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 has been split into five parts. One of the parts may have an error of grammar or syntax. Select the part having the error.

  1. Using history,

  2. logical and the dynamic nature of mankind

  3. as guidelines, Karl Marx attempts

  4. to map with a sequence of events

  5. which will eventually lead to utopia.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Error of parallelism. There are three elements: history, logic (both nouns) and dynamic nature of mankind (noun phrase).

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence has been split into four parts. One of the parts may have an error of grammar or syntax. Select the part having the error. If there is no error, select (5)

  1. In his candid speech, the writer

  2. talks about his early years,

  3. his desire to become a renowned writer and

  4. how he made an important place for himself in the literary world.

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

Parallel nouns should be used: his early years, his desire and his attempt to make an important place.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (d). (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)

Pranav tried to strike out (a) a conversation with the co-passenger (b) he met at the restaurant (c) No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

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

Instead of 'strike out', it should be 'strike up' a conversation which means to initiate.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (d). (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)

She asked me if I will (a) participate in the quiz competition and (b) I replied that I wouldn’t. (c) No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

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

"if I would….". The sentence is in indirect speech and instead of 'will', we use 'would'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (d). (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)

If you will allow me to (a) speak the truth, I will (b) tell the actual state of events. (c) No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

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

"If you allow me….". In conditional sentences, we use 'will' in the main clause and not in 'if' clause.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (d). (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)

I was surprised to hear (a) the news that Ram was (b) won the contest (c) No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

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

"Ram had won". The sentence refers to an event in the past, so we use past perfect form which is 'had'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (d). (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)

It is surprising that (a) even after practising for years (b), Arun still can’t write legible (c) No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

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

'legibly'. The adverb 'legibly' should be used in place of adjective 'legible' as its modifying verb.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (d). (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)

Our new servant is (a) much dependable than the one (b) we had last year (c) No error (d)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

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

"more dependable". We are making comparison, so we should use comparative degree of 'much' which is 'more'.