Passing the Police Officer Exam: Grammar and sentence structure questions

Some of the grammar and sentence structure questions on the exam can be more difficult than they seem, and there are some things about the grammar and sentence structure questions on the exam that you may want to keep in mind.  First, remember that there are certain characteristics that a correctly written sentence in a grammar/sentence structure question should always have.  
 

The sentence should:

1. be grammatically correct,
2. be structured correctly, and
3. use each word in the sentence correctly.  

 
These characteristics are extremely important to keep in mind because a sentence can only be considered correct if it meets all three of these requirements.  Therefore, any sentence that doesn't meet one or more of these requirements should be considered incorrect.
 
Secondly, some of the grammar and sentence structure questions will ask you to identify a sentence that is correct, while some may ask you to identify a sentence that is incorrect.  Be aware that you may come across two grammar/sentence structure questions on the exam that appear to be similar, but are actually very different.  Read each question very carefully before you look at any of the options in order to make sure that you are looking for the right type of answer. 
 
Third, if a question is asking you to identify a sentence that is written incorrectly, you should look for a sentence that doesn't meet one or more of the three requirements mentioned above.  The correct answer will always be the option with a sentence that doesn't meet all three of these requirements.  If, on the other hand, a question asks you to identify a sentence that is written correctly, you should look for a sentence that meets all three of the requirements mentioned above.
 
Fourth, if you are looking for an error in a sentence, keep an eye out for some of the common mistakes that people make.  The grammar and sentence structure questions that appear on the exam usually include some of the grammatical and structural errors that people make on a regular basis.  

These common mistakes include:

1. improper punctuation
2. incorrect usage of adverbs and/or adjectives
3. incorrect usage of commonly misused words ('it's'/'its' or 'affect'/'effect')
4. missing punctuation
5. plural pronouns used to take the place of singular nouns
6. sentence fragments

 
These questions will require you to look for grammatical or structural mistakes, but they will usually not require you to look for spelling mistakes or typos.
 
Finally, it is important to note that a sentence may have more than one mistake, but you only need to look for one mistake in order to determine whether a sentence is correct or not.  This is because a sentence is incorrect as soon as there is a single mistake, so a sentence with any error will be the correct answer (if you are looking for an incorrectly written sentence), or an option that you can eliminate (if you are looking for a correctly written sentence).  This can be an extremely useful thing to keep in mind because it will usually be easier for you to eliminate the incorrectly written sentences than it will be for you to eliminate the correctly written sentences.