Which sentence is written correctly? “On weekends, Lucy likes reading, swimming and painting”

Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit · TELPAS Grades 8–9 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.

Which sentence is written correctly?

On weekends, Lucy likes reading, to swim and painting.
On weekends, Lucy likes reading, swimming and painting.Correct answer
On weekends, Lucy likes to read, swimming and painting.
On weekends, Lucy likes reading, swimming and she paints.

Why “On weekends, Lucy likes reading, swimming and painting.” is correct

This tests parallel structure. When a sentence lists several things, each item should have the same grammatical form. Here all three activities should end in -ing. Reading the list aloud helps students hear which item does not match.

Why the other answers are wrong

On weekends, Lucy likes reading, to swim and painting. — "To swim" does not match the -ing form of the other two activities.
On weekends, Lucy likes to read, swimming and painting. — "To read" does not match the -ing forms that follow it.
On weekends, Lucy likes reading, swimming and she paints. — "She paints" is a clause, not an activity in the same form as the others.

Practice more of this

More writing practice for Grades 8–9, or see the TELPAS practice test for 8th and 9th grade.

This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Texas Education Agency or the official TELPAS program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published test design.