Test: SSC CGL Previous Year Questions: Spotting Errors (2023-18) - 2 - SSC CGL MCQ

‘Have’ must be replaced with ‘has.’ According to the “Subject-Verb Agreement Rule”, a singular subject always takes a singular verb and a plural subject always takes a plural verb. In the given sentence, ‘Neetu’ is a singular subject that will take ‘has’ as a singular verb. Hence, ‘Neetu has been’ is the most appropriate structure.

(a)The participants of the competition are waiting for their turn curiously.(Correct)
(b) The participants of the competition has been waiting for their turn curiously.(Incorrect Tense)
(c) A participants of the competition is waiting for their turn curiously.(Incorrect Article and Verb)
(d) The participants of the competition is waiting for their turn curiously.(Incorrect Helping Verb)

Article ‘the’ will be used before ‘truth’ as we generally use the denite article ‘the’ with a specic noun. Hence, ‘after knowing the truth’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Modal verbs’ are auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) like can, will, could, shall, must, would, might, and should. However, after a modal verb, we generally use the rst form of the verb (V₁). Hence, ‘that Ben will do (V₁)’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Are’ must be replaced with ‘is’. According to the “Subject-Verb Agreement Rule”, a singular subject always takes a singular verb and a plural subject always takes a plural verb. In the given sentence, ‘Mr. Ram Kumar’ is a singular subject that will take ‘is’ as a singular verb. Hence, ‘Mr. Ram Kumar, the cashier is’ is the most appropriate answer.

Article ‘a‘ must be removed as ‘by chance’ is the correct phrase. ‘By chance’ means accidentally, without plan or intent. Hence, ‘by chance’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Will be exercised’ must be replaced with ‘will exercise’ as we generally use active voice when the subject is the doer of the action. In the given sentence, the subject(‘stars’) is the doer of the action(exercise an inuence). Hence, ‘will exercise’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Go’ must be replaced with ‘went’. If two actions took place in the past then the 1st action must be in the Past perfect tense (Had + V₃) and the 2nd action must be in the Simple Past tense (V₂). Hence, ‘went (V₂)’ is the most appropriate answer.

(a) The decision to change a hospital saved an life of the daughter of the doctor.(Incorrect Article)
(c) The decision to change an hospital saved the life of the daughter of the doctor.(Incorrect Article)
(d) A decision to change a hospital saved the life of the daughter of the doctor.(Incorrect Article)

‘Will’ must be replaced with ‘would’ so as to match the past tense form in the reported speech ‘The receptionist asked.’ Hence, ‘would take a seat and’ is the most appropriate answer.

(a) The warrior was waiting for an right time to attack the lion hiding in a cave.(Incorrect Article)
(c) An warrior was waiting for a right time to attack the lion hiding in the cave.(Incorrect Article)
(d) The warrior was waiting for a right time to attack an lion hiding in the cave. (Incorrect Article)

‘Nothing’ must be replaced with ‘anything’. ‘Hardly’ and ‘Nothing’ both are negative words so we can’t use them together. We generally use the pronoun ‘anything’ in negative and interrogative sentences. Hence, ‘ we hardly knew anything’ is the most appropriate answer.

Come’ must be replaced with ‘Came’ as the rst clause of the sentence “behaved in a rough manner” is in Past tense so the second clause must also be in the Simple Past tense(V2). Hence, ‘Robert came to clean the stable’ is the most appropriate answer.

The given sentence is grammatically correct.

The preposition ‘off’ is used with verbs that mean ‘remove’ or ‘separate’. The given sentence states that Dan needed help to remove the tight coat. Therefore, ‘of’ will be replaced with ‘off’. Hence, ‘tight coat off him’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Where’ means in or to the place or situation mentioned. The given sentence states that the only place where he went was the library. Hence, ‘where he went’ is the most appropriate answer.

We generally use the V-ing form of the verb after a preposition (‘while’ in the given sentence). Hence, ‘careful while executing (V-ing)’ is the most appropriate answer.

The use of the verb ‘be’ after the modal verb ‘must’ is incorrect according to the grammatical context so it should be removed from the given sentence. Hence, ‘You must hurry’ is the most appropriate answer.

The given sentence needs an adverb to modify the verb(draw) and the correct adverb is ‘straight’ and not ‘straightly’. Hence, ‘quickly and straight’ is the most appropriate answer.

The given sentence is grammatically correct.

We use the preposition ‘on’ when we refer to a position on a surface. For example - The cat is sitting on the chair. Hence, ‘on the surface’ is the most appropriate answer.

The given sentence is in ‘Past perfect continuous tense (Sub. + had been + V₁ -ing + obj. + since/for + time)’. We generally use ‘since’ to denote a point of time and ‘for’ to denote a period of time. Hence, ‘For several months’ is the most appropriate answer

According to the “Question Tag rule”, if the statement is positive, the question tag will be negative & Vice-versa. However, the sentence and the question tag must be in the same tense. The given sentence is in simple present tense. So the same tense will be used for the question tag. The given sentence is positive so the question tag will be negative (doesn’t). Hence, ‘doesn’t she’ is the most appropriate answer.

There is a prepositional error in the given sentence. The preposition ‘At’ must be replaced with ‘In’. Hence, ‘In the sphere of knowledge’’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Full with’ will be replaced with ‘Full of’ as the phrase ‘Full of’ means completely, including the whole of something. Hence, ‘A suitcase full of’ is the most appropriate answer.

There is an error of pronoun in the given sentence. The reexive pronoun ‘Himself’ must be replaced with ‘Themselves’ as there is a plural subject ‘children’ in the sentence. Hence, ‘Their projects themselves’ is the most appropriate answer.

'Tenth’ must be replaced with ‘Ten’ as the word ‘Tenth’ is used to denote the position of something and the word ‘Ten’ is used to denote the number. Hence, ‘page ten’ is the most appropriate answer.

We generally use (V₃) with the helping verb ‘Has/have/had’. Hence, ‘Taken the medicine’ is the most appropriate answer.

The given sentence is the rst conditional sentence and the correct grammatical structure is (If + simple present tense , Simple future tense). Hence ‘You surely will get selected’ is the most appropriate answer.

We generally use (V₃ ) with the helping verbs ‘has/have/had’ and the 3rd form of ‘Forget’ is ‘Forgotten’. Hence, ‘he had forgotten’ is the most appropriate answer.