Free Writing Skills MCQs with Answers
141 Writing Skills MCQs from English, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
Writing skills cover sentence construction, spelling, word usage and the editing of written English. The work includes finding fragments, run-on sentences, faulty coordination, misplaced modifiers, misspellings, confusing word pairs and errors that proofreading should correct without changing the intended meaning.
Last updated
Read the Writing Skills notesFree MDCAT chapter notes with key terms141 questions · page 1 of 8
- A. She likes swimming, cycling and to run.
- B. She likes swimming, cycling and running.
- C. She likes to swim, cycling and running.
- D. She likes swim, cycle and to run.
Explanation: Items joined in a list must share the same grammatical form, so three gerunds are consistent while mixing a gerund with an infinitive is…
Correct answer: She likes swimming, cycling and running.- A. The sentence is correct
- B. Walking to the hospital wrongly appears to describe the rain
- C. began should be begun
- D. the rain should be a rain
Explanation: The introductory phrase must describe the subject of the main clause, but here that subject is the rain, which cannot walk.
Correct answer: Walking to the hospital wrongly appears to describe the rain- A. The doctor told the patient that he needed rest, which was true.
- B. Being tired, the exam was difficult.
- C. To pass the test, hard work is required.
- D. Having studied all night, the paper seemed easy to him.
Explanation: Only the first sentence keeps every modifier attached to something that can logically perform the action.
Correct answer: The doctor told the patient that he needed rest, which was true.- A. The lecture ended early; the students left.
- B. The lecture ended early, the students left.
- C. The lecture ended early, so the students left.
- D. Because the lecture ended early, the students left.
Explanation: Two independent clauses joined by nothing more than a comma form a comma splice, which is a type of run on.
Correct answer: The lecture ended early, the students left.- A. Although the results were promising.
- B. The results were promising.
- C. The results, which were promising, were published.
- D. Promising results were published.
Explanation: A subordinating conjunction such as although turns the clause into a dependent one, so it cannot stand alone and needs a main clause to…
Correct answer: Although the results were promising.- A. occurence
- B. occurrence
- C. ocurrence
- D. occurrance
Explanation: Occurrence doubles both the c and the r and ends in ence, which is why it is misspelt so often.
Correct answer: occurrence- A. affect
- B. effect
- C. affects
- D. efect
Explanation: Effect is the noun meaning result, while affect is the verb meaning to influence, so the medicine affected the patient and had an effect…
Correct answer: effect- A. accept
- B. except
- C. expect
- D. aspect
Explanation: Except means excluding, while accept means to receive willingly, and the sentence needs the sense of leaving a group out.
Correct answer: except- A. less
- B. fewer
- C. lesser
- D. little
Explanation: Fewer is used with countable nouns such as complications, while less is used with uncountable ones such as time, money or water.
Correct answer: fewer- A. between
- B. among
- C. amongst all
- D. within
Explanation: Between is used for two parties and among for three or more, and here there are exactly two departments.
Correct answer: between- A. Their going to submit there reports tomorrow.
- B. They're going to submit their reports tomorrow.
- C. There going to submit their reports tomorrow.
- D. They're going to submit there reports tomorrow.
Explanation: They're is the contraction of they are, their is the possessive and there indicates place, so the sentence needs the contraction first and…
Correct answer: They're going to submit their reports tomorrow.- A. Due to the fact that the patient was critical, surgery was performed immediately.
- B. Because the patient was critical, surgery was performed immediately.
- C. Owing to the fact of the patient's critical condition, immediate surgery was performed.
- D. The patient being in a critical condition, therefore surgery was performed.
Explanation: Due to the fact that is a wordy way of saying because, and concise writing prefers the single word.
Correct answer: Because the patient was critical, surgery was performed immediately.- A. return back to the ward
- B. return to the ward
- C. walk to the ward
- D. go to the ward
Explanation: Return already contains the idea of going back, so adding back repeats it.
Correct answer: return back to the ward- A. The report was clear, concise and it was accurate.
- B. The report was clear, concise and accurate.
- C. The report were clear, concise and accurate.
- D. The report was clear, concisely and accurate.
Explanation: Three adjectives in a row keep the structure parallel, whereas adding a clause or slipping in an adverb breaks it.
Correct answer: The report was clear, concise and accurate.- A. affect
- B. effect
- C. affection
- D. effective
Explanation: A noun is needed after the article a and the adjective positive, and effect is the noun meaning result.
Correct answer: effect- A. Neither of the two options are acceptable to the committee.
- B. Neither of the two options is acceptable to the committee.
- C. Neither of the two option is acceptable to the committee.
- D. Neither of the two options were acceptable to the committee.
Explanation: Neither is singular and controls the verb, so is is required, and the noun after of must be plural.
Correct answer: Neither of the two options is acceptable to the committee.- A. He didn't say nothing about the results.
- B. He didn't say anything about the results.
- C. He hasn't got no results.
- D. He never said nothing.
Explanation: In standard English two negatives cancel, so didn't say nothing literally means he said something, which is not the intended meaning.
Correct answer: He didn't say anything about the results.- A. expalanation
- B. explaination
- C. explnasion
- D. explanation
Explanation: The correct spelling is explanation, which drops the i of explain, and that dropped letter is exactly what the second option restores…
Correct answer: explanation- A. Imtiaz invited me on a dinner party at restaurant.
- B. Imtiaz invited me on a diner party at restaurant.
- C. Imtiaz invited me on a dinner party at resturant.
- D. Imtiaz invited me on a dinnar party at restaurent.
Explanation: Only the first option spells both dinner and restaurant correctly. A diner is a person eating or a small roadside cafe, so the second…
Correct answer: Imtiaz invited me on a dinner party at restaurant.- A. Should unitedly undertake
- B. Should be united undertook
- C. Should be unitedly undertaken
- D. Should be unitedly undertake
Explanation: After “resolved that,” the modal “should” takes the base verb “undertake,” so “should unitedly undertake” is grammatical.
Correct answer: Should unitedly undertakeWriting Skills MCQs: common questions
Are these Writing Skills MCQs free?
Yes. All Writing Skills MCQs from English are free on TestUstad, with unlimited attempts and no account needed. Nothing on this page is a sample or a trial.
How many Writing Skills MCQs are on this page?
There are 141 Writing Skills MCQs in the English bank, shown 20 to a page with the correct answer and an explanation on each.
Does every Writing Skills MCQ have an explanation?
Yes. Each Writing Skills question shows the correct option and a written explanation of why it is correct, so a wrong answer teaches you something rather than just being marked wrong.
Can I take a timed Writing Skills test?
Yes. The practice button on this page starts a free Writing Skills test drawn from the English bank. It marks each answer instantly, gives you a score at the end, and can be retaken as many times as you like.