ATI TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) Version 7English and Language UsageMedium
A patient's medical chart contains the entry: 'Patient presents with acute pain in there lower back, rated 8/10.' Which of the following corrections should be made to the entry?
- AChange 'rated' to 'rate'.
- BChange 'presents' to 'presented'.
- CChange 'acute' to 'chronic'.
- DChange 'there' to 'their'.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Change 'there' to 'their'.
The word 'there' is a homophone for 'their' and 'they're'. In this context, 'their' (a possessive pronoun) is needed to indicate that the lower back belongs to the patient.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. 'Rated' (past participle used as an adjective or passive verb) is correct here; the pain has been rated. 'Rate' would be incorrect.
- B. 'Presents' (present tense) is appropriate for a current observation in a medical chart.
- C. Changing 'acute' to 'chronic' alters the medical meaning and is not a grammatical correction; 'acute' implies sudden and severe, which might be accurate.
There, Their, They're
Three common homophones: 'there' (adverb of place or expletive), 'their' (possessive pronoun), 'they're' (contraction of 'they are').
- 'There' indicates a location (e.g., 'over there') or introduces a sentence (e.g., 'there is').
- 'Their' shows possession (e.g., 'their car').
- 'They're' is a contraction for 'they are' (e.g., 'they're happy').
Memory trick: Location, Possession, Contraction – know your 'theirs'!