Practice Questions: Spotting Errors - 1 | English for CLAT PDF Download

Directions: The following sentences have been divided into three parts (A), (B) and (C). Read the sentences carefully to find out if there is any error in any part of the sentence. The error if any will be in any one part of the sentence. Mark that part as your answer. If the sentence is completely correct as it is, then choose option (D) ‘No Error’ as the answer. Ignore if there are any errors of punctuation.

Q1: The temperature of the city (A) / suddenly went up (B) / last night. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) The temperature of the city
(b) had gone up suddenly
(c) last night.
(d) No Error
Ans: (d)
The sentence is absolutely correct and there is no error in any part of the sentence.
Hence option D is the correct answer.

Q2: Since I had ordered a large number of (A) / handsets the dealer agreed to give me (B) / an additional discount of 10%. (C) / No error (D)
(a) Since I had ordered a large number of
(b) handsets the dealer agreed to give me
(c) an additional discount of 10%.
(d) No Error
Ans: (a)
The fragment A of the sentence is erroneous.
In it, the preposition ‘for’ is missing after the word ‘ordered’ and it should be used to make the sentence grammatically correct.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “Since I had ordered for a large number of handsets the dealer agreed to give me an additional discount of 10%.”
Hence option A is the correct answer.

Q3: Sometimes people fight with the system (A) / unnecessarily without understanding that
(B) / the common goal of both the system and the people are actually the same. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) Sometimes people fight with the system
(b) unnecessarily without understanding that
(c) the common goal of both the system and the people are actually the same.
(d) No Error
Ans: (c)
The fragment C of the sentence is erroneous.
This part of the sentence talks about both the system and the people together, so a plural noun should be used for them and therefore ‘goal’ should be replaced by ‘goals’.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “Sometimes people fight with the system unnecessarily without understanding that the common goals of both the system and the people are actually the same.”
Hence option C is the correct answer.

Q4: Despite of his best efforts (A) / he failed to retain the position (B) / due to unwanted political interference. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) Despite of his best efforts
(b) he failed to retain the position
(c) due to unwanted political interference.
(d) No Error
Ans: (a)
The fragment A of the sentence is erroneous.
The word ‘despite’ doesn’t take any preposition and so there is no need to use ‘of’ after despite in the sentence.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “Despite his best efforts he failed to retain the position due to unwanted political interference.”
Hence option A is the correct answer.

Q5: There was a huge gathering (A) / present on the (B) / inaugural function. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) There was a huge gathering
(b) present on the
(c) inaugural function.
(d) No Error
Ans: (b)
The fragment B of the sentence is erroneous.
Here ‘on’ is not the correct preposition to be used, and it should be replaced with ‘at’ as according to the rules of preposition in grammar ‘at’ is used to indicate a place, and in the given sentence the place is the inaugural function.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “There was a huge gathering present at the inaugural function.”
Hence option B is the correct answer.

Q6: Neither his father (A) / nor his mother are agreeing (B) / for their marriage. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) Neither his father
(b) nor his mother are agreeing
(c) for their marriage.
(d) No Error
Ans: (b)
The fragment B of the sentence is erroneous.
The verb ‘are’ is not the correct verb to be used in this sentence, because as per the rules of conjunction in grammar when two subjects are joined by ‘either or’ or ‘neither nor’, the verb agrees with the subject that is nearest to it i.e., with the second subject and here the second subject ‘mother’ is singular and therefore the correct verb to be used here will be ‘is’.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “Neither his father nor his mother is agreeing for their marriage.”
Hence option B is the correct answer.

Q7: According to a recent survey made by the World Bank (A) / growth rate on India’s GDP will be near about (B) / 7.3% in 2018. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) According to a recent survey made by the World Bank
(b) growth rate on India’s GDP will be near about
(c) 7.3% in 2018.
(d) No Error
Ans: (b)
The fragment B of the sentence is erroneous.
Here ‘on’ is not the correct preposition to be used. It should be replaced with ‘of’ as the sentence says that the growth rate of GDP belongs to India and as per the rules of preposition in grammar, the usage of the preposition ‘of’ is to show possession, origin or belonging.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “According to a recent survey made by the World Bank growth
rate of India’s GDP will be near about 7.3% in 2018.”
Hence option B is the correct answer.

Q8: Since they were instructed to maintain cleanliness (A) / in the campus, they (B) / cleaned the campus at regularly intervals. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) Since they were instructed to maintain cleanliness
(b) in the campus, they
(c) cleaned the campus at regularly intervals.
(d) No Error
Ans: (c)
The fragment C of the sentence is erroneous.
The word ‘interval’ is a noun and the word ‘regularly’ is an adverb.
An adjective is used to qualify ordescribe a noun, and an adverb is generally used to qualify or describe a verb.
So here before the word ‘intervals’, ‘regularly’ should be replaced with ‘regular’ as the word ‘regular’ is an adjective to make the sentence correct.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “Since they were instructed to maintain cleanliness in the campus, they cleaned the campus at regular intervals.”
Hence option C is the correct answer

Q9: It seemed to me that the principal (A) / of the school looking at me (B) / in a rather suspicious manner. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) It seemed to me that the principal
(b) of the school looking at me
(c) in a rather suspicious manner.
(d) No Error
Ans: (b)
The fragment B of the sentence is erroneous.
The given sentence is in past continuous tense and the structure of such a sentence is “subject + present participle (1stform of the verb + ing) + auxiliary verbs (was/were) + object”, as per the rules of tenses in grammar.
In part B of the sentence the auxiliary verb ‘was’ is missing.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “It seemed to me that the principal of the school was looking at me in a rather suspicious manner.”
Hence option B is the correct answer.

Q10: The road from the highway to the hill (A) / was more difficult than (B) / we have feared. (C) / No Error (D)
(a) The road from the highway to the hill
(b) was more difficult than
(c) we have feared.
(d) No Error
Ans: (c)
The fragment C of the sentence is erroneous.
Since the helping verb ‘was’ is used in the part B of the sentence, it means that the sentence is in simple past tense, and therefore in part C of the sentence ‘have’ should be replaced with ‘had’.
Therefore the correct sentence will be “The road from the highway to the hill was more difficult than we had feared.”
Hence option C is the correct answer.