NYPD Written Expression Questions
Not grammar for its own sake. You are choosing the sentence that reports a fact clearly and completely, and the wrong options usually fail by attaching a description to the wrong thing.
What is actually being tested
The Notice of Examination describes it as using written words to communicate so that others will understand. On the exam that means four sentences carrying the same facts, one of which says them unambiguously.
It is the section closest to the job: an officer's notes become a report somebody else relies on, and the failure modes on the test are the failure modes in practice.
The error that appears most
A misplaced modifier — a describing phrase sitting next to the wrong noun. “Waiting on the platform, the van was noted by the witness” puts the van on the platform. The sentence reads fluently, which is exactly why it is chosen.
The second most common is the passive construction that loses the actor entirely: “the door was found open” records a state and drops who found it, when it was, and whether it had been forced.
- Ask which noun each describing phrase is sitting next to.
- Ask whether the sentence says WHO did the thing.
- Prefer the version that survives being read aloud to somebody who was not there.
Sources
- NYC DCAS — Notice of Examination, Police Officer (exam series 7311–7322) · checked 2026-08-21