Special Agent Entrance Practice Exam

What is an example of a capitalization error?

1. Using "childs" instead of "children."

2. Writing "investigasion" for "investigation."

3. Ignoring capitalization in "Flower" in a sentence.

4. Using "its" incorrectly in place of "it's."

The correct answer is: Ignoring capitalization in "Flower" in a sentence.

Ignoring capitalization in "Flower" demonstrates a capitalization error because it signifies a failure to properly capitalize a noun that may either be a proper noun or should follow grammatical capitalization rules. In English, proper nouns—such as names of specific people, places, or organizations—must be capitalized to differentiate them from common nouns. For example, if "Flower" refers to a specific person or title (such as a character in a story), it should be capitalized to convey its importance within the context. This mistake can lead to confusion or misinterpretation of the text's meaning. The other options represent different types of errors: “childs” versus “children” is a grammatical error concerning plurality, “investasion” instead of “investigation” is a spelling mistake, and using "its" incorrectly instead of "it's" pertains to a contraction error. Each of these reflects a different aspect of language use outside of capitalization.