You need to go over these HESI A2 grammar rules.
One of the easiest ways to raise your overall score is to learn HESI A2 Grammar well, but only if you know what the test is about. This guide explains the most important grammar rules, gives examples, and shows you how to avoid the most common mistakes that nursing students make.
- Agreement between the subject and the verb
This is the grammar skill that is tested the most on the HESI A2.
Important Rule:
A single subject needs a single verb. A plural subject needs a plural verb.
For example
- Correct: The nurse was getting the medicine ready.
- Correct: The patients were in the lobby waiting.
- Wrong: The group of students was studying. → “Group” is a single word, so it should be “was.”
HESI Tip:
Don’t pay attention to the words that come between the subject and the verb. Concentrate solely on the genuine topic.
- Agreement between pronouns and antecedents
Pronouns must agree with the nouns they replace in gender and number.
For example
- Correct: Every student needs to bring his or her ID.
- Correct (plural): Every student needs to bring their ID.
A common HESI trap is
Words like anyone, everyone, each, and somebody are always one.
- Modifiers that are in the wrong place or hanging
When descriptive phrases are in the wrong place, these mistakes happen.
Example of a modifier that is in the wrong place:
The IV pole fell over when they ran down the hall.
The sentence is wrong because the IV pole wasn’t running.
Right:
The nurse dropped the IV pole as she ran down the hall.
HESI Plan:
Put the descriptive phrase right next to the noun it describes.
- Parallelism
Things in a list or comparison must use the same grammar.
Not right:
The patient enjoys jogging, swimming, and walking.
Correct:
The patient enjoys jogging, swimming, and walking.
Why It Matters:
Nursing schools like it when writing is clearer and more professional, which is what parallel structure does.
- Words that are often mixed up
HESI loves to test these.
Effect and Affect
- Affect = verb → The medicine might change how you see things.
- Effect = noun → The drug has mild effects.
Then and than
- Then = time → We will check on the patient and then give them medicine.
- Than = comparison → Pain is worse than it was before.
You vs. You are
- Your = ownership
- You are = you
- Rules for using commas that you need to know
HESI only tests a small number of important comma rules.
Put a comma in:
- Things that are in a series
- Use a conjunction (and, but, or) to connect two independent clauses.
- After a phrase that starts it off
- Turn off information that isn’t important
For example:
- The students went over the rules of grammar before the test.
- The nurse was tired, but she stayed on the job.
- Sentence Fragments and Run-Ons
HESI often hides these in tests on reading and grammar.
Part:
Thought not finished
- Because the doctor told them to do more tests. (Not a complete sentence)
Run-On:
Two sentences that don’t fit together right
- The medication was late, which caused a delay.
Right:
- It took longer because the medicine was late.
- Rules for Capitalization
Capitalize:
- Smith’s name and title
- Mercy Hospital is one of the places.
- Days and months: June and Monday
- Certain departments: Department of Emergency
Do NOT use capital letters:
- General subjects: the nurse and the doctor
- Winter is one of the seasons.
- Apostrophes
Ownership
- Singular: The chart of the patient
- The charts for more than one patient
Contractions:
can’t, don’t, you’re
Do NOT use apostrophes to make things plural:
IVs, RNs, and vital signs
- Too many words and not enough clarity
HESI likes writing that is clear and simple.
Too many words:
- Because the patient was tired…
Better:
- The patient was tired…
Last-minute tips for getting a high score on the HESI A2 Grammar test
- Practice finding the real subject
- Look at lists to see if they have parallel structure
- Be careful with pronouns that are hard to understand.
- Learn the ten words that people often mix up.
- To make things clearer, take out extra words.
- Before picking an answer, read the whole sentence.
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