Read the sentence. Every day at recess, my friend and I plays tag on the field. Which word in the sentence has an error?

Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit · TELPAS Grade 3 writing. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

Reporting category 2: find and fix an error in a short text. On the real test some of these are typed answers or sentence rewrites. Here they are multiple choice so they can be checked.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Read the sentence. Every day at recess, my friend and I plays tag on the field. Which word in the sentence has an error?

• Aday
• BplaysCorrect answer
• Ctag
• Dfield

Why “plays” is correct

This is like the first part of a two-part item: find the error before fixing it. The subject is my friend and I, which is two people, so the verb should be play, not plays. Students may hear “my friend plays” and forget that and I makes the subject plural.

Why the other answers are wrong

• day — Every day is correct; it tells how often.
• tag — Tag is the name of the game and is used correctly.
• field — Field is spelled correctly and used correctly.

Practice more of this

More writing practice for Grade 3, or see the TELPAS practice test for 3rd grade.