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 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. For the teenager,

  2. who had lost his mother immediately after his birth,

  3. both his mother and his father

  4. have been John and John alone.

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

John has served both as mother and father, and John is singular, which will take singular verb 'has been'.

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. A proper reply to the management

  2. were not forthcoming from the

  3. accountant as he found the statement to be very

  4. confusing and beyond his comprehension
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Correct usage shall be 'was not forthcoming…' The subject (A proper reply) is singular and hence, needs a singular verb.

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. Everyone in the crowded shopping arcades, in the grocery stores

  2. and in the food stores, as well as

  3. those who visit the departmental stores down the hill,

  4. were looking for bargains.

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

“Everyone…was… since "as well as " takes the first subject .Since ‘everyone’, is the first subject we will use a singular verb.

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. More than one student

  2. are deciding to complain

  3. about the treacherous acts

  4. of the maid to the head warden.

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

(1) (is deciding). The expression “More than one” always takes a singular verb. So, the correct sentence structure will be;

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. The chairman and managing director was

  2. not very happy with the performance

  3. of their team as it could not achieve

  4. the target set by them.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Reading the sentence as a whole gives us an idea ('their team' and 'them') that 'chairman' and 'managing director' are different persons. The correct usage would be 'The chairman and the managing director were…'

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. Everybody in the family was in agreement

  2. with the idea of going for a new car but

  3. was reluctant to agree to the model suggested

  4. by me which were the latest.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct usage will be '…suggested by me which was the latest'. Singular subject (model) will take a singular verb (was) as compared to the plural verb (were).

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. The burgeoning demand for food,

  2. shrinking farmlands, and stagnating crop yield

  3. has all but ensured that the poor will struggle

  4. to put food on the table.

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

Error of subject-verb agreement; the sentence has a plural subject (demand for food, shrinking farmlands, and stagnating crop yields) and hence requires the plural verb - 'have'.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentences or parts thereof may have an error of grammar or syntax. Select the sentence(s)/part(s) thereof having the error.

(A) But there are some things that need to pass over, (B) to appreciate the profound skill of the architects. (C) The upper portions are so admirably proportioned (D) as they taper up to a comparatively slight finial with the most perfect gradations.

  1. A and B

  2. B and C

  3. C and D

  4. A and D

  5. A and C
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Things don’t need to pass over. We need to pass over them. So, use passive ‘need to be passed over’. Use ’that’ in place of as, in D.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentences or parts thereof may have an error of grammar or syntax. Select the sentence(s)/part(s) thereof having the error.

(A) He insisted at contesting the election, though he was sure of his defeat. (B) This is the same incident that I have witnessed yesterday. (C) Prudence requires that we should meet the dangers that threaten us, (D) by turning all our philosophy, science, and art, into practical common sense.

  1. A and B

  2. B and C

  3. C and D

  4. A, B and C

  5. A, B and D
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Needed 'insisted on' in A; 'I witnessed yesterday' in B; and deletion of 'should' in C.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentences or parts thereof may have an error of grammar or syntax. Select the sentence(s)/part(s) thereof having the error.

(A) The question here is not of autonomy but devolution of power to the grass root level. (B) It is past that unfortunately historians insisted on clinging to. (C) There are a few rules with regard to costuming, which put one a long way. (D) on the road toward elegance and has economic value as well.

  1. A and B

  2. B and C

  3. C and D

  4. A and D

  5. A and C
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Needed ‘but of’ in A; and ‘have economic value’ in D.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentences or parts thereof may have an error of grammar or syntax. Select the sentence(s)/part(s) thereof having the error.

(A) In this modern age there is a growing trend of viewing a country as a whole, (B) with its people, topography, and general conditions in natural relation with each other.
(C) The process by which the nature control the imbalance created by human beings is peculiar. (D) It is not easy to be sure today how accurate an observer he was.

  1. A and B

  2. B and C

  3. C and D

  4. A, B and C

  5. A, B and D
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Needed 'natural relation to' in B; and 'controls' in C.

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentences or parts thereof may have an error of grammar or syntax. Select the sentence(s)/part(s) thereof having the error.

(A) Workmen were allowed into prison to repair some damaged cells. (B) Only those schemes can succeed which promise to deliver the goods. (C) Art must be the faithful expression of a society, (D) since it is an undeniable witnesses of its spirit and manners for future generations.

  1. A and B

  2. B and C

  3. C and D

  4. A, B and C

  5. A, B and D
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Needed 'the prison' in A; and 'that' in place of 'which' in B.