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English language is a subject where even people who are proficient in the language end up making mistakes in the grammar section. It is a normal tendency but the error-spotting section is not hard to master. Practicing some guidelines is all that is needed to excel in this topic of the English Language syllabus.
Aspirants who are willing to apply for the various Government exams apart from the bank exams must also go through these concepts of spotting the error carefully, as English language is a vital part of the syllabus for most of these exams.
Keep reading to know about spotting errors in English examples!
Tips for Error Spotting in the English Language Section
Here, are some tips for error spotting in the English Language section of the bank exam syllabus:
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)
You will get many error spotting questions with answers for practice!
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)
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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)
6. ‘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)
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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)
You will get many error spotting questions with answers pdf for practice!
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)
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Preparation Tips to Solve Spotting Errors Questions
- Check for spelling mistakes while attempting the questions. It is advised that you should pay special attention to them while answering the questions.
- During the exam, you should read the complete sentence carefully. In most of the cases, you will be able to spot the error easily.
- A candidate is advised for spotting errors in English practice.
- Practice with previous year’s papers and mock tests. You can find dozens of papers and mock tests that will help you in practicing various types of questions.
Entri provides video classes as well on various important topics by the excellent faculties. One will get revision modules, monthly tests based on the classes. You will be provided with an online platform to prepare for the exam. It also gives you access to clarify your doubts.