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 sentence is divided into three parts (a), (b) and (c). Choose the part which has an error. If there is no error, mark (d) as your answer.

The news of his marriage to another girl (a) / was a shock to her (b) / but she bore up bravely (c) / and went on as if nothing has happened. (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Case of improper phrasal usage. 'Bear up' means to endure, as under a strain; keep up one's spirits. 'Bear with' means to be patient with, or to keep one's calm. So, here it should be - ''but she bore with the news bravely''.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence is divided into three parts (a), (b) and (c). Choose the part which has an error. If there is no error, mark (d) as your answer.

I can't hear you. (a) / Please speak distinctly. (b) / Which telephone number you want? (c) / No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Case of sentence formation. In interrogative sentence, auxilary verb precedes the subject. So, the last part of the sentence should be - Which telephone number do you want?.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence is divided into three parts (a), (b) and (c). Choose the part which has an error. If there is no error, mark (d) as your answer.

A majority of labourers (a) / is demanding (b) / an increase in wages. (c) / No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Case of subject-verb agreement. 'A majority' means 'most of', which is a pluralistic noun and needs a plural auxilary verb after it. So, 'is' should be replaced with 'are'. Had it been 'the majority', the sentence would be correct.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence is divided into three parts (a), (b) and (c). Choose the part which has an error. If there is no error, mark (d) as your answer.

There goes old Mrs. Roy (a) / and her meek (b) / little husband.(c) / No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Case of subject-verb agreement. Here, the subject is plural i.e. Mrs. Roy and her husband. So, the verb should also be plural. Therefore, change 'goes' to 'go'.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence is divided into three parts (a), (b) and (c). Choose the part which has an error. If there is no error, mark (d) as your answer.

Not one of the hundreds (a) / of striking workers (b) / were allowed to go near the factory.(c) / No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Case of subject-verb agreement. Words like 'one of', 'which of', etc (if followed by a plural noun) take a singular auxilary verb after them. So, change 'were' into 'was'.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence is divided into three parts (a), (b) and (c). Choose the part which has an error. If there is no error, mark (d) as your answer.

I enquired of him (a) / why he is so negligent (b) / in his studies. (c) / No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Case of sentence formation. If the principal clause of the sentence is in past form, the subordinate clause must be in the past tense. So, word 'enquired' demands 'was' in place of 'is'.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence is divided into three parts (a), (b) and (c). Choose the part which has an error. If there is no error, mark (d) as your answer.

Rohan was leading (a) / a happy and leisurely (b) / life after his retirement (c) / from service. (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Case of present perfect tense. Whenever we refer to a work that began in the past and is going on at the time of speaking, we use this tense. Hence, 'was leading' should be replaced by 'has beeen leading'.

Multiple choice
Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English. (A) The corona is a (B) brilliant, (C) pearly white, filmy light, (D) about as bright the full Moon. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

About as bright as. With positive degree we make use of correlative conjunctions and the correct expression is “as bright as”.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(A) Until recently, (B) most sociological research (C) were conducted at (D) one point in time. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(was). The subject “sociological research” is singular so, singular verb was will be used.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(A) Probably no concept is (B) more difficult to define or (C) describe in sociology (D) than social change. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

  5. (E)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

No concept is more difficult than the concept of social change; or 'than that of'. Necessary preposition phrase 'that of' is necessary since a comparison is made.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

Change (A) can be (B) analytical distinguished in (C) two separate spheres social (D) and cultural. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

  5. (E)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Analytically.  Adverb form will be used to modify the verb 'distinguished'.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(A) Outside forces occasionally (B) act upon a country in such a way (C) like to produce strong reactions (D) such as a declaration of war. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

As to produce. If the word “such” is used in the previous part of the clause then the conjunction 'as' is used instead of like, which etc.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

Wilson (A) yearned for a political career all (B) his life; he won his (C) first office in 1910 (D) when he was elected governor of New Jersey. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

  5. (E)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Had yearned.  He won his first office in 1910. Obviously he had yearned for it before that. 

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(A) No other individual has influenced the cause of public education in (B) the United States (C) during first half of the (D) twentieth century more than John Dewey. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

  5. (E)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

During the first half.  Definite Article 'the' is used before the ordinals.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice (E). In choosing the answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The desire to be creative, (A) having new experiences, to escape boredom and (B) to realize unmet needs, all combine (C) to guarantee modifications (D) in the pattern of social life. (E) No error.

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

To have new experiences. The sentence lacks parallelism. All the other desires are stated in the infinitive form so, we should replace “having” with “to have”.