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: Choose the part in which there is an error:

  1. The party workers were busy bursting crackers

  2. and dancing on the beats

  3. of the traditional dhol at the party headquarters

  4. at 11 Ashok Road here on Sunday
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The error is using 'on the beats' instead of 'to the beats.' When describing dancing to music, the correct preposition is 'to,' not 'on.' We dance 'to' the beat/rhythm/music, indicating movement in synchronization with it. 'On' would suggest dancing atop the beats physically, which makes no sense. The correct phrase should be 'dancing to the beats of the traditional dhol.'

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the part in which there is an error:

  1. The Rajasthan govt has

  2. warned the protesting Gujjars

  3. for commando action

  4. if they do not give up arms
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The error is in part C. The correct preposition after 'warned' is 'of', not 'for'. The correct phrase should be 'warned the protesting Gujjars of commando action' meaning they were given a warning about the possibility of commando action.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the part in which there is an error:

  1. 50 percent of the houses

  2. has been damaged

  3. and a large number of people have been

  4. rendered destitute
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The error is in part B. With 'percent of' structures, the verb must agree with the noun following 'of'. Since 'houses' is plural, the verb should be 'have been damaged', not 'has been damaged'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the part in which there is an error:

  1. Whatever he did,

  2. he did it

  3. at the spur of moment

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

The error is in part C. The correct idiom is 'at the spur of THE moment', not 'at the spur of moment'. The article 'the' is necessary in this fixed expression meaning doing something suddenly without preparation.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the part in which there is an error:

  1. Either the employer or the employees

  2. has to bear the losses

  3. if any untoward incident

  4. occurs
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The error is in part B. With 'either...or' constructions, the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it. Here, 'employees' is plural and is closer to the verb, so 'have to bear' is correct, not 'has to bear'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the part in which there is an error:

  1. The bank customers

  2. are advised

  3. to not share their account details

  4. with unknown sources
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The error is in part C. When 'not' is used with an infinitive, the standard word order is 'not to' (split infinitive), not 'to not'. The correct form is 'advised not to share' or 'advised to refrain from sharing'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Identify the part having an error.

  1. Neither the manager

  2. nor

  3. his staff were present

  4. in the dinner party
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(3) 'was' in place of 'were'. With conjunctions like “neither….nor” the verb is used according to the second subject. Here the second subject “staff” is used in the singular sense so singular verb will be used.

Multiple choice

Directions: Identify the part having an error.

  1. Tomorrow

  2. in the English literature period

  3. I shall be taking up

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

(4) 'poem' in place of 'poetry'. Wrong word usage has been done. Poetry means the art, theory, or structure of poems.

Multiple choice

Directions: Identify the part having an error.

  1. The Monsoon session

  2. of the Assembly

  3. commencing from June 20th, is expected

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

(3) 'on' in place of 'from'. For being exact about dates we use preposition “on”. “From” is used for time range followed by “to”.

Multiple choice

Directions: Identify the part having an error.

  1. The mother

  2. is expected

  3. to return

  4. from the shopping mall soon
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

(1) delete 'the'. We are referring to the common noun “mother” so definite article “the” should not be used with it.

Multiple choice

Directions: Identify the part having an error.

  1. Ayn Rand

  2. perhaps

  3. is a most widely read

  4. author on objective individualism
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(3) 'the' in place of 'a'. With the superlative degree “most” we will use definite article “the”.