English Language

Sentence Improvement

821 Questions
All Tense and Time Sequence 181 Verb-Governed Prepositions 145 Lexical Confusables 75 Subject-Verb Agreement 59 Modifiers 48 Determiners and Quantifiers 47 Infinitive vs. Gerund 47 Correlative and Paired Conjunctions 35 Conditional Sentences 30 Pronoun Case and Agreement 24 Redundancy 24 Parallel Structure 20 Question Tags 10 Reported Speech 8

Sentence Improvement Questions

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases given in (1), (2), (3), (4) should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (5) as the answer. He has visited many places all over the city looked at the perfect location to set up his factory.

  1. looking out

  2. looking for

  3. looking after

  4. looked forward to

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

The sentence describes someone actively trying to find something specific. 'Looking for' is the correct phrasal verb meaning to search or seek something. 'Looked at' is grammatically incorrect as the main verb, while 'looking out' means watching for danger, 'looking after' means caring for, and 'looked forward to' means anticipating with pleasure.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases given in (1), (2), (3), (4) should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (5) as the answer.

To be successful it is important to know why your failure in the past and ensure that it doesn't happen again.

  1. why you had failed

  2. because you have failed

  3. that your failure

  4. where you were failed

  5. No correction required
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence requires the past perfect tense to show an action completed before another past action ('ensure'). 'Why you had failed' correctly uses the past perfect to indicate that understanding past failures occurred before ensuring they don't repeat. The original 'why your failure' is a noun phrase clause and grammatically incorrect in this context.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases given in (1), (2), (3), (4) should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (5) as the answer. These hand woven shawls are much in demand in many European countries.

  1. were much demand

  2. are lots of demand

  3. demanded much

  4. will be lot to demand

  5. No correction required
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

'Much in demand' is a correct idiomatic expression meaning highly sought after or popular. The phrase is grammatically sound as written, requiring no correction. None of the suggested alternatives ('were much demand,' 'are lots of demand,' 'demanded much,' 'will be lot to demand') are grammatically correct idiomatic expressions.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases given in (1), (2), (3), (4) should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (5) as the answer. No traffic will be allowed in this area since the minister visit scheduled today.

  1. minister's visit

  2. minister is visiting

  3. minister's visit is

  4. visit of the Minister

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

The sentence explains that traffic is restricted because of the minister's scheduled visit. 'Minister visit' lacks the necessary possessive ('minister's visit') and the verb 'is' is missing. The full phrase should read 'since the minister's visit is scheduled today' to be grammatically complete.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which of the phrases given in (1), (2), (3), (4) should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and ‘No correction is required’, mark (5) as the answer. Medical treatment here is very expensive that they had to sell off their land to pay for it.

  1. quite expensive and

  2. too expensive for

  3. so expensive but

  4. more expensive

  5. No correction required
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence uses a 'so...that' construction to show cause and effect: the treatment was SO expensive THAT they had to sell their land. 'Very expensive that' is grammatically incorrect. 'Quite expensive and' properly connects two related facts with correct conjunction usage.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which phrase should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (E) as the answer.

Ayesha spent the entire morning polishing hers new audio system.

  1. Polishing her new

  2. Polishing she's new

  3. Polishing her's new

  4. Polishing Ayesha's new

  5. No correction required
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence has 'polishing hers new' which is grammatically incorrect. 'Hers' is a possessive pronoun (standing alone), but we need the possessive adjective 'her' before a noun. The correction is 'polishing her new audio system'. Option A fixes this correctly.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which phrase should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (E) as the answer.

As she grows up, she became doubtful of the existence of fairies.

  1. She grown up

  2. She grews up

  3. She grew up

  4. She growned up

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

The sentence has 'she grows up' (present) with 'became' (past), creating tense inconsistency. Since 'became' is past tense, the first part should also be past: 'she grew up'. Option C provides the correct past tense form to match the sentence structure.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which phrase should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (E) as the answer.

Sneha and Shraddha need to buy watches because they are always late.

  1. Those are always

  2. These are always

  3. They keep always

  4. There are always

  5. No correction required
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence 'they are always late' is grammatically correct. 'They' refers back to Sneha and Shraddha, and the present continuous 'are always' correctly describes a recurring state or behavior. No correction is needed.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which phrase should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (E) as the answer.

Neither the local administration nor the police authorities was aware of the tournament being held.

  1. Were aware for

  2. Was aware for of

  3. Was aware for

  4. Were aware of

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

The sentence uses 'neither...nor' construction with 'was aware of'. When using 'neither X nor Y', the verb agrees with the closest subject. Since 'police authorities' is plural, we need 'were aware of', not 'was'. Option D corrects the subject-verb agreement error.

Multiple choice

Directions: Which phrase should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and 'No correction is required', mark (E) as the answer.

Everyone have invested a substantial amount in the on going project but no one expects a profit.

  1. did invested a

  2. has invested a

  3. did investing in a

  4. had invested an

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

Everyone is a singular indefinite pronoun, so it requires the singular verb 'has' instead of 'have'. The past perfect 'had' (option D) would place the action too far in the past context, and 'did invested' (option A) is grammatically incorrect as 'did' requires the base form 'invest'. 'No correction required' is incorrect since the sentence has a subject-verb agreement error.

Multiple choice

Directions: Look at the underlined part of the sentence. Below the sentence are given three possible substitutions for the underlined part. If one of them is better than the underlined part, mark that as your answer. If none of the substitutions improves the sentence, mark (4).

The police investigated into the matter.

  1. with the matter

  2. at the matter

  3. the matter

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

Correct sentence is 'The police investigated the matter'.

Multiple choice

Directions: Look at the underlined part of the sentence. Below the sentence are given three possible substitutions for the underlined part. If one of them is better than the underlined part, mark that as your answer. If none of the substitutions improves the sentence, mark (4).

I am living in this town since 1980.

  1. was living

  2. shall live

  3. have been living

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

The sentence makes sense in present perfect continuous tense.

Multiple choice

Directions: Look at the underlined part of the sentence. Below the sentence are given three possible substitutions for the underlined part. If one of them is better than the underlined part, mark that as your answer. If none of the substitutions improves the sentence, mark (4).

There is no rain in our village for the last six months.

  1. has been

  2. was

  3. had been

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

The sentence makes sense in present perfect tense. We use present perfect for something that started in the past and continues in the present.

Multiple choice

Directions: Look at the underlined part of the sentence. Below the sentence are given three possible substitutions for the underlined part. If one of them is better than the underlined part, mark that as your answer. If none of the substitutions improves the sentence, mark (4).

Ramachandra Murthy and his family have been in Guyana from 1985.

  1. since

  2. about

  3. on

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

We use 'since' when a start time is mentioned. 'For' is used when duration is mentioned. With 'from' we use 'to' to specify a period.

Multiple choice

Directions: Look at the underlined part of the sentence. Below the sentence are given three possible substitutions for the underlined part. If one of them is better than the underlined part, mark that as your answer. If none of the substitutions improves the sentence, mark (4).

If I was you, I should tell him the truth.

  1. am you

  2. were you

  3. had been you

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

We use 'were' in subjunctive mood. The subjunctive is the mood of a verb expressing wishes, stipulating demands, or making statements contrary to fact.