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: In the question, there are four sentences. Each sentence has pairs of words/phrases marked as ‘A’ and ‘B’ that are italicised or highlighted. Select the most appropriate word or phrase to form grammatically and syntactically correct sentences. Then, from the options that follow, choose the correct one.

(i) The kite flier let the string of the kite (A) loose (B) lose in order to let it cut the string of the other kite. (ii) The (A) miner (B) minor mistakes of the young children should be suitably and affectionately dealt with by the parents. (iii) It is a (A) naughty (B) knotty problem and cannot be solved by these students. (iv) The waiter was asked to (A) pore (B) pour cold water into the glasses but instead he spilt it on the table.

  1. AABA

  2. BBBA

  3. ABAB

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

In sentence (i), the correct option is (A) loose because it is used to indicate something that is not tight. The inflection of the transitive verb lose is something which has been taken away.  In sentence (ii), the correct option is (B) minor. The noun miner means a mine worker and the adjective minor means something that is small in quantity.

In sentence (iii), the correct option is (B) knotty. The adjective naughty implies badly behaved or mischievous. The adjective knotty means puzzling or complex. In the given sentence, it refers to a problem. 

In sentence (iv), the correct option is (B) pour. It implies studying something with concentration or carefully. The transitive verb pour refers to make a liquid or substance flow out of a container that you are holding. 

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence given below has been divided into three parts (1), (2) and (3). One of these parts may contain an error. You have to indicate that part as your answer. If there is no error, indicate (4) as your answer.

  1. In the olden days

  2. people believed that

  3. the earth was stationery

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

Error of vocabulary usage. The sentence implies that 'the earth was static, or not movable; fixed or still'. For this, we need adjective 'stationary', rather than the noun 'stationery' that means 'riting materials; specif., paper and envelopes used for letters'.

 

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence given below has been divided into three parts (1), (2) and (3). One of these parts may contain an error. You have to indicate that part as your answer. If there is no error, indicate (4) as your answer.

  1. When I stayed in the Guest House,

  2. I find the caretaker

  3. too officious and meddlesome

  4. No error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

If the principal clause is in the past tense, the subsidiary cluase must also be in the past. 'Stayed' should be followed by 'found'.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence given below has been divided into three parts (1), (2) and (3). One of these parts may contain an error. You have to indicate that part as your answer. If there is no error, indicate (4) as your answer.

  1. He was a reverent

  2. old gentleman with a tall stature

  3. and a flowing beard

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

THe sentence implies that the old man is highly respected. So, replace adjective 'reverent' with 'revered'. 'Reverent' means to show respect towrds someone, while 'revered' means 'to fetch other's respect'.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence given below has been divided into three parts (1), (2) and (3). One of these parts may contain an error. You have to indicate that part as your answer. If there is no error, indicate (4) as your answer.

  1. In 1942, the Congress working Committee took

  2. the momentous decision that

  3. a Quit India Movement should be started

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

The sentence is perfectly correct. Momentous decision means very important decision.

Multiple choice

Directions: The sentence given below has been divided into three parts (1), (2) and (3). One of these parts may contain an error. You have to indicate that part as your answer. If there is no error, indicate (4) as your answer.

  1. I shall not waive my right to this house

  2. if you promise

  3. to allot a bigger one to me later

  4. No error
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence implies the conditionality. Here, 'if' should be replaced by 'unless'.

Multiple choice

Directions: In the following question, find out which part of a sentence has an error. If there is no error, mark the answer as No error. The experiment proved to my laboratory partner and I (a) / that prejudices about (b) / the results of an investigation (c) / are often unfounded (d) / No error.(e)

  1. (a)

  2. (b)

  3. (c)

  4. (d)

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

 The subject of the sentence is 'the experiment', 'my laboratory partner and I' act as the object, so the objective case(my laboratory partner and me) should be used.