Spotting Errors

Error spotting is part of the Verbal Ability Section in which grammatically incorrect

sentences are spotted or corrected. It cab be Noun/ Pronoun / Singular / Plural /

Adjective/ Article anything.

Examples: Who are you dealing with? (Incorrect)

Whom are you dealing with? (Correct)

Tips for Spotting Errors

● Read the sentence carefully and maybe more than once before proceeding to

answer.

● Try to understand the meaning, objective, and message of the sentence that is

being conveyed to the reader.

● Practice and practice because practice makes perfect right? You can practice

from the previous year’s papers and mock tests.

● Lastly do not panic in the exam. Take a deep breath when you feel

overwhelmed, calm your mind and give it another try.

List of Common Errors

1. Certain nouns being a singular form represent plurality and therefore, take a

plural verb in a sentence.

Example: police, clergy, people, peasantry, cattle.

● People has left. (Incorrect)

● People have left. (Correct)

2. Certain nouns take the plural verb because of their plural form.

Example: Clothes, Scissors, trousers, amends, spectacles, thanks.

● The spectacles is missing. (Incorrect)

● The spectacles are missing. (Correct)

3. When a noun denoting weight, number, money, length or measure is

following a number, the noun form does not change as long as another noun or

pronoun follows it.

Example: Million, pair, meter, year, dozen.

● This is a 9-meters scale. (Incorrect)

● This is a 9-meter scale. (Correct)

4. When the pronoun ‘one’ is used, it should be maintained throughout the

whole sentence.

● One must help his siblings. (Incorrect)

● One must help one’s siblings. (Correct)

5. For living people ‘whose’ is generally used and for things that are non-living

‘which’ is used.

● Which phone is kept on charging? (Incorrect)

● Whose phone is kept on charging? (Correct)

‘Fewer’ is used for denoting number while ‘Less’ is used for denoting

quantity.

● No less than thirty dogs were. (Incorrect)

● No fewer than thirty dogs were. (Correct)

7. Sentences are always opposite to question tags, for example, if the question

tag is positive then the sentence is negative and vice versa.

● It’s a bit early, is it? (Incorrect)

● It’s a bit early, isn’t it? (Correct)

8. Instead of

‘who’ or ‘which’, the relative pronoun

‘that’ is used after

adjectives in the superlative degree.

● These are the best which he could get. (Incorrect)

● These are the best that he could get. (Correct)

9. ‘As’ is used both before and after the adjective to show equality.

● I can write as fast, if not faster than her. (Incorrect)

● I can write as fast as, if not faster than her. (Correct)

10. ‘Though’ is always followed by ‘yet’ in a sentence and not by ‘but’.

Thus,

● Though he is rich but he is kind. (Incorrect)

● Though he is rich, yet he is kind. (Correct)

11. ‘Not’ is never used with ‘unless’ as ‘unless’ expresses a condition that is

always used in the negative sense.

Thus,

● Unless you do not pay the fine, you will not be excused. (Incorrect)

● Unless you pay the fine, you will not be excused. (Correct)

12. ‘While’ implies a time duration of doing something and ‘When’ denotes a

general sense.

Thus,

● When learning how to box, the technique is of utmost importance. (Incorrect)

● While learning how to box, the technique is of utmost importance. (Correct)

13. ‘Though’ is followed by ‘yet’

14. ‘Unless’ is always used in the negative sense. It expresses a condition. ‘Not’

is never used with ‘unless’.

Samples of Spotting Error

1. Individual by individual, an anti-corruption wave is (A)/ growing within

Indian civil society, as has been witnessed in (B)/ recent months, people from all

sectors of Indian society (D)/ have said ‘enough is enough and are doing

something about it. (E)

Solution: The error is in the second part of the statement. 'Witness' needs to be

replaced with 'witnessed' as the statement is in the present perfect tense and thus the

correct verb usage is 'witnessed'.

2. The teacher thought (A)/ the children would (B)/ be happy for (C)/ clearing

away their toys. (D)/ No Error (E)

Solution: Here, “clearing up their toys” should be used instead of “clearing away

their toys” in the context of the statement.

'Clearing away' means to take something away and 'clearing up' means to make

something brighter.

The children are likely to be happy when their toys seem bright instead of being

taken away.

3. An affidavit (A)/was filed by the Cyberlaw of Indian (B)/ government (C)/

after the directory of Court. (D)/ No Error (E)

Solution: 'Directory' may refer to (computing), or folder, a file system structure in

which to store computer files. Whereas 'direction' means the management or

guidance of someone or something. Hence 'direction' should be used in place of

'directory'.

4. This goes beyond a simple patient-doctor (A)/ relationship but I think our

friend, philosopher (B)/ and mentor need to pour out (C)/ everything that's

troubling him. (D) / No Error (E)

Solution: The error lies in the third part of the given sentence. If several nouns or

adjectives are used for a single subject, we use a singular verb. In the given sentence

“friend”, “philosopher” and “mentor” refers to a single person, therefore, the verb

must be singular, i.e., “needs”.

5. Catalan media have said Puigdemont could (A)/ dissolve the regional

parliament and call elections (B)/ by next Friday and under Catalan law, those

elections (C)/ would take place for two months. (D)/ No error. (E)

Solution: Error lies in part D.

‘Within’ which means ‘inside’, must be used in

place of ‘since’ which shows a past period of time. Since the elections are to be held

in the future there must be ‘within’.

Practice Problems

1. The beauty (A)/ princess is (B)/ wearing a (C)/ purple gown. (D)/ No error(E)

Solution: The error lies in the first part of the sentence.

‘Beauty’ is a noun that means a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or

form that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. ‘Beautiful’ is the

adjective of ‘beauty’ which means pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically. So,

instead of ‘beauty’, ‘beautiful’ should come as the word, here, qualifies 'princess'.

2. The burglar (A)/ was taken (B)/ to the near (C)/ police station. (D)/ No

error(E)

Solution: The error lies in the third part of the sentence.

In the sentence, the superlative degree of the adjective 'near' i.e. nearest should be

used.

3. Four quarts of oil were (A)/ required to get the car running (B)/ and it was

really difficult to (C)/ get it at that moment. (D)/ No error(E)

Solution: The error lies in part A of the sentence as the verb ‘were’ is incorrect here

and must be replaced with the singular verb ‘was’ as with units of measurement or

time singular verbs are used. Thus option A is the correct answer.

4. Still, the maker of the Mirai fuel (A)/ cell vehicle (FCV) is sticking to its (B)/

view that the hydrogen fuel cell is the (C)/ ultimate “green car” technology. (D)/

No error(E)

Solution: The error lies in part C. Since ‘cell’ is a singular unit, we can’t use ‘are’

with it. There must be ‘is’ where ‘are’ is to make the sentence grammatically

correct.

5. Israel’s Space Communication has(A)/ signed a deal with Elon Musk’s

SpaceX (B)/ to launch two communication satellites into (C)/ the earth's orbit,

after a prior attempt end in disaster. (D)/ No error. (E)

Solution: The incorrect part is Part D. 'Prior attempt' indicates a past event. Hence,

'end' should be replaced by 'ended' in the fourth part.

6. Once appointed by the President, (A)/the council of ministers (B)/as

responsible (C)/to the house. (D)/No error (E)

Solution: The incorrect part is Part C. Change ‘are’ to ‘is’ because the subject

‘council of ministers’ is considered as one unit.

7. The perception of security (A)/held by the power elites (B)/tend to ignore the

basic reality that (C)/contradictions of civil society have grown since nuclear

explosion. (D)/No error (E)

Solution: The incorrect part is Part C .Change ‘tend’ to ‘tends’ to correct the error

of subject verb agreement. Because the subject ‘the perception of security’ is

expressing one or singular idea.

8. Any coalition (A)/which contains Miss Jayalalitha as a major ally (B)/and

Ms. Mamta as a minor partner (C)/do not need outside support. (D)/No error

(E)

Solution: The incorrect part is Part D .Change ‘do not’ to ‘does not’ to correct the

error in subject-verb agreement. Because the subject is ‘Any coalition’ (singular).

9. She was be asked to (A) / write a report about (B) / the meeting that (C) / she

attended yesterday. (D) / No error (E)

Solution: The incorrect part is Part A . She was asked to write a report about the

meeting that she attended yesterday.

10 .His industrious nature (A) / and calm temperament (B) / have endeared him

Solution: The incorrect part is Part D .In part D, the possessive adjective 'one's'

must be replaced with 'his' to make it a grammatically correct sentence.

Rule: A possessive adjective has to be in agreement with the noun or pronoun it is

relating to.

Ex. We must do our work in time.

Ex. One should respect one's parents.

Ex. Tani always blows her top.

Ex. Vibhor asks him his name.

Spotting Erorrs [ Notes + Solved Examples + Practice Problem ]

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Spotting Erorrs [ Notes + Solved Examples + Practice Problem ]

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