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

Shampooing with brand X shines the hair thrice as much as brand Y.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. Shampooing with brand X shines the hair thrice as much as brand Y.

  2. Shampooing with brand X shines the hair thrice as much as shampooing with brand Y.

  3. Shampooing with brand X shines the hair thrice as much as they shine with brand Y.

  4. Shampooing with brand X shines the hair thrice as much as when brand Y is used.

  5. Shampooing with brand X shines the hair thrice as much as brand Y shampoos.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

'Shampooing with brand X' is in parallel to 'shampooing with brand Y'.

Multiple choice

Just like eating cold can damage teeth, drinking hot coffee can leave them in bad health.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. Just like eating cold can damage teeth

  2. Eating cold can damage teeth like

  3. Just as eating cold can damage teeth

  4. Just like eating cold ice-cream can damage teeth

  5. Eating cold ice-cream can damage teeth like
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

'eating cold can damage' is a clause being compared to bad impact of 'drinking hot coffee' so 'as' must be used to make a comparison.

Multiple choice

Playing cricket for India was Manju's dream, like her brother's when he was her age.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. like her brother's when he was her age

  2. like her brother's dream when he was her age

  3. as her brother's when he was her age

  4. as it was for her brother when he was her age

  5. as it was of her brother when he was her age
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

'as it was of her brother' is correct  because 'Playing Cricket was ... dream' is in parallel to 'as it was of'.

Multiple choice

The new employee worked harder than anyone else in the company.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. worked harder than anyone else in the company

  2. worked harder than those older in the company

  3. worked harder than anyone older in the company

  4. worked harder than did anyone else in the company

  5. worked harder than everyone else in the company
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The new employee's action can be compared only to what others 'did'. 'The new employee worked' is an action, which cannot be compared 'everyone else' a person.

Multiple choice

The blue colour scatters more in the sky than the violet colour.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. more in the sky than the violet colour

  2. more in the sky than the red colour

  3. more in the sky than any other colour

  4. more in the sky compared to the violet colour

  5. more in the sky than the violet colour does
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

'blue colour scatters' is in parallel to 'violet colour does'.

Multiple choice

There are about the same number of girls in the Mathematics class as the boys in the Arts class.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. There are about the same number of girls in the Mathematics class as the boys in the Arts class.

  2. There are same number of girls in the Mathematics class as the boys in the Arts class.

  3. There are the same number of girls in the Mathematics class as the boys in Arts class.

  4. There are as many number of girls in the Mathematics class as the boys in the Arts class.

  5. There are as many girls in the Mathematics class as there are boys in the Arts class.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

'as many girls' is in parallel to 'as there are boys'.

Multiple choice

Harry was punished for misbehavior longer than his friends.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. Harry was punished for misbehavior longer than his friends.

  2. Harry was punished longer for misbehavior than his friends.

  3. Harry was punished for misbehavior longer than his friends were.

  4. Harry was punished for misbehavior for a long time than his friends.

  5. Harry was punished for misbehavior more than his friends.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

'was punished' is in parallel to 'his friends were'.

Multiple choice

Adam's witty sense of humor, like his father, is very popular among his friends.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. Adam's witty sense of humor, like his father

  2. Adam's witty sense of humor as his father

  3. Adam's witty sense of humor, similar to his father

  4. Adam's witty sense of humor, like that of his father

  5. Adam's witty sense of humor is like his father, and
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

'sense of humor' an abstraction is being compared to 'that of his father' an abstraction.

Multiple choice

The increase in late night study time will result in exhaustion and decreasing the grades of the student.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. and decreasing the grades of the student

  2. thus lead to decreasing the grades of the student

  3. and decrease the grades of the student

  4. and will decrease the grades of the student

  5. and thus, will decrease the grades of the student
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The parallel connection to 'will result' is 'will decrease', but 'will' second time is redundant. So 'decrease the grades' is correct.

Multiple choice

A brand new watch was the father's giving of appreciation to his son.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. was the father's giving of appreciation to his son

  2. was the father's appreciation to his son

  3. was the father's appreciation for his son

  4. was the father's appreciating his son

  5. was the father's gift of appreciation to his son
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

'watch' can be parallel to a 'gift'.

Multiple choice

The college admission letter gave a sense of joy to Rupesh's parents and his siblings as well.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. gave a sense of joy to Rupesh's parents and his siblings as well

  2. gave a sense of joy to parents and siblings of Rupesh as well

  3. gave a sense of joy to Rupesh's parents and his siblings

  4. gave a sense of joy to parents of Rupesh and as well as his siblings

  5. gave a sense of joy to Rupesh's parents and as well his siblings
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This gives the correct meaning to the sentence without any redundancy.

Multiple choice

I had a lot of fun last weekend. I went out with friends, meeting new people, eating at different places, and travelled in metro train.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. I went out with friends, meeting new people, eating at different places, and travelled in metro train.

  2. I had gone out with friends, meeting new people, eating at different places, and travelled in metro train.

  3. I had gone out with friends, met new people, ate at different places, and travelled in metro train.

  4. I went out with friends, met new people, ate at different places, and travelled in metro train.

  5. I went out with friends, meeting new people, eating at different places, and travelling in metro train.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

'went', 'met', 'ate' and 'travelled' are in parallel.

Multiple choice

Sachin enjoys playing cricket more than he like to watch it on TV.

 

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose your answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity and redundancy.

 

  1. more than he like to watch it on TV

  2. more than watching it on TV

  3. more than he watches it on TV

  4. more than he likes to watch it on TV

  5. more than he likes to watching it on TV
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

'enjoys playing' is in parallel to 'watching it'.

Multiple choice

The following sentence has been split into parts. Identify the part having an error and mark the corresponding option. If there is no error, mark answer as (d). (a) Low interest environment and a sustained (b) performance in the service sector should (c) contribute to, if possible, a reasonable future growth (d) No error

  1. a

  2. b

  3. c

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

Type of error: Misplaced modifier 'if possible' in (c). In the given sentence, the modifying phrase 'if possible' splits the infinitive 'to and 'a reasonable future growth'. Correct usage will be '…sustained performance in the service sector, if possible, should contribute to a reasonable future…'

Multiple choice

Directions: The following sentence has been divided into four parts: P, Q, R and S that are jumbled up. Choose the correct sequence of letters: P, Q, R and S that rearranges the parts into a meaningful sentence. Ignore errors of punctuation.

(P) a function of (Q) an organism's survival is (R) its ability (S) to respond to danger

  1. PQSR

  2. RSQP

  3. QRSP

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

An organism's survival is a function of its ability to respond to danger.