalize them when they name a specific region (the South) but lowercase them as directions ('drive south').

12. How are the words in a title capitalized (title case)?

    Capitalize the first and last words and all major words; lowercase short articles, conjunctions, and prepositions unless they begin the title.

13. What is the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'?

    'Affect' is usually a verb meaning to influence; 'effect' is usually a noun meaning a result.

14. What is the difference between 'their,' 'there,' and 'they're'?

    'Their' shows possession, 'there' indicates place, and 'they're' is the contraction for 'they are.'

15. What is the difference between 'your' and 'you're'?

    'Your' is possessive (your badge); 'you're' is the contraction for 'you are.'

16. What is the difference between 'accept' and 'except'?

    'Accept' is a verb meaning to receive; 'except' is usually a preposition meaning excluding.

17. What is the difference between 'than' and 'then'?

    'Than' is used for comparison; 'then' refers to time or sequence.

18. What is the difference between 'principal' and 'principle'?

    'Principal' means main/most important or a school's head; 'principle' is a rule or fundamental truth.

19. What is the spelling rule for 'i before e'?

    'I before e, except after c, or when sounded like a as in neighbor and weigh' (e.g., believe, receive, weigh).

20. What spelling rule applies when adding a suffix to a word ending in silent 'e'?

    Drop the e before a suffix beginning with a vowel (hope/hoping) but keep it before a consonant suffix (hope/hopeful).

21. What is the spelling rule for words ending in 'y' when adding a suffix?

    Change y to i when it follows a consonant (carry/carried) but keep the y when it follows a vowel (play/played) or before -ing.

22. What does the precise vocabulary distinction between 'fewer' and 'less' indicate?

    Use 'fewer' for countable items (fewer agents) and 'less' for uncountable quantities (less time).

23. In sentence completion, how do you choose the best word for a blank?

    Select the word whose meaning and connotation fit the sentence's logic and tone, using context clues such as contrast or cause-and-effect signals.

24. In identifying an error in a passage, what should you check first in a flagged sentence?

    Check subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement and case, verb tense, parallelism, modifier placement, and punctuation; if all are correct, the sentence has no error.

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Writing Skills (Standard English Usage) flashcards FAQ