Spotting errors are asked in verbal reasoning. You need to spot sentences and error which are grammatically incorrect. This error can be anything. From noun to pronoun to singular/plural to word usage they can be anything. Normally spelling errors are not asked in this section. Let us know more about them.
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Some Examples
Direction:
In each of the following questions, statements are divided into 4 different parts. You have to choose the errors from these statements and mark the options given.
- Only in the interest of
- establishing clear lines of communication between the state governments and central government
- has the president acceded to
- its demands in regard to the tariff dispute with the latter.
Answer: For this question, the error is in the 4th statement. The question refers to the trade dispute between the central government and state governments. Thus, the demands should be on the state governments and as they are in plural form ‘there’ should be used instead of ‘its’. The corrected statement would be as follows, Only in the interest of establishing clear lines of communication between the state governments and the central government has the president acceded to their demands in regard to the tariff dispute with the latter.
Q.
1. Although the party’s political machine
2. produced the crucial
3. Dalit votes, their candidate,
4. was defeated by the alliance formed by independents reformers.
Here in this question, the error can be spotted in the 3rd statement. It is stated as their candidate which is collectively used for the party. Instead of their, ‘the’ should have been used. The proper structure of the sentence will be as follows, Although the party’s political machine produced the crucial Dalit votes, the candidate, was defeated by the alliance formed by independents reformers.
More than One Error
Q.
1. Neither he nor his friends works hard to pass the examination with the highest grade.
2. Plato’s discussions of rhetoric are embracing and powerful.
3. Neither Phillips nor Jim have ever listened to anyone who criticized the principles of Marxism.
4. The number of cancer cases has been increasing in India for the last two years.
In this question, there is more than one error in the statements. Except for the second statement, every other state has some error. We will go through these errors one by one and see what they are.
Statement 1. In this statement, the singular verb works do not go with the plural subject friends. As the friends are the subject and are nearest to the verb, ‘work’ should have been used instead of ‘works’. The correct form of the sentence would have been, Neither he nor his friends work hard to pass the examination with the highest grade.
Statement 2 is correct in terms of grammar and usage.
In statement 3, the subject is Jim and it is singular, so the usage of plural verb ‘have is incorrect over here. It should have been ‘has’ instead of ‘have’. So, the correct form of the sentence is, Neither Phillips nor Jim has ever listened to anyone who criticized the principles of Marxism.
For statement 4, the phrase used is the number of and with it, the singular verb form must have been used instead of a plural verb. So the correct usage was ‘has’ instead of ‘have’. Thus, the correct statement will be, The number of cancer cases has been increasing in India for the last two years.
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Practice Questions
Direction: In each of the following questions, statements are divided into 4 different parts. You have to spit out the errors from these statements and mark the options given. If there is no error than mark the option 5.
Q.
1. Although the news
2. had come as a surprise to all in the room,
3. everyone tried to do his work
4. as though nothing has happened.
Ans: The correct answer is 5.
Q.
1. As soon as the leaves began
2. to assume their brilliant fall colors,
3. many city dwellers leap into the rented cars and
4. speed northward for one brief annual connect with nature.
Ans: The correct answer is 1.
Q.
1. Most programs of radio free Europe were written,
2. produced, and broadcast
3. by exiles from five Eastern European countries
4. who tried to create awareness and support for their ideologies.
Ans: The correct answer is 4.
Q.
1. Every one of those books
2. that he has chosen
3. are fiction books although I asked him
4. to choose a nonfiction boon for his academic paper.
Ans: The correct answer is 3.
Q.
1. All of the compact discs
2. including the scratched one
3. is in the front pocket of your sling bag
4. that you usually carry around.
Ans: The correct answer is 3.
Q.
1. Asking the union negotiators
2. to choose between higher wages or increased pension benefits
3. seems perfectly reasonable when
4. one considers the most recent sales figures.
Ans: The correct answer is 2.
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