Spotting the error is the general grammar test of a candidate i.e. in such questions a candidate is required to find grammatical errors of various topics like prepositions, articles, conjunctions, tenses etc. It is an integrated grammar exercise, so it covers all the grammatical parts. Therefore in order to solve these questions a candidate needs to be well versed with the grammatical rules in total.
Each question consists of a complex sentence which is divided into three or four parts. One of the parts contains an error. The candidates have to spot the error and mark the incorrect part. Incorrect part of the sentence is the right option.
Tips to Solve Spotting the Error Questions
- It is very important to read the basic grammatical rules from the scratch.
- You can go through any elementary grammar book or read online the basic rules of prepositions, articles, conjunctions, tenses, adjective and noun.
- The idea is to be aware of the usage of these topics in a sentence.
- While solving the spotting the error question read the whole sentence twice in your mind and it is a likelihood you will get to know that which word in the sentence is not matching with the tone of the sentence.
- Try to connect the usage and placement of words with each other in the sentence. This will help you to find the odd one out
- You need to only identify what is the error and you need not actually know the correct answer to it, so if something does not fit to the sentence, Bingo you have your answer.
In order to solve these questions the aspirants should have a clear idea about the grammatical rules of various topics like noun pronoun articles etc. following is a comprehensive list of commonly used grammatical rules:
Omission of Articles
Articles are of two types ‘indefinite-A/An’ and ‘definite-The’. Following are the rules where the usage of articles is skipped in the sentence.
- Before Proper Noun. Eg. The New Delhi is the capital of India (incorrect)
- Before material noun and abstract noun used in a general sense. Eg. I have the love for you (incorrect)
- Before a noun used in the widest sense. Eg. The man is immortal (incorrect)
- Before uncountable nouns. Eg. He gave me advice.
- Before school, college, home, church, temple, sea, work, bed, table, hospital, market, prison and court. Eg. I go to church every Sunday.
- Before names of diseases. Eg. Cancer can be treated if detected early.
Rules of comparison of degrees of Adjective
The adjective is a word used with a noun or pronoun to add something to its meaning. There are three degrees of an adjective:
- Positive degree- when only one case is used. Eg. Merrut is a big city.
- Comparative degree- when two cases are used. eg. Merrut is bigger than Ghaziabad.
- Superlative degree- when more than two cases are used. Eg. Merrut is the biggest city of West Uttar Pradesh.
Following are the rules of usage of the degree of adjectives:
- Double comparatives and the double superlative are not used. Eg. She is the most prettiest girl (incorrect). She is the most pretty girl. (correct)
- The adjective ending in ‘er’ should be used as ‘more’ while comparing two qualities of the same person or thing. Eg. He is wiser than his brother. He is more wise than strong.
- In superlative cases, other is not used. Eg. Akbar was the most powerful of all the kings of his time.
- Adjectives expressing qualities, that do not have different degrees, cannot be compared. Eg. Perfect, complete, circular, full, unique etc. eg. The glass is more full than that glass. (incorrect)
- If there is a gradual increase, it is expressed with two comparatives and not with positives. Eg. He became more and more intelligent while studying.
Rules of Prepositions
Prepositions are the words used with a noun or pronoun to show their relationship. Following are rules to be kept in mind while solving the question:
- In is used for bigger places (towns, cities, countries) while at is used for smaller places. Eg. I live in Delhi. I live at Karol Bagh in Delhi.
- In is used in speaking of things at rest. Into is used in speaking of things in motion. Eg. the snake crawled into the hole. He is shopping in the market.
- On denotes position, upon denotes movement. The cat is on the table. The cat pounced upon the mouse
- With denotes the instrument and by denotes the agent. Eg. The letter is written by him with his pen.
- Above and below merely denote position while over and under also carry a sense of movement. Eg. Train is running under the bridge. The train is standing below the bridge.
- Under is used before a noun to indicate that a person or thing is being affected by something or is going through a particular process. Eg I am rarely under pressure at work.
Eg. Our forces attacked on the enemy fort (incorrect)
Our forces attacked the enemy fort (correct)
- Till is used in a particular time while until is used for an indefinite time. Eg. We shall work until we fell down. We shall work till 14:00 hrs.
- Beside means ‘by the side of’ whereas besides means ‘in addition to’. Eg Besides eating he is also watching TV. You were sitting beside me.
- From is normally used with ‘to/till’ whereas between is used with ‘and’. Eg. He works from nine to six. The meeting was scheduled to be held between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Revised and updated on October 11, 2021.
Subscribe for updates
Join 10,000+ subscribers.
HA
Harshita Gulati
Contributing author
Have a doubt about this?Ask Doubts
