ELPAC Practice

Which sentence uses the wrong form of a verb?

Read a Student Essay · ELPAC Grades 6–8 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

An essay written as if by a classmate, with numbered sentences. The student finds the sentence containing the error.

Read the essay. Then answer the questions.

Our Street Needs a Protected Bike Lane

  1. Every morning, dozens of students ride their bikes to Jefferson Middle School along Grove Avenue.
  2. The street is wider than most in our town, but cars travel quickly on it, and the bike lane is only a painted line.
  3. Not long ago, a seventh grader was knocked off her bike by a car that turned without signaling.
  4. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt, but many parents have stopped letting their children ride.
  5. A protected bike lane, which uses curbs or posts to separate bikes from traffic, would make the trip more safer.
  6. Cities that have built these lanes often see more people choose to ride.
  7. Some business owners worry that they will lose parking spaces in front of their shops.
  8. However, a bike takes up far less space than a car, so one parking space can hold several bike racks.
  9. Our student council has wrote a letter to the city council asking for a protected lane on Grove Avenue.
  10. If you agree, please sign it before the end of the month.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Which sentence uses the wrong form of a verb?

  • Sentence 3: “Not long ago, a seventh grader was knocked off her bike by a car that turned without signaling.”
  • Sentence 4: “Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt, but many parents have stopped letting their children ride.”
  • Sentence 7: “Some business owners worry that they will lose parking spaces in front of their shops.”
  • Sentence 9: “Our student council has wrote a letter to the city council asking for a protected lane on Grove Avenue.”Correct answer

Why “Sentence 9: “Our student council has wrote a letter to the city council asking for a protected lane on Grove Avenue.”” is correct

This tests irregular past participles. After "has", English needs the past participle, which for "write" is "written", so sentence 9 should read "has written". Learners often use the simple past ("wrote") in this position because many regular verbs use the same form for both, such as "has stopped" in sentence 4.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • Sentence 3: “Not long ago, a seventh grader was knocked off her bike by a car that turned without signaling.” — "Was knocked" and "turned" are both correct past forms.
  • Sentence 4: “Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt, but many parents have stopped letting their children ride.” — "Have stopped" is correct, because "stop" is a regular verb whose past participle is "stopped".
  • Sentence 7: “Some business owners worry that they will lose parking spaces in front of their shops.” — "Worry" agrees with the plural "owners", and "will lose" is the correct future form.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Grades 6–8, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 6–8. For other grades, see free ELPAC practice tests by grade.

This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the California Department of Education or the official ELPAC program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published task formats.