Directions (Qs. 1 - 20): Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. If no substitution is required, select ‘No improvement’.
1. It is I who is to blame for these consequences.
A) It is I who am to blame
B) It is I who is to blamed
C) It was I who am to blamed
D) No improvement
Ans: A
2. A group of volunteers are responsible for making this event a huge success.
A) A groups of volunteers are
B) A group of volunteers is
C) A group of volunteer is
D) No improvement
Ans: B
3. The invention of refrigerators, air coolers and such other appliances have not been done without a reason.
A) have not be done B) has not be done
C) has not been done D) No improvement
Ans: C
4. Each of the students in the class has to prepare their own class notes this semester.
A) prepare his/ her own class notes
B) prepare its own class notes
C) prepare their’s own class notes
D) No improvement
Ans: A
5. The rise and fall of the share market prices are due to the policy paralyses on the management's side.
A) market price are due to
B) market prices were due to
C) market prices is due to
D) No improvement
Ans: C
6. That day when we invited Kriti for shop opening, there is many people who wanted to see her.
A) there were many people
B) there are many people
C) there were a many people
D) No improvement
Ans: A
7. Everything that must be admitted has their pros and cons.
A) have its pros and cons
B) has its pros and cons
C) has theirs pros and cons
D) No improvement
Ans: B
8. There is only one of his performances that are interesting to watch.
A) performances that were
B) performance that are
C) performances that is
D) No improvement
Ans: C
9. An atheist is a person who is disbelieving or lacks belief in the existence of god or gods.
A) who disbelieves B) who is disbelieve
C) whom is disbelieving D) No improvement
Ans: A
10. Many studies suggests that the number of cancer patients is growing day by day.
A) Many study suggests that
B) Many studies suggest that
C) Many studies suggesting that
D) No improvement
Ans: B
11. Harish told his mother that he would not be able to come back on time if it rain.
A) if rains B) if rain
C) if it rained D) No improvement
Ans: C
12. All officials above the rank of secretary have been issued circulars by their respective ministries ask them attend meditation classes in the run-up to the event.
A) to ask they attend B) asking them to attend
C) ask they attend D) No improvement
Ans: B
13. A five-day tour that India’s Prime Minister, made to Japan is seen in some quarter as a chance to enhance the relationship between two Asian giants.
A) in some quarters B) in any quarters
C) on some quarter D) No improvement
Ans: A
14. The char bodies of three people were recovered from a burning pile of dried waste materials at Bilaspur village.
A) The char bodys of B) The charred bodies of
C) the charren bodies of D) No improvement
Ans: B
15. The importance of sports in harnessing the power of youth towards nation building and economic development was evident ever since the 1986 Olympic games.
A) had evident ever since B) were evident ever since
C) has been evident ever since D) No improvement
Ans: C
16. He complained to the police that his purse had been stolen and that was lefted without any money in it.
A) that has lefted B) that was left
C) that is left D) No improvement
Ans: B
17. Perhaps they do not know I am having a car and a jeep besides a big house in a good locality.
A) I has a car B) I does have a car
C) I have a car D) No improvement
Ans: C
18. They did not came out victorious, yet they were not disappointed rather satisfied because they had played well.
A) They does not came out B) They did not come out
C) They did not comes out D) No improvement
Ans: B
19. My employer made me to submit all the important documents before I left the job.
A) made me submitting B) make me to submit
C) made me submit D) No improvement
Ans: C
20. I would rather spend a quiet Sunday than attending noisy parties.
A) than attend noisy parties
B) to attending noisy parties
C) than attended noisy parties
D) No improvement
Ans: A
Explanations
1. When the subject and the verb are joined by a relative pronoun, the verb used should agree with the antecedent to the relative pronoun. Here, the antecedent to the relative pronoun ‘who’ is ‘I’. so, the verb should agree with ‘I’, i.e., ‘am’. So, ‘who am' should be used in place of ‘who is.’
2. If collective nouns like ‘group’, ‘body’, ‘class’, ‘team’, etc. are used as singular subjects, a singular verb should be used. So, ‘volunteers is’ should be used in place of ‘volunteers are’ here.
3. ‘Invention’ is a singular subject. So, singular verb ‘has’ should be used in place of ‘have’.
4. Every one of/ each of/ each one of/ one of etc. always followed by a plural noun but the verb as well as the pronoun used in remaining sentence is always singular. So, ‘his/ her’ should be used in place of ‘their’.
5. ‘The rise and fall’ denotes a singular subject here. So, singular verb ‘is’ should be used in place of ‘are’.
6. The word ‘people’ is a plural noun. So, plural verb ‘were’ should be used in place of ‘is’.
7. ‘Everything’ is a singular noun, so singular pronoun ‘its’ should be used in place of ‘their’ in the sentence.
8. ‘Only one’ is a singular subject. So, singular verb should be used.
9. We always express ‘Universal truths’ in ‘simple present tense’ form.
10. The word ‘many studies’ is not a 3rd person singular word. It is a 3rd person plural word, so we cannot add ‘s/ es’ to the verb.
11. Reporting verb in indirect speech should be in past tense. So, ‘if it rained’ should be used in place of ‘if it rain’.
12. A preposition (to) is missing in the sentence to draw a relation between the two nouns (officials and their respective ministries). So, ‘asking them to attend’ should be used in place of ‘ask them attend’.
13. ‘In some quarters’ is the correct usage here. The phrase ‘in some quarters’ means ‘among some people or groups of people’.
14. ‘Charred bodies’ is the correct usage here. The word ‘charred’ is an adjective that means burnt and blackened. It is used to describe classify the noun (here bodies).
15. The word ‘since’ is used to denote the ‘perfect continuous tense’. So, ‘has been’ should be used in place of ‘was’.
16. There is no such word called ‘lefted’. The past tense of the verb is ‘left’. ‘left’ is the correct usage here.
17. If a simple present tense sentence is in possessive case, we use 'have' to show the possession. So, ‘have’ should be used in place of ‘am having’.
18. The sentence is talking about a just now completed action. So, the verb we use should be in perfect tense here. So, ‘come’ should be used in place of ‘came’.
19. Here, ‘to submit’ is an infinitive, that acts as a noun. But according to the sentence a verb (submit) should come there. So, we remove ‘to’ from the sentence to form the correct sentence.
20. In this type of sentences, we have to check the verbs that come after the words ‘rather’ and ‘than’. The verbs next to these words should be in the same tense with respect to the first word (the verb that comes after
‘rather’). So, ‘attend’ should come in place of ‘attending’.
Some useful tips
Identify the sentence structure: Identifying the structure of the sentence helps in finding the error present in a sentence. Indicators like after, before, during, etc. help in identifying the tense of the given sentence.
Treat all the options as equal: Do not choose the option blindly that look familiar to you. Give equal weightage to all the options and answer the question only after finding an error in it.
Read the non-underlined part as well: Sometimes, the underlined part seems useless in finding an error. So, read the nonunderlined part also to get hints to find the error.
Use substitution method: Reading the whole sentence after substituting the given options in the question will help in finding the correct sentence. But, make sure that the inserted option is contextually and grammatically correct.
Use elimination technique: From the given options, eliminate the least possible options by taking the help of grammar rules and vocabulary. Substitute the remaining options in the question and find out the error in the sentence.
