Error Spotting & Improvement

Snapshot

• Spotting Errors / Sentence Improvement gives you a sentence (often split into parts) and asks which part has a grammatical mistake, or which option best replaces an underlined portion. It is the purest test of grammar accuracy in the paper.
• The errors are drawn from a fixed, repeating set of rules: subject–verb agreement, tense, articles, prepositions, pronouns, comparatives, parallelism and word order. Master the rule-list and you master the section.
• The method is to check the sentence against each rule in turn rather than relying on "what sounds right", because the exam deliberately uses errors that sound acceptable to a casual ear.
• Exam reality: +5 / −1. Find the one rule that is broken; if no part is wrong, the answer is "No error".

Part 1 — Subject–verb agreement (the most tested rule)

The verb must agree with the subject in number, even when words come between them.

The classic trap is a phrase between subject and verb: "The quality of the apples is poor" — the subject is quality (singular), not apples.

Part 2 — Tense and time

Part 3 — Articles, prepositions, pronouns

• Articles: use a before consonant sounds (a university — "yu" sound), an before vowel sounds (an hour — silent h); the for something specific or unique (the sun).
• Prepositions (fixed): good at, married to, different from, superior to, capable of, afraid of, depend on, comply with.
• Pronouns: must agree with their noun and use the right case — "between you and me" (not I); "Everyone took his/their seat" (agreement); a pronoun must have a clear antecedent.

Part 4 — Comparatives, parallelism, word order

• Comparatives: use -er / more for two, -est / most for three or more; never double them (more better is wrong). "Superior to", not "superior than".
• Parallelism: items in a list must share the same form — "She likes reading, writing and to paint" should be "reading, writing and painting".
• Word order / adverbs: "He only eats vegetables" vs "He eats only vegetables" — place only next to what it limits.
• Double negatives: "I don't know nothing" is wrong → "I don't know anything".
• Misplaced modifiers: "Running fast, the bus was missed by him" wrongly says the bus was running; fix to "Running fast, he missed the bus."

Part 5 — The method (rule-by-rule scan)

1. Find the subject and the main verb and check agreement first — it is the commonest error.
2. Check the tense against the time words (since, ago, yesterday, by the time).
3. Scan prepositions and articles for fixed-usage slips.
4. Check pronouns for case and clear reference.
5. Look for parallelism and comparatives in lists and comparisons.
6. If every part obeys every rule, choose "No error" — it is a valid and often-correct answer.

Part 6 — Worked examples

1. "One of the students (a)/ have not (b)/ submitted the work. (c)/ No error (d)" → error (b): one of takes has.
2. "He is junior than me." → junior to.
3. "The scenery of the hills are beautiful." → subject scenery is singular → is.
4. "If I was you, I would apologise." → unreal condition → were.
5. "She is more cleverer than her sister." → double comparative → more clever / cleverer.
6. "Each boy and girl were given a prize." → each…and → was.
7. "He has been working here since five years." → duration → for five years.
8. "Between you and I, it's a secret." → object case → me.
9. "The committee are divided in their views." → split body → are is acceptable; if acting as one unit, is. (Context decides.)
10. "Neither the teacher nor the students was present." → nearer subject students → were.

Part 7 — Common traps

• Sounds right but breaks a rule — different than, superior than, discuss about all sound common yet are wrong (different from, superior to, discuss [no "about"]).
• Intervening phrase — a phrase between subject and verb hides the true subject's number.
• "No error" avoidance — students fear picking "No error"; it is correct in a fair share of questions, so don't force a mistake that isn't there.
• Redundancy — return back, repeat again, free gift, new innovation contain a hidden repetition error.
• Wrong preposition after specific verbs — comply with, capable of, insist on, consist of.

Part 8 — Why a rule-scan beats your ear

Many students answer these questions by feel — they reread the sentence and pick the part that "sounds off". The trouble is that the examiner designs errors to sound natural, because everyday spoken English is full of them: "He is more taller", "different than", "one of my friend", "discuss about the issue". To a casual ear these pass, which is exactly why feel fails. A disciplined rule-scan does not. You run a fixed checklist — agreement, tense, article, preposition, pronoun, comparison, parallelism — and test the sentence against each in turn, regardless of how it sounds. This converts a vague impression into a definite check, and it is also faster once practised, because you stop rereading and start testing. Keep a personal list of the rules you most often miss; for most students it is subject–verb agreement across an intervening phrase and the fixed-preposition errors. Drill those two areas and your accuracy jumps. Finally, respect the "No error" option: padding a sentence with a non-mistake is a favourite examiner move, and the confident student who has scanned every rule and found nothing wrong should mark "No error" without flinching.

Part 9 — Redundancy & wordiness bank (improvement questions)

Sentence-improvement questions often hinge on cutting one of these redundancies, so train your eye to spot a word that merely repeats an idea already present.

Part 10 — Rapid-fire error spotting (find the wrong part)

1. "The number of accidents have risen." → the number of → has.
2. "He prefers tea than coffee." → prefers tea to coffee.
3. "I have been knowing him for years." → know is stative → have known.
4. "She along with her friends were invited." → subject she → was.
5. "Hardly had I slept than the phone rang." → when.
6. "The jury was divided in their opinion." → split body acting separately → were.
7. "He is one of those who never admits a mistake." → plural relative → never admit.
8. "Let you and I discuss this." → object → me.
9. "Neither of the answers are correct." → neither singular → is.
10. "He spoke as if he knows everything." → unreal → knew.
11. "Each of the rooms have a fan." → each of → has.
12. "No sooner did he arrive when it rained." → than.

Part 11 — Common fixed-error sentences (memorise the correct form)

Part 12 — A deeper habit: read for the subject, then the verb

If you train just one reflex for this section, make it this: in every sentence, first locate the true subject, then jump straight to the verb and test agreement — ignoring everything in between. The examiner's favourite trick is to bury a singular subject under a plural-sounding phrase ("the bouquet of red roses was lovely", "the list of candidates is ready") so that the verb seems to belong to the nearer plural noun. By deliberately bracketing out the intervening phrase — of red roses, of candidates — you expose the real subject and the right verb becomes obvious. The same discipline catches the each / every / one of / neither family, all of which are grammatically singular however plural their surroundings feel. Build this into a two-second routine and subject–verb agreement, the most heavily tested rule in the whole section, turns from a trap into a gift. Pair it with the fixed-error list in Part 11 — the verbs that take no preposition, the redundancies in Part 9 — and you will have covered the overwhelming majority of what this section can throw at you.

Part 13 — How to use this page

Memorise the rule tables (Parts 1–4), practise the rule-scan method in Part 5 and the rapid-fire set in Part 10 on every question, and keep a log of the rules you miss most. Drill the redundancy bank in Part 9 and the fixed-error list in Part 11 for improvement questions, and never be afraid to choose "No error" when the scan finds nothing.

One-line revision: test the sentence against a fixed rule-list (agreement → tense → article → preposition → pronoun → comparison → parallelism), trust the rule over your ear, cut redundancies, and pick "No error" when nothing is broken.