Spotting Errors For SBI PO : Set – 25
Spotting Errors For SBI PO : Set – 25
Read each sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. Mark the number f that part with error as your answer. If there is no error, mark (d). (Ignore errors of punctuation, if any.)
1. Emphasis on quality of life ensures (a) / for the health and happiness (b) / of every individual (c) / No error (d)
2. On entering the room (a) / we found her hung (b) / from the ceiling (c) / No error (d)
3. The article (a) / should not exceed (b) / more than five hundred words (c) / No error (d)
4. All the boys (a) / returned back home (b) well in time for lunch (c) / No error (d)
5. Arun’s parents died when he was young and so (a) / he was looked over by his aunt (b) / who had no children (c) / No error (d)
6. Many a profound thinker believe (a) / that the march of civilisation (b) / has not coincided with real human progress (c) / No error (d)
7. It was time that (a) / you started (b) / working (c) / No error (d)
8. The eminent speaker’s speech (a) / was broadcasted over (b) / all the major radio stations (c) / No error (d)
9. The meeting adjourned abruptly (a) / by the chairman after (b) / about three hours of deliberation (c) / No error (d)
10. Coffee seeds (a) / is dried and roasted (b) / before they are ground into powder (c) / No error (d)
Answer key With Explanations:
1. (b) ‘Ensures’ means ‘make sure’ or ‘make safe’ A thing ‘ensures’ something, not ‘ensures for’.
2. (b) The word should be ‘hanging’ (suspended) and not ‘hung’ (past tense and past participle of ‘hang’)
3. (c) ‘Exceed’ makes the phrase ‘more than’ redundant. The sentence should read as ‘The article should not exceed five hundred words.’ It would also be correct to say. ‘The article should not be more than five hundred words’.
4. (b) ‘Return’ itself conveys the meaning of ‘coming back’. So ‘returned home’ is the correct usage.
5. (b) One ‘looks after’ (attends to) another person, not ‘looks over’ (examines briefly). ‘He was looked after by his aunt’ is correct.
6. (a) ‘Many a profound thinker’ requires a singular verb. The present perfect continuous tense is used for actions that began in the past but are continuing to take place in the present and are expected to continue in the near future.
7. (a) ‘It is time’ is the correct beginning. The correct usage is ‘it is time you’ + past tense (use of ‘that’, as in the given sentence, is incorrect). Use of ‘it was time’ would be correct in indirect speech only: ‘He said it was time I started working’.
8. (b) The past tense of ‘broadcast’ is ‘broadcast’.
9. (a) The singular verb in past tense, ‘was’, is missing before ‘adjourned’. ‘Adjourned’ means ‘put off’; it is used as a passive construction intransitive verb in this sentence (so, ‘was adjourned’)
10. (b) The plural verb ‘are’ should be used to agree with ‘seeds’.
