Common Error Detection — Part 1 MCQs with Explanations

The adjectives inferior, superior, senior, junior, prior etc. take the preposition to , not than . E.g. She always felt inferior to her younger sister. This material is superior to that.

Change, It was him into It was he As complement of the Copulative verb is Nominative case.

Change, is situating → is situated

Replace, are practicing very hard → is practicing very hard Subject of the verb must agree in number with verb. Here subject of the verb is Captain which is singular so it must take singular verb.

The error is in Option A: Supposing if . The word "supposing" and "if" have the same meaning in this context. Using them together is redundant (unnecessary repetition) . You should use either "supposing" or "if," but not both . For example, you can say: "Supposing it rains, what shall we do?" or "If it rains, what shall we do?" So, the correct option is A: Supposing if because it contains the error.

Change, are into is When two or more than two subjects are joined by 'Either, or' 'Neither, nor', the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it.

In this sentence, the phrase "None of two girls" is incorrect. It should be "Neither of the two girls". "None" is used to refer to no one or not any, while "neither" is used to refer to not one nor the other of two people or things. Additionally, "neither" should be followed by "of" and the plural form "the two girls" is more appropriate in this context. So, the correct structure should be: Neither of the two girls who were present appeared to be inclined to listen to sane advice.

Change, of all animals → than any other animal In a comparative degree THAN is used. Also, the term of comparison must exclude the things compared by use of OTHER.

Change, I and my colleague → My colleague and I. Error in order of pronouns. Order of Pronoun Second person(2) + third (3)+ first person(1) in normal sentences. RULE-231 You, he and I have finished the work. (Normal idea) I, you and he are to blame. ( here Confession of guilt is expressed , it's a negative idea, hence order is 123).

The sentence is: "Even if / the teacher has completed the / course the students cannot pass / unless they study themself." 1. "Even if" : This part is perfectly fine. It means 'although' or 'despite the fact that'. 2. "the teacher has completed the" : This part is also correct. The verb 'has completed' is in the Present Perfect tense, which is suitable here. 3. "course the students cannot pass" : This part is also grammatically correct. 'cannot pass' is a correct usage. 4. "unless they study themself" : Let's focus on this part. * The word 'themself' is the mistake here. * When the subject of the sentence is 'they' (which is a plural pronoun, referring to 'students'), we need to use the correct reflexive pronoun. * For a plural subject like 'they', the correct reflexive pronoun is 'themselves' . * 'Themself' is an incorrect form in standard English. It should always be 'themselves' when referring to a plural group. So, the correct sentence should be: "Even if the teacher has completed the course, the students cannot pass unless they study themselves ." Therefore, the error is in the part "unless they study themself" . The correct answer is Option D .

The phrase "who we all can confide in" contains a grammatical error in the use of the relative pronoun. Here, "who" is incorrectly used as the object of the verb "confide in." Since it functions as an object, the correct relative pronoun should be "whom" . So the correct sentence should be: "Ramu is the elected leader and also a person whom we all can confide in." "Whom" is used when referring to the object of a verb or preposition, whereas "who" is used as a subject. Hence, the error lies in Option C .

Substitute, their → his/her EVERYONE is a singular subject and must, therefore, be followed by singular pronoun.

Correct Answer: Option E: No Error Explanation: The phrase "Little water" is appropriate in this context. The word "Little" is used to indicate a very small amount. In this context, it suggests that there was a small quantity of water left, and this amount was insufficient. "Little" has a negative connotation, meaning "not much" or "almost none." For example, if you say, "There is little water left," it implies that the water remaining is very minimal and likely not enough for what is needed. The sentence is stating that the small amount of water left in the bottle was not sufficient to satisfy the thirst of two people. The phrase "Little water" correctly captures the idea that the remaining water was inadequate. The structure and wording of the sentence are grammatically correct. Each part of the sentence logically follows the other, and the use of "Little" appropriately conveys the intended meaning. Sometimes, people confuse "Little" with "A little." "Little" means "not much" or "almost nothing" (negative). "A little" means "some," though not a lot (positive). In this sentence, "Little" is the correct choice because the sentence is emphasizing the insufficiency of the water, not just that there was some left. Therefore, Option E: No Error is the correct answer.

Change, were into was When two subjects are joined by as well as the verb agrees with the first subject. Above in the question the firs subject is The Father which is a singular so we need to use first firm of the verb which is 'was' instead of 'were'.

Change, habit → the habit Since, habit here has been particularized, i.e, the habit of smoking.

Replace, amount → number. Difference Between Number and Amount The confusion between amount and number is common but can be easily overcome. They are not interchangable - their use relates to countable and uncountable nouns. Use of Amount Use amount is with uncountable nouns and abstract nouns: amount of time amount of snow amount of noise amount of love (abstract noun) amount of pride (abstract noun) Use of Number Use number with countable nouns (things that can be counted): number of cars number of chairs number of houses number of topics

Change, upstairs, so we → upstairs, we. When a sentence is started with 'as' , then 'so' should not be used in the middle of the two clauses as a linker.

Replace, tourist by tourists.

Substitute, me → I Objective form of pronoun should not be used for one functioning as subject.

Substitute, 'an' by 'the'. The sentence lays emphasis on essay.

Change, everyone → each one When the number is limited or is implied to be limited 'each one' will be better usage than 'everyone'.

Change, patient → the patient Since, there is emphasis on the word patient.

The answer is Option D: Sharma's and Chawla's company . Here's why: When two people own a business together, and you want to show possession with an apostrophe, you only need to add the apostrophe and 's' ('s) to the last name. This indicates that they are jointly owning the company. So, the correct way to write it would be "Sharma and Chawla's company". If it was "Sharma's and Chawla's companies", it would mean they each own separate companies. The other options are grammatically correct in this sentence.

Change, spirit ==> spirits Normally, Spirit is noun which means soul or non physical part of a man or person (Sometimes, it also used as an adjective.). In other hand, Often Spirits is a person's mood or attitude. So, in above given sentence, revival of the mood of a person is quite suitable. See these examples: 1. The warm weather lifted everyone's spirits. 2. He confessed in a spirit of self-respect.

Many a takes a singular noun, which is followed by a singular verb.

Change, sister-in-laws → sisters-in-law. Plural of such compound words is formed by adding 's' in the first constituent of the compound word.

Change, details → detail.

Change, Cattles → Cattle. CATTLE are one of those collective nouns which though singular in form are always used as plurals.

Change, HAVE → HAS, Verb → Singular form. MANY A is always followed by a singular noun and singular verb.

Change, of → by

The correct answer is Option C: new furnitures from Metro-Mall . Here's why: The word " furnitures " is generally considered an uncountable noun in English. Uncountable nouns do not have a plural form by adding "-s". Therefore, the correct word to use is " furniture ". The sentence should read: "Mr. Alexgander has purchased new furniture from Metro-Mall." Options A, B, and D are grammatically correct.

Question: Last year / many people / died from cholera epidemic. This sentence tests your understanding of subject-verb agreement and the correct use of prepositions. Let's break down each part: Option A: Last year - This is an adverbial phrase indicating time. It's grammatically correct. Option B: many people - This is the subject of the sentence. "Many" is a quantifier modifying the plural noun "people". This is grammatically correct. Option C: died from cholera epidemic - This is the verb phrase. The verb "died" agrees with the plural subject "many people". However, the prepositional phrase "from cholera epidemic" might be slightly problematic. While understandable, it's more natural and precise to say "died *in* a cholera epidemic" or "died *of* cholera". "Died from" implies a more direct cause (e.g., "He died from a gunshot wound"), whereas a cholera epidemic is a context, not a direct cause in the same way. Option D: No Error - Considering the slightly awkward prepositional phrase, this is unlikely to be correct. Therefore, the answer is Option C because the preposition "from" is not the most suitable choice to describe death caused by an epidemic. Using "in" or "of" would make the sentence more accurate and natural.

Change, one another → each other

Very is used without much before adjectives and adverbs in the positive degree. Here, Sorry is an adjective which has been used in the sense of sad. So, Correct Sentence is, Vijay is very sorry about her misconduct.

Change, me as though → me like. Do not use a noun phrase, immediately after as if and as though.

Change, I won't have to sing → I don't have to sing. 'as long as' is usually followed by a clause in the present tense when the preceding clause is in the future tense.

Change, receive the parcel → receives the parcel. 'as long as' is usually followed by a clause in the present tense when the preceding clause is in the future tense.

Change, one as well → one either . In a negative clause use either and don't use "not too/ also/ as well ".

Change, inferior than → inferior to. It is better to use inferior to .

Change, than any others in the world → than any other in the world.