Sentence Corrections ---Exercises No.12, 13 & 14 with Answers & Explanations.

Exercise No. 12.

Find out error in the following sentences if any and mark Sr. no. of the relative part. In case of no error mark Sr no.5.

Ignore punctuation errors.

A. 1. The difference between 2. John and his brother is 3. that the former is intelligent 4.while another is not.

B. 1. On my arrival on the station 2. I found that 3. my friends were already there 4.waiting for me.

C. 1. Little water 2.I left in the jug 3.was insufficient to quench 4.the thirst of the child.

D. 1.No less than thirty children2. participated in the event3. but only one 4.child won the prize.

E 1.He invited me 2.to have dinner with him3. at night but which 4.I declined very politely.

Answers with explanations.

A.4.  Former is followed by latter. So in place of another ‘the latter’ is to be used. …….. while the latter is not.

B. 1.‘arrival’ is followed by preposition ‘at’. On my arrival at the station…..

C.1.Water in the jug is some specific. So ‘The little water I left in the……   

 D.1. For a number the word ‘fewer’ is used. So ‘No fewer than thirty….

E. 3.‘but’ before which is superfluous So ‘…..with him at night which I declined very politely.

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A . 4. Former is followed by latter and not another.

B. 1. Arrival is followed by 'at' and not by 'on'.

C. 1. The little water. It is some specific quantity of water mentioned here.

D. 1. For quantity 'fewer' instead of 'little' is used.

E. 3. But is redundant here.

Exercise No. 13.

Find out error in the following sentences if any and mark Sr. no. of the relative part. In case of no error mark Sr no.5.

Ignore punctuation errors.

A. 1.Nobody in their senses 2.would have behaved with3. the guests in 4.such a clumsy manner.

B. 1.It is my firm belief 2.that in most extreme situation too, 3.he will not come to you4. to seek help from you.

C. 1.The inspector during his visit 2. to various factories3. found that the plight of workers working there 4. is not good.  

D. 1.Scarcely had 2. the mother finished narrating story 3.to the child 4.when the child fell asleep.

E. 1.Aptly 2.he said that 3. there is no royal road 4.to success.

Answers with explanations.


A. 1.  Singular pronoun with nobody 'his' is to be used here.

B. 2. 'the most'.

C. 4. was not good.

D. 4. when instead of than.

E.  Adverb and verb together are used in the beginning of the sentence to put emphasis on matter.

Exercise No. 14.

Find out error in the following sentences if any and mark Sr. no. of the relative part. In case of no error mark Sr no.5.

Ignore punctuation errors.

A. 1.His son is 2.still a minor and 3. he is not legible  4.to cast his vote in elections.

B. 1.Between you and I,  2.he is not a person 3.who can  be trusted upon 4.for a  timely help. 

C. 1.Many a student of various schools 2. have been selected 3. for appearing4. in this competition test.

D. 1.Either John or his wife 2.are going to 3.attend the marriage party 4.of his son.

E. 1.The house 2.you sold last year3. was superior than4. that of mine.

 
Answers with explanations.
 
A. 3. eligible instead of legible.

B. 1. me instead of I

C. 2. has instead of have.

D.  2. For 'either...' singular verb is used. is instead of are.

E. 3. Superior to.

A. 3. ‘eligible’ in place of legible.

B.  1. Between you and me…….

C. 2.Many a  & singular subject is followed by singular verb. ‘Has’ in place of ‘have’.

D.2. Either….or… is followed by singular verb. ‘is’ in place of ‘are’

E. 3.Words  ‘Superior or inferior’ have preposition to. ‘to’ in place of than. 

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Sentence Corrections ---- Clarifications & Tips : Chapter Two - Nouns , Use of Apostrophe-s etc

CHAPTER  TWO

The Noun--Case

A  Noun or A Pronoun shows a relation with some other word.

This relation is  mainly of three types :  

The Nominative, The Objective & The Possessive.

The Nominative: 

When a noun or pronoun is used as a subject to a  verb for the sake of address it is said to be in the nominative case.

Example : 

• Birds fly.     
• Boys, are you listening?

The Objective: 

When a noun is the object to a verb or a preposition, it is said to be the objective case.

Example : 

• John drove a car. 
• Janes sits in the chair.

(USE OF APOSTROPHE-S)

The  apostrophe ( ' ) is used in following cases:

1. The  apostrophe ( ' ) is inserted to show that some letter or letters have been omitted.
               se'en (for seven); 'tis (for it is); don't (for do not) shan't (for shall not).

2. To indicate the plural of letters or figures; a's,t's, 6's,4's etc.

3. ( ' ) is used in possessive case also; as

The Possessive : It denotes the possessor or an owner.

 It is shown by putting   's (apostrophe - s) to the noun.

• Singular  - 
• a singer’s 
• a girl’s.
• Plural  - 
• Men’s 
• Women’s.

s is omitted.  

In Plurals ending with s,    
Example : 

• Cats' paws 
• Lions' cage 
• Boys' balls.

Whenever the last syllable of a singular noun begins and ends with s, as: 

Moses’ laws. 

But in case of James’s hat, Venus’s beauty.

Whenever the last syllable  of a singular noun ends with s or ce and the noun is followed by ‘sake’ :

 For goodness’ sake
 For conscience’ sake.

The possessive noun is used with:

1. Nouns denoting persons

Examples:Madan’s  book, Boy’s hand

2.Nouns in respect of living things other than man

3.Nouns in respect of personified things:

Examples:

• Fortune’s  favours, 

• Sorrow’s tears, 

• India’s heroes etc.

4.Nouns in respect of time, space or weight as :

(a) Time : a week’s leave,  a year’s absence,  a day’s journey etc.(b) Space : a stone’s throw,  an arm’s length,  a hand’s breadth etc.(c) Weight : a pound’s weight,   a ton’s weight etc.

Possessive Case of lifeless objects is formed by ‘of ’

Examples:

• The leg of the table,  

• The pages of the book, 

• The roof of the house, 

• The windows of the house etc.

Look at the following sentence:

1.   Members of the Doctors’ Association will visit the Senior Citizens’ Centre today.

Since both “Doctors” and “Citizens” in the two phrases above are plural nouns with affiliation to certain institutions, they don’t  necessarily need the aphostrophe. The apostrophe is usually omitted in names of organizations like Ladies Hostel, Sailors’ Club and Officers’ Mess. The trend is more towards eliminating apostrophes. But phrases like Children’s  Festival use it since “Childrens” is not in an acceptable form.

(d) When two nouns are used  together to denote the same person or thing, the second is said to be in apposition to the first.

Examples :

• My friend, John’s house, 

• His aunt, Mrs. Paul’s etc.

Here apostrophe-s is used with John & Mrs. Paul only and not with My friend & His aunt.

Contractions are used in English language for example "It's, She's They're.He'd, We'd, I'm, I've and I'd etc.  Here by using 's two words become one one word by dropping one or two words out of the latter word. But their use is understood according to the meaning implied in the given context.  

She's  has a meaning of She is as well as  She has. similarly I'd means I had as well as I would.  John's late and John's bag  have  different meanings Former is John is late whereas the latter is  Bag of John. 

1. She's close to me.   2. She's a close relationship with me.
In the two sentences written above apostrophe s  has different meaning in each. In first case It is "She is close to me. In the second sentence it is " She has a close relationship with me."

Although proper and common nouns take apostrophe followed by an 's' to indicate ownership i.e. John's book, Mary's dog etc. But all possesive pronouns, its, his hers, ours and yours etc. dspite ending with a never take an apostrophe. It should not be used between your and s  and her and s.

Contractions are used in the following manner also:
I' d means I had and I would.  She's means she is and she has. These are used according to the meaning implied in the sentence.

Examples: 

• Peter loves Janes. 

• Janes is loved by Peter.

But Pronouns are different in the Subject (Nominative) and Object (Accusative) forms.
Examples : 

• He loves her. 

• She is loved by him.

By putting the words ‘who’ or ‘whom’ in place of pronoun, nominative or accusative form can be checked.

For who subjective and for whom objective form is used.
Examples :  

• Who loves whom. 

• He in place of who and her in place of whom will be used.  --->  He loves her.

Similarly in Case of :  Who is there? ---> It is I.
Here I is being used in place of who. So it will be I and not me.
Examples : 

• Whom did they select  a captain? --->  They selected him  a captain.

(e) Nouns have the same form in Subject (Nominative) and  Object (Accusative).

Read More on Sentence Correction Rules

1. Use of Nouns , Use of Apostrophe-s
1. Different types of Pronouns and Rules to use Pronouns
1. Commonly used Adverbial Phrases 

English Grammar - Sentence Correction Exercises with Solution and Explanation.

Error Correction Exercises:

Exercise No.  1.

Correct the following sentences :

1. Whenever it rains my husband uses his car to go to his office but my children stayed at home.

2. During the festival season, a vast majority of people gathers here to celebrate the occasion with a great pomp and show.

3. Earth's sources are depleting with such a fast pace as we need to protect and sustain these for not only ourselves but also for the future generations.


4. One of the purpose for which I visited his place was to consult him for formulating policy for the new project. 

5. The doctor prescribed medicine after conducting carefully examination of the patient.

6. The leader is so popular among people of this area that whenever he visits here to meet his followers in this hall, it is packed fully to its capacity.

7. The company has decided to organise a training programme for their employees so that they may know about its new marketing policy.

8. The farmer spotted a herd of stray animals in his field which were destroying the crop. 

9. During this period of natural calamity, the worst hit are industrial and agricultre labourers.

10. The minister urged the people of the country to make generously donations for the country's relief fund to help the sufferers. 

SOLUTION


1. In this sentence the clause 'whenever it rains' has a correct subject and verb combination Subject and verb both are singular. The clause 'my husband uses his car' has 'my husband' subject singular 'uses' is singular verb and 'his car' is object. This combination is also correct. 'to go to his office' is also correct. The other clause 'My children stayed at home'  has 'my children' is Subject 'stayed at' is verb. These two clauses are joined by the conjunction 'but'. A conjunction joins two things (i.e. clauses in this case) of the same level. But here the first one is in present tense and the latter in past tense. This sentence shows action of continuous nature i.e. the action was in past as well as is in present time. It will be in future also. So it should be in present indefinite tense. Instead of 'stayed' it should be 'stay'.

2. Subject 'a vast majority of people' always has a plural verb . It should be 'gather' instead of 'gathers'.

3.'Such' has with it both  'as' and 'that'. 'As' describes a comparison and 'that' is a 'result'. Here it should be 'that'  instead of 'as'.

4. This sentence describes 'one' out of 'many' so instead of 'purpose' it should be 'purposes'.

5. The clause 'the doctor prescribed medicine' has a correct subject and Verb combination.'Examination' is a noun and 'carefully' describes the noun 'examination' but it is an adverb. To describe a noun an adjective is required. Instead of 'carefully' it should be 'careful examination'.

6. In this sentence 'packed'  is a verb and adverb 'fully' describes it. 'to its capacity' also describes it. Both have the same meaning. Here 'fully' is redundant. It should be 'packed to its capacity' meaning 'packed fully'.

7. The clause 'the company ......training programme' is in Present Perfect Tense. It  has a correct Subject Verb and Object combination.In 'for their employees', 'employees' is s noun and 'their' is adjective. It describes 'the company' and not 'employees'.It should be in singular form 'its' instead of 'their'.

8. 'A herd of animals' acts as a singular noun and with it the verb 'were destroying' should be in singular 'was destroying'.

9. In this sentence 'labourers' is a noun and  'industrial and agriculture' describe it . The conjunction and joins the  two. Both should be in the form of adjectives i.e. 'Industrial and agricultural'.

10. In this sentence 'donations' is a noun and 'generously' describes it but it is an adverb. Here it should be adjective instead of adverb i.e.'generous donations'.

Exercise No.  2.

Correct the following sentences :

1. Though he undoubtedly is a very honest and sincere person yet  nobody but his friends believe upon him.

2. With a view to provide such facility to its employees, the company is planning to build schools and parks in the colony.  

3. From the response of the people of this vicinity,it appears that they are not interested in purchasing these things no more.

4. It is noticed that during the last week procurement of wheat and pulses crops in various markets have picked up considerably.

5. The local authorities warned the traders of the city that if they resort to hoarding of essential goods, a strict action would be taken against them.

6. The climatic changes during the last decade or so has an adverse effect on the pattern of seasons of the subcontinent.

7. It is worth appreciating that the residents of the city are behaving proper like law abiding citizens.

8. One of the evident reason that he does not visit you is that he attends his office till late hours these days.

9. Promptly actions taken by the authorities have saved the situation from worsening further.

10. Between the period April to June farmers are busy in harvesting of wheat crop.



SOLUTION


1. In this sentence first part '... he undoubtedly is a very honest ......' in present tense is correct. The second part is also in present tense. These two are connected by yet. Nobody (not his friends)is subject, a Pronoun in singular and it should have singular verb i.e. believes and believe. Nobody, everybody or anybody take singular verb with them.

2. 'Such' is a word that takes singular as well as plural noun with it. For singular it should be 'such a facility' and for plural it should be such facilities. The hinder part of the sentence tells about more than one facilities. So it will be such facilities.

3. In this sentence there are two negatives which is incorrect. It should be either 'are not interested any more' or 'are interested no more'.

4. In this sentence 'procurement' (and not crops of wheat and pulses) is the subject in singular and with it verb should be in singular 'has picked up' instead of 'have picked up'.

5. Try to understand this sentence in the way of narration. He said to them,"if you refuse a strict action will be taken against you." Its indirect form is He warned them that if they 'refused' a strict action would be taken against them. Similarly it should be 'resorted' instead of 'resort'.
in other words the first clause in the sentence 'the local authorities......the city' is in past tense. It is joined with the other clause 'if they ..... goods' by conjunction 'that'. This clause also should be in past tense. So it should be 'resorted' instead of 'resort'.

6. The climatic changes is Subject in plural and with it the verb is 'has' whereas it should be in plural 'have'.

7.' ........ residents ........ are behaving' Residents is subject in plural. Verb is behaving and to describe it the word is 'proper' which is a noun. To describe a verb, an adverb is required. It should be 'properly'. 

8.In 'one of the evident reason' it should be 'one of the evident reasons'.

9.This sentence is in passive voice.  'Action' is object placed in the beginning of the sentence and subject 'the authorities' is in the last of the sentence. 'Promptly' describes the noun 'action'. But is an adverb. Instead of an adverb an adjective 'prompt' is required.

10. Between is used about any time from a particular time to another time. Here instead 'During' is required.

Exercise No.  3.

Correct the following sentences :

1. "This sort of customers are in the habit of making unusual demands and they are never satisfied." said the shopkeeper.

2. The boy carrying his luggage on his shoulder walks a little distance on foot before he boarded a bus to reach his house in the city.

3. It is hard deny that the chairman is adept in taking good decision and implement them without any hindrance.

4. The boy imitated his father and he sang like his father did.

5. He made his preference clearly when he declared that he will accept the deal only if the total amount is paid in advance.

6. He is the person who I think they selected as their captain.

Exercise No. 29

Which of the options given below be written in place of the underlined portion in the sentence so as to give its correct form.

Now our company has been venturing with the fields of production which it never tried earlier.

(correction tip- The word 'agree' is followed by prepositions- agree with a person, to a proposal, on a point )

1.  1) has being venturing with the fields of production which it never tried.
2.  2) has been venturing with the fields of production who it never tried
3.  3) has been venturing with the fields of production who we never tried
4.  4) has been venturing into the fields of production which it never tried
5.  5) No correction required
6.  6) None of these

Exercise no CS30

Which of the options given below be written in place of the underlined portion in the sentence so as to give its correct form.

He has created such a mess in the office that it has become immanageable for him to control all this.

(correction tip- the verb 'Dare' is never followed by 'to'. e.g. I dare not go there.)

1. 1)such a mess in the office as it has become immanageable for him to control
2.  2) such a mess of the office that it is become immanageable for him to control
3.  3) such a mess in the office that it has become unmanageable for him to control
4.  4) such a mess in the office that it would have become immanageable for him to control
5.  5) No correction required
6.  6) None of these.

Exercise no CS31

Which of the options given below be written in place of the underlined portion in the sentence so as to give its correct form.

Had you contacted his brother he would have helped you.

(correction tip- 's is used with living things & not with non-living things.e.g. Ram's arm & not table's leg)

1.  1) he had helped you
2.  2) he would had helped you
3.  3) he will help you
4.  4) he can help you
5.  5) No correction required
6.  6) None of these

Exercise no CS32

Which of the options given below be written in place of the underlined portion in the sentence so as to give its correct form.

It is I who has been putting up with this silly fellow for such a long time.

1.  1) It is I who is putting up with this silly fellow
2.  2) It is me who has been putting up with this silly fellow
3.  3) It is I who have been putting up with this silly fellow
4.  4) It am I who has been putting up with this silly fellow
5.  5) No Error
6.  6) None of these 

Exercise no CS 33.

Which of the options given below be written in place of the underlined portion in the sentence so as to give its correct form.

What makes you laugh?

1.  1) What does make you laugh?
2.  2) What do make you laugh?
3.  3) What does makes you laugh?
4.  4) What make you laughs?
5.  5) No Error.
6.  6) None of these.

Exercise no CS 34.

Which of the options given below be written in place of the underlined portion in the sentence so as to give its correct form.

Soon India and Pakistan will convene secretary level meetings of the bilateral process which stalled since January this year.

1.shall convene secretary level meetings of the bilateral process which stalled since January this year.

2.will convene secretary level meetings of the bilateral process which has stalled since January this year.

3.will convene secretary level meetings of the bilateral process which has been stalled since January this year..
...

4.will convene secretary level meetings of the bilateral process which stalled from January this year.

5.No Error.

6.None of these.

Exercise no CS 35.

Choose the correct word out  of the options given below in the sentence to be used  in blank space  so as to give it a correct meaning.

1. (a.Who/b.Whom).............wishes to see me?

2. (c.Who/d.Whom)..............do you wish to see me?

3. (e.Whom/f.Who)...............do you consider is right?

4. (g. Which/h.What)...............did he say to you?

5. With (i.whom/j.Which).........were you talking?