Error Spotting Questions with Answers
DIRECTIONS : In the following questions, a sentence has been divided into four parts and marked a, b, c and d. One of these parts contains a mistake in grammar Idiom or syntax. Identify that part and mark it as the answer.
1.
(a) Owing to illness
(b) he was unable
(c) to go
(d) for his holiday
Answer: (a); There is an incorrect use of ‘owing to’.
2.
(a) Pickpocketers are
(b) sometimes spotted
(c) by policemen
(d) at bus stops
Answer: (a); ‘Pickpocketers’ is not the correct word. The correct one is ‘Pickpockets’ and hence option (a) is right.
3.
(a) His both hands
(b) have been injured
(c) so he
(d) cannot work
Answer: (a); Option (a) is our answer, because ‘his’ is a possessive pronoun and it should come next to the noun it is referring to, i.e. his would come just before hands.
4.
(a) Several guests noticed Mr. Peter
(b) fall back
(c) in his chair
(d) and gasping for breath
Answer: (b); As the given sentence is describing a continuous action in the past, ‘fall’ should be replaced with ‘falling’ back. Hence, option (b) is correct.
5.
(a) The short story
(b) should not exceed
(c) more than
(d) two hundred words
Answer: (c); Option (c) is correct, because it is redundant and there is no use of it. The word ‘exceed’ is enough to convey that the short story should not have more than 200 words.
6.
(a) If one reads the newspaper regularly
(b) you will be surprised at the improvement
(c) in your overall reading skills
(d) day by day
Answer: (a) If you read …..
The indefinite pronoun ‘one’ or the personal pronoun ‘you’ should he used throughout the sentence.
7.
(a) Preetam asked her sister
(b) why had she not gone to the school
(c) the previous day
(d) or applied for leave
Answer: (b) why she had not gone…
As per the rules of syntax the subject comes before the verb and not after.
8.
(a) In tropical climate, it is necessary
(b) that a person drink
(c) several cups of water daily
(d) if he wishes to remain healthy
Answer: (a) In a tropical climate….
The article ‘a’ is used as “tropical climate” here is being used generically. One should either say “a tropical climate” or “tropical climates”.
9.
(a) Pollution effects more people
(b) today than it ever did in the past
(c) because more people live near industrial units
(d) and inhale noxious gases from the atmosphere
Answer: (a) Pollution affects
The verb affects is to be used here which means “to produce an effect on’
10.
(a) Sita claimed that she had
(b) not only gone to Delhi
(c) but also to Agra
(d) and had seen the Taj Mahal
Answer: (b) gone not only to Delhi
‘Not only – but also are correlative conjunctions and when used, should be followed by the same part of speech.
11.
(a) The advertisement for the new detergent
(b) claimed that it was as effective
(c) if not more than
(d) washing soap in removing dirt from clothes
Answer: (b) as effective as
12.
(a) If you would have come earlier
(b) there would have been enough time
(c) for us to go to the movie
(d) which has been running to full-houses
Answer: (a) If you had come earlier…
The past tense is to be used here.
13.
(a) Nalini found it difficult
(b) to manage single-handedly the three children
(c) who were always quarrelling
(d) between themselves
Answer: (d) among themselves.
The preposition ‘between’ is used when two things are considered whereas ‘among’ is used to qualify more than two things or people.
14.
(a) Did he say he will
(b) bring the book tomorrow?
(c) He has been promising so
(d) for the past seven days
Answer: (a) Did he say he would…
‘Would’ is used as the past equivalent of ‘will’ when reporting in Indirect Speech.
15.
(a) The cost of food grains have increased
(b) so rapidly during the last two years
(c) that salaried classes find it difficult
(d) to save any part of their income
Answer: (a) has increased….
Often, by what is called the “Error of Proximity”, the verb is made to agree in number with a noun near it instead of with its proper subject. This should be avoided.
16.
(a) The train is unusually late today
(b) for it has been announced just now
(c) that it will arrive in a hour
(d) on platform number three
Answer: (c) an hour.
‘An’ is used before a word beginning with a vowel sound.
17.
(a) Fluosol is a transparency liquid
(b) that very much resembles water
(c) but in fact is twice
(d) as dense as water
Answer: (a)….is a transparent liquid.
The adjective ‘transparent’ is to be used here and not the noun ‘transparency’.
18.
(a) Along the northern border of India
(b) is seen the Himalayas
(c) tall, mighty and majestic
(d) in their unique splendour
Answer: (d) in its unique splendour.
The Himalayas is referred to as a singular noun.
19.
(a) The next generation of commercial airplanes
(b) are expected to be faster
(c) less fuel-thirsty and
(d) more fully computerized than the present one
Answer: (b) is expected to be faster
20.
(a) Each of the speakers whom I invited
(b) to participate in the debate
(c) has indicated their unwillingness
(d) because of the short notice
Answer: (c) has indicated his unwillingness
In referring to anybody, everybody, everyone, anyone, each etc., the pronoun of the masculine or the feminine gender is used according to the context but when the sex is not determined, we use the pronoun of the masculine gender, as there is no singular pronoun of the third person to represent both male and female, as, Each must do his best.