Note To Self: Tricky Writing Rules

Subject and verb must agree in number. "One" is singular, so the verb must be singular as well. This means "has" must be in the answer. Also, the speaker is using present perfect tense, so "to be given away" is the second half of the equation. Therefore, "has to be given away" is the correct answer. For clarification on this rule see St. Martin's Handbook pgs. 636-644.

You always need a comma after an introductory phrase. "Because it rained all morning" is the introductory phrase. See pgs 738-740 in St. Martin's Handbook for more info on this rule.

Just as before, two independent clauses must be linked with a comma plus a conjunction (or a semicolon or period).

"I knew Congress would never produce the bill in just thirty days" and "I was right" are both independent clauses. They can be linked with the combination of a comma and a conjunction (, + and). See St. Martin's Handbook pgs 740-741 to read more about this rule.

When you interject with extra information, that info is always surrounded by commas to set it off from the rest of the sentence. This deals with commas and nonrestrictive elements. For an in-depth breakdown of this rule see St. Martin's Handbook pgs 741-745.

There are always exceptions in grammar, and this is one of them. "It's" is a contraction of "it is." "Its" shows that "it" possesses something even though there is no apostrophe.

Past participles can be tricky. They are used to form the past perfect tense. They can take strange forms, like woken, and are always used with helping verbs. To review this grammar rule see the St. Martin's handbook, pg 616.

Though "B" is often accepted, the best answer is "A." Sometimes omitting the comma after the last item in a list can cause confusion. It is best to have a comma after each item. See pgs 745-746 in St. Martin's Handbook to learn more about this rule.

In this sentence, either past perfect or present perfect is fine, as long as you stay consistent. In "B," the speaker changes from past perfect to present perfect, making the sentence grammatically incorrect.

Even though it looks a little strange, "Venus's" is the correct way to show that Venus possesses something. "Venus'" is incorrect because an apostrophe only comes after the "s" when the word is plural and possessive. "Venus" is incorrect because it shows no possession. For clarification see St. Martin's Handbook, chapter 51.

This deals with pronoun-antecedent disagreement. "Everyone" is the antecedent, and it is third person singular. (Even though it indicates a group of people, it refers to each person in the group, making it singular.) Therefore, the pronoun that follows it must also be third person singular. "They" is third person plural, so it cannot be correct. "You" can be singular or plural but is second person, so it is incorrect. So, "C" must be the right answer, even though it sounds a bit awkward. To work on this writing rule, see St. Martin's Handbook, chapter 35.

"When the sun came up" indicates past tense. Therefore, your verb must be in past tense. "Was" and "had" both indicate past events. For more help with this rule, see St. Martin's Handbook, pg. 628.

"A" is incorrect because there are two independent clauses, so some punctuation is definitely needed. "B" is not right because a comma isn't strong enough to connect two independent clauses. In "C," the semicolon is used. This is a good answer because the idea expressed by "My dog is beautiful" is directly supported by "her eyes are her best feature." The two statements are inextricably linked, so the semicolon can be used. "D" is also correct because two independent clauses can always be linked by a period. For more info on these rules, see the St. Martin's Handbook, chapters 39, 49, and 50.