English Language

Spotting Errors

4,734 Questions
All Noun, Article, and Determiner Usage 629 Subject-Verb Agreement 529 Preposition and Phrasal Verb Choice 510 Tense and Time Sequence 429 Pronoun Agreement and Case 415 Adjective and Adverb Form 372 Idiom and Confusable Word Choice 367 Verb Complement and Mood 347 Sentence Structure and Modifier Placement 296 Conjunction and Connector Choice 228 Parallel Structure 220 Redundancy and Negation 148

Spotting Errors Questions

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there is no error, choose ‘No error’ as your answer.

I decided to see the doctor because I had been feeling ill during last few weeks.

  1. decided to see

  2. because

  3. had been feeling

  4. during last few weeks

  5. No error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘for the last few weeks’. 'During' tells us about the period when something happens. 'For' tells us how long it continues or lasts, e.g. I was ill for three days during my holidays.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer. There was a big argument about if we should move to a bigger house.

  1. there was

  2. argument about

  3. if we should

  4. move to

  5. no error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘whether we should’. After a preposition, we cannot use an if-clause. Instead, we use ‘whether’.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer. I have been living in this city since last several years but have never experienced any discrimination.

  1. have been living

  2. in this city

  3. since last several years

  4. have never experienced

  5. no error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘for the last several years’. To indicate duration, we use ‘for’. ‘Since’ is used to indicate the starting point of actions and situations.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer. The judge paid a lot of attention to that the master had abused the boy both physically and emotionally.

  1. the judge paid

  2. a lot of attention

  3. attention to that

  4. master had abused

  5. no error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘attention to the fact that’. We cannot put a that-clause immediately after a preposition. In this case, we use the expression ‘the fact’ between the preposition and the that-clause.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there is no error, choose ‘No error’ as your answer.

He is not only involved in conducting adult literacy programs but also in organising workshops for the unemployed.

  1. he is not only involved in conducting

  2. adult literacy programs

  3. but also in organising

  4. for the unemployed

  5. No error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘he is involved not only in conducting’. When we use a correlative conjunction like not only … but also …, the same kind of words should follow both parts. For example, if ‘not only’ is followed by a verb, ‘but also’, too, should be followed by a verb. In this case, ‘not only’ is followed by a verb, and ‘but also’ is followed by a preposition. This is incorrect. The sentence should read: He is involved not only in conducting adult literacy programs, but also in organising workshop for the unemployed.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer. If it weren’t for the children, we haven’t had anything to talk about.

  1. if it weren’t

  2. for the children

  3. we haven’t had

  4. anything to talk about

  5. no error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘we wouldn’t have’. When the verb in the if-clause is in the past simple tense, we use would + infinitive in the main clause.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer. Due to some unavoidable circumstances, the meeting was postponed indefinite, but the members could not be informed.

  1. due to some unavoidable circumstances

  2. the meeting was postponed

  3. indefinite

  4. the members could not be informed

  5. no error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘indefinitely’. Indefinite is an adjective, but we require the adverb indefinitely here.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer. If I would have realized he was in trouble, I would have done something to bail him out.

  1. if I would have realized

  2. he was in trouble

  3. i would have done

  4. to bail him out

  5. no error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

This part should be ‘if I had realized’. To talk about an imaginary situation in the past, we use a past perfect tense in the if-clause and would have + past participle in the main clause.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer. Not only they need clothing, but they are also short of food and water.

  1. not only they need

  2. clothing

  3. but they are also

  4. short of food and water

  5. no error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘not only do they need’. When a negative expression goes at the beginning of a sentence, it should be followed by auxiliary verb + subject. In this case, the sentence should read: Not only do they need clothing, but they are also short of food and water.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer.

He shouted at his secretary and told her that he does not need her service.

  1. he shouted at

  2. and told her

  3. that

  4. he does not need

  5. No error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This part should be ‘he did not need’. When the verb in the main clause is in the past tense, the verb in the subordinate clause, too, needs to be in the past tense.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there are no errors, choose ‘No error’ as your answer.

Children of divorced parents may have difficulty to form stable relationships themselves.

  1. children of divorced parents

  2. may have

  3. difficulty to form

  4. stable relationships themselves

  5. No error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘difficulty in forming’. The noun difficulty takes the preposition ‘in’ and an –ing form.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence may contain an error. You have to find that part of the sentence which contains the error. If there is no error, choose ‘No error’ as your answer.

I found this bangle while digging in the backyard and I don’t know who it belonged to.

  1. i found

  2. while digging in

  3. in the backyard

  4. who it belonged to

  5. No error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

It should be ‘to whom it belonged’. The sentence should read: I don’t know to whom it belonged. When the relative pronoun is the object of the relative clause, we use ‘whom’ instead of ‘who’. Note that in this case, the preposition normally goes before ‘whom’.