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 no part has an error, select option 5.

  1. The largest of mammals,

  2. whale's body can weigh up to

  3. as much as the weight of

  4. fifty elephants put together.

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

If the modifying clause (The largest of mammals) does not contain a subject, the modified clause will begin with the subject (whale). The largest of mammals, a whale can weigh �

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 no part has an error, select option 5.

  1. The heavy loss reduced

  2. the company's profit rate,

  3. which created havoc

  4. among the workers.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In this sentence, pronoun 'which' has no antecedent; neither the “profit rate” nor “the heavy loss” caused havoc. Replace 'which' by “a circumstance that”.

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 no part has an error, select option 5.

  1. Although completely ineffective

  2. as a pain killer,

  3. the scientists concluded that the medicine might

  4. nonetheless have some other uses.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The original sentence contains a dangling modifier. The sentence implies that the scientists themselves were not an effective pain killer. Part (3) has to be rephrased as “the medicine, the scientists concluded, might…”

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 no part has an error, select option 5.

  1. The new housing committee was not only responsible

  2. for the overall maintenance of the locality

  3. but also for rebuilding the healthy relationships

  4. among the people living in the community.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Placement error of 'not only'. The correct rephrasing is “responsible not only for…but also for…”

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 no part has an error, select option 5.

  1. Sensing the work load on students these days,

  2. the eight-hour day not only has been reduced

  3. to one of six hours but also in some lines of work,

  4. to one of four or even three.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

If the modifying clause (Sensing the work load on students these days) does not contain a subject, the modified clause will begin with the subject (who might have sensed - the principal). Part (2) has to be rephrased as “the principal has not only reduced the eight-hour day…”

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (E).

If he (A)/and his family (B)/would ever got (C)/a chance in their life time to see their hometown of Bratislava again (D). No error. (E)

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

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

The error lies in part C because modal auxiliary verbs like would must be followed by the base form of a verb. The phrase would ever got is grammatically incorrect; it should be would ever get.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (E).
The lovers tied (A)/themselves together (B)/with the silken bale (C)/Paula have brought and jumping to the swollen Mandavi (D). No error. (E)

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

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

The phrase 'Paula have brought' uses the wrong tense - it should be 'Paula had brought' (past perfect) to match the past context of the sentence. Additionally, the sentence structure is awkward with 'jumping' as a dangling participle without clear connection to the main clause.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (E).

At 5 a.m., when the train (A)/chugged into Dehri-on-Sone, (B)/I thanking the Lord (C)/the journey was finally finished, picked my bags and disembarked (D). No error. (E)

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

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

The phrase 'I thanking the Lord' is grammatically incorrect. It should be 'I thanked the Lord' to use the simple past tense consistently with the other verbs in the sentence ('chugged', 'was finished', 'picked', 'disembarked'). The present participle 'thanking' doesn't work as a main verb here.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (E).

In the kitchen (A)/some of the children (B)/sat kneading dough, rolling chapatis (C)/and helping the lonely cook for a home of some 180 children (D). No error. (E)

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

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

All parts of the sentence are grammatically correct. The prepositional phrases 'In the kitchen', 'some of the children', the participle phrases 'sat kneading dough, rolling chapatis', and 'helping the lonely cook for a home of some 180 children' are all properly constructed and convey a coherent meaning.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, might be in one parts of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (E).

These three writers, (A)/Manto, Krishna Chander (B)/and Bedi, lifting (C)/the Urdu short story to its most sophisticated level (D). No error. (E)

  1. (A)

  2. (B)

  3. (C)

  4. (D)

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

The word 'lifting' is a present participle being used as if it were a finite verb, which is grammatically incorrect. The sentence requires a finite verb in past tense to convey that these writers 'lifted' (elevated) Urdu short stories to a sophisticated level. Present participles cannot serve as main verbs without auxiliary verbs.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it or not. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter corresponding to that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (E).

Besides(A)/these nutrients, (B)/vitamins and minerals (C)/are an important-aspect of diet (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

 A seems to be correct, because the author may be referring to some other nutrients too. Otherwise the sentence can easily distract the test taker for marking E as the correct choice too.