Error Spotting (Verb - Proper Position of Verb in a Sentence)- SENTENCES OF COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS PATTERN

 

ERROR SPOTTING --- Proper Placing of a Verb in a Sentence

A verb has an important place in a sentence. It is necessary that an appropriate form of a verb is used at a proper place in a sentence. It is because other words like subject, object or adverb etc.  in the sentence relate to a verb in the sentence. 

The importance of a verb can be judged from the fact that if one is to write a sentence of one word, that sentence  is of a verb. For example, 'Go' is a single word that carries all the meaning in itself and forms a sentence in imperative form.  

In competitive examinations, there are questions of errors relating to the incorrect form or position of a verb in a sentence.

Here follow some illustrations of it.

In negative or interrogative sentences, there is an error in the use of a singular first form of the verb with do or does.

 Similarly. with did the second form of the verb is used. e.g.

He does not goes to school.

Does he goes to school?

He did not went to school.

Did he went to school?

Inappropriate use of modal verbs with main verbs. 

e.g. He has went with his brother. 

Some verbs like need and dare are used both as a modal verb and main verb. In their cases, s or es and infinitive are not used with them when these are used as a modal verb.

There are errors of  --

-- the use of an abstract noun in place of a verb, 

-- the use of inversion of a verb in the case of a simple assertive sentence.

-- the  use of a participle in place of a verb.

-- incorrect use of a form of a verb of Voice or Narration in a sentence.

For example 

He told that he is on leave that day.

This poem is wrote by a famous poet.

--incorrect use of not with a phrasal verb. Words of a phrasal verb are not separated. For example - 

He told me not to go out in rain. 

It is wrong to say 

He told me to not go out in rain. 

These errors require to be identified for their  rectification. 

Here follow some sentences with such errors for understanding and error rectification.

 TEST EXERCISE

1. The father could not understand why was his daughter so sad.

2. On entering the room, I found all the books lie on the floor.

3. I would have called him if I had saw him there.

4. You should be presented this box to him.

5. He need to understand your problems.

6. You may need hire a taxi to reach your destination.

  ANSWERS 

1. Inversion in this sentence, 'why was his daughter' is incorrect. It being an assertive sentence, this part should be 'why his daughter was.....' .

2. In this sentence, 'I' is subject, 'found' is its verb, and 'all the books object. Lie is a verb without any subject. It describes the noun 'books' but the verb cannot describe a noun it should be an adjective, it should be a participle as an adjective 'lying'.

3. This is a conditional sentence, In the conditional part of a sentence, third form of verb is used with 'had' So it should be '...if I had seen him..' 

4. This sentence with the verb 'be presented' is in passive form. But is should be in active form. So it is 'You should present this box to him'. 

5. Need in this sentence is a modal verb like should, can or would etc. With a modal verb an infinitive is not used. It is 'He need understand your problems.  

6. In this sentence, 'Need' is used as a main verb. 'May' is a helping verb. With main verb, need, an infinitive, 'to hire' is required.

EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE 

ONE

Find out errors in the following sentences and rectify them.

1. On reaching there, I found that the house of my friend is situated in the farthest corner of the village.

2. He told her that if he goes to his office he would take her along with him.

3. The labourer while digging earth found a pitcher full of coins bury under the ground.

4. The passerby asked the young man which road did lead to the nearest market.

5. He preferred to join his father's business instead of joining a government job after he completes his education.

ANSWERS 

1. .....my friend was situated...  2. ...if he went to.....  3.....coins buried under...   

4. ....which road led to.....  5. ......after he completed. 

TWO

Find out errors in the following sentences and mark their relative part as answers. Mark NE in case there is no error.

1. The general flanked by a large(1) number of armed soldiers was (2) headed towards the enemy's post.(3) NE(4).

2. His father assured his son that he need (1) not to worry about the money (2) required by him as he possessed enough of it with him.(3) NE(4)

3. The children felt much amused (1) when they saw a juggler (2) while played in the garden in the evening.(3) NE (4)

4. I came across, at the hindermost corner of the street, (1) a dandyish appearing young man who wears (2) a flamboyant yellow and green suit and a black coloured hat.(3) NE (4)

5. Having gather the required information, (1) the investigating team got engrossed in preparing its report (2) for its presentation to the chief investigation officer. (3) NE (4)

ANSWERS 

1. 3. ....heading towards....  2. .....not worry.....  3. (3) .....while playing...  4. ....who wore...   5.  (1) Having gathered.....

THREE

Fill in the blanks in the following sentences by selecting appropriate word out of given options. 

1. Once one catches bad cold, it takes about one week or so when one................( (a) recovers/ (b) recovered) from it. 

2. Since he .........((a) is not/(b)has not been) doing this job for some time back, he will not be able to show his performance well at this time.

3. For the time at his disposal is very short, it is advisable for him that he should wind up his work as early as he ....... ( (a).is/ (b)can be) able  to. 

4.The proceedings of the meeting of today were marked by the repeated exchange of .......... ((a) hot/ (b) heated ) arguments among the members. 

5. As it had been raining since morning, we have decided to spend our time ........ ((a) stay/ (b) staying) at home. 

ANSWERS 

1.a.  2.b.  3.a.  4.b.   5.b.

FOUR

1. As the house is lying vacant for some time, it needs repair and renovation before you start living in it.

2. Children felt very happy when they saw an aeroplane flown in the sky above their heads.

3. Coleridge could not accompany Shakespeare and Dorothy as hot tea fell on his foot and he burn his foot. 

4. The little child soon falls sleep when his mother sings lullaby and rocks the cradle.

5. The superintendent instructed that students appear in the examination should affix an attested photograph on their Hall entry card.

CONTD.

Error Spotting (Subject Identification in a Sentence)- SENTENCES OF COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS PATTERN

ERROR SPOTTING --- Identification of Appropriate Subject in a Sentence

In a sentence, Subject, Verb, and Object are its  most important parts. All other parts of speech in the sentence are written in consonance with them. For example Verb, relative pronoun or possessive pronoun used in a sentence are according to its subject. Their variances cause errors. For this reason identification of the proper subject in a sentence is of utmost importance.

In various competitive examinations, there are questions of errors arising due to incorrect identification of  subject and /or other parts of speech relating to it. The identification of an appropriate subject and its relation with other words in the sentence is very essential to find out these errors. 

To explain the point further here follow some illustrations.

In case of a sentence starting with a gerund as its subject singular verb is used e.g.

Playing games like cricket or football is very amusing.

In this sentence,  'Playing' a gerund and used as a noun is subject and words  'games like cricket or football' give further information about it. 

Here 'Playing' is subject. It should not be confused with 'games like cricket or football'.

So verb 'is' according to  a singular subject, 'Playing' , will be used.

Either he or his brothers are at fault.

Neither he nor his friends are at fault.

In the case of either..or, neither ...nor sentences, subject is the noun or pronoun nearer to the verb.

In these cases, they are 'brothers' and 'friends'.

Here verb will be used according to part of the subject nearer to the verb. In the two sentences written above plural verb 'are' will be used according to 'brothers' and 'friends'.

In the case of 'one of the' or; none of the' a plural noun is used after these words.

 For example, 'One of my friends' 'One of those' or 'one of the proposals', etc. 

The verb in this case is used according to the subject. It may be singular or plural as the subject is. 

Look at the following sentences.

One of my friends has gone abroad.

None of his proposals was accepted.

In these sentences, pronouns 'one' and ' none' are subjects. These should not be confused with friends and proposals.

He is not one of those who shirk work.

This is one of the boxes which were empty.

In these sentences, relative pronouns, ' who' and 'which' describe words immediately prior to them i.e. who describes those and which boxes. So verbs will be used according to these.

Here are similar sentences extracted from question papers of different competitive examinations. 

(Please note that  all of these are adapted.) 

EXERCISE

1. To be a king and wear a crown are more glamorous to see than to bear.

2. I am fully aware that my boss is one of those who is totally dedicated to their work.

3. To participate in the contest and win a prize are his ambition.

4. The Principal fined those two students but neither of them were at fault. 

5. Lack of ingredients in appropriate quantity in food lead to its bad taste.  

(All the sentences are adapted from source and  extracted from different question papers of competitive examinations ) 

 ONE

Find out the error in the following sentences and rectify them.

1. He is one of the borrowers who has not repaid the loan amount.

2. A group of constables were chasing the thief.

3. Neither the students nor their teacher were present in the classroom at that time.

4. Paucity of funds have hindered the smooth working of the project.

5. I want each members of this office should contribute some money for this noble cause.

6. The company had to bear much losses during the previous year.

   

7. A number of farmers expects rich crops due to good rain fall this year. 

8. It have been only through his help that I am  able  to complete my project.

    

9. He has got job in one of the biggest enterprise of the country.

10. There is a sect of people in the society that do not believe in such things.

ANSWERS

1. who have

2. was

3.was

4. has

5. each member

6. many

7. expect

8. It has.... 

9. enterprises

10..... that does

TWO

1. All religions teaches to believe in God and do the right but none advocates to do an evil.

2. Modern facilities has made the life of a common man very comfortable but sedentary and lazy. 

3. Harvesting of crops have already been started by farmers during the first week of this month.

4. As thieves in the darkness of night was not visible, they managed to run away.

5. The students and the teacher is planning to go out for a picnic next Sunday.

6. The jury is divided in its judgement. 

7. One of the workers working in the factory have fallen ill and is absent today. 

8. Most of the chapters taught to us by our teacher during this session relates to a single topic.

9. An addition of twenty buses in the local bus service fleet have  improved its service in the city substantially.

10. A group of fifty students of our school have decided to go to nearby villages and undertake job of their cleanliness.

ANSWERS

1. teach

2. have

3.has

4. were

5.are

6. are

7. has

 8.chapters.... relate

9. has improved

10. has

THREE 

1. The scheme which will be launched during the next two years require an additional investment of one hundred crore. 

2. These companies have been asked to furnish their financial details and information about its board members.

3. While banks almost always meets the overall target, keeping up with the sub-targets was getting difficult for banks with limited expertise in certain sectors.

4. Not only the students but also the Principal were laughing at the joke, he cracked.

5. The sowing of summer crops such as rice and soybeans and corn have been lagging as a result.

6. Seldom has the discoveries of the world's greatest discoverers like    Copernicus and Galileo been forgotten. 

7. The flood situation in the eastern region of the country remain grim for the fifth day.

8. How many does the cricket bat cost?

9. There was many people who voted for him.

10. Much people attended the feast hosted by the village panchayat.

ANSWERS

1. The scheme....... requires

2. about their

3. meet

4......... the principal was... 

5.The sowing..... has

6....... have the.. 

7. remains

8. How much.. 

9. were

10. Many

FOUR

1. Playing in the park is one of the thing that small children really love.

2. Findings by the investigating team has been sent to the chief investigation officer for his consideration and orders.  

3. My visiting to my family are few and far between.

4. The mother, as well as her children were brought to the police station for interrogation.

5. This coffee is not available in any of the shop in the neighbourhood market.

6. Virat Kohli is one of the best batsman that the world has seen.

7. After a heated argument they went to their respective place.

8. A large number of people opines that demonetazation was not in the interest of the country. 

9. Many people thinks to migrate to other states where ther are enough job opportunities for them.

10. Despite my repeated requests he went out in rain and have caught 

ANSWERS

1. the things

2. have

3. is

4. was brought

5..... of the shops... 

6...... best batsmen

 7. places

8. opine

9....... people think.... 

10. ..... he went.... has caught...