Identifying errors

NUST NET (Engineering) · English · Grammar and usage. A short explanation of the idea, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid, a worked example and practice questions with answers.

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The idea

Four parts of a sentence are underlined and one of them is wrong. You do not have to correct it, only find it. The same few errors are tested again and again, so check the underlined parts against a fixed list instead of waiting for something to sound wrong.

For an underlined verb, find its subject and ask two things: singular or plural, and which time? For an underlined pronoun, ask which noun it stands for and whether it is doing the action or receiving it.

Then look at the shape of the sentence. Items in a list should have the same form (parallel structure), comparisons should compare like with like, and certain words take a fixed preposition.

Rules to remember

Common mistake

Students make the verb agree with the nearest noun instead of the subject, as in 'The list of items are long'. Cross out the phrase between the subject and the verb, then check: 'The list … is long'.

Worked example

Which underlined part of the sentence contains an error?
The quality of the samples collected from the three sites were much better than we had expected.
A. collected
B. were
C. much better
D. than

  1. Check the underlined verb first: 'were'. Ask what was much better.
  2. The subject is 'The quality', which is singular. 'of the samples collected from the three sites' only describes it.
  3. A singular subject needs 'was', so 'were' is wrong; it has been attracted by the plural nouns 'samples' and 'sites'.
  4. The rest is sound: 'collected' correctly describes the samples and 'much better than' is a correct comparative.

Answer: B. were (it should be 'was')

Practice questions

Try each one, then open the answer.

1. Which underlined part of the sentence contains an error?
If the builders had tested the steel properly, the roof would not collapse during the storm last winter.

  1. A
    had tested
  2. B
    would not collapse
  3. C
    during
  4. D
    last
Show answer

Answer: B. This is an 'if' sentence about the past (third conditional): 'If ... had tested, ... would not have collapsed'. 'Would not collapse' fits only an 'if' sentence about the present or future.

2. Which underlined part of the sentence contains an error?
After the interview, Hassan and me were told that we had been selected for the robotics team.

  1. A
    me
  2. B
    were
  3. C
    we
  4. D
    selected
Show answer

Answer: A. 'Hassan and ___' is the subject of 'were told', so the subject pronoun is needed: Hassan and I. Test it by removing Hassan: 'I was told', not 'me was told'.

3. Which underlined part of the sentence contains an error?
Surprising, the smaller of the two engines produced more power, although it used less fuel.

  1. A
    Surprising
  2. B
    produced
  3. C
    although
  4. D
    used
Show answer

Answer: A. A word that comments on the whole sentence must be an adverb: 'Surprisingly, ...'. 'The smaller of the two' is correct because only two engines are compared.

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