Q1. Identify the error: 'He do not like apples.'
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Answer: B. 'do' should be 'does'
With 'he', the auxiliary must be 'does': 'He does not like apples.'
Error Spotting Questions for SSC CGL (with Answers)
52 Error Spotting MCQs from the English Comprehension section, with answers and short explanations.
Score: 0 / 0
Q2. Identify the error: 'Neither of the two candidates were selected for the post.'
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Answer: A. 'were' should be 'was'
'Neither of' refers to each one separately and takes a singular verb: 'Neither of the two candidates was selected for the post.'
Q3. Identify the error: 'The heavy rain prevented us to go out.'
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Answer: A. 'to go' should be 'from going'
'Prevent' is used in the pattern 'prevent someone from doing something': 'The heavy rain prevented us from going out.'
Q4. Identify the error: 'Unless you do not work hard, you will not pass.'
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Answer: B. 'do not' should be removed
'Unless' means 'if not', so it should not be followed by another negative: 'Unless you work hard, you will not pass.'
Q5. Identify the error: 'The number of students in the class are increasing.'
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Answer: C. 'are' should be 'is'
'The number of' takes a singular verb because the subject is 'number': 'The number of students in the class is increasing.' (Compare: 'A number of students are...')
Q6. Identify the error: 'He has been working here since five years.'
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Answer: B. 'since' should be 'for'
'Since' is used with a point of time (since 2019) and 'for' with a period of time (for five years): 'He has been working here for five years.'
Q7. Identify the error: 'I am looking forward to meet you next week.'
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Answer: D. 'meet' should be 'meeting'
In 'look forward to', 'to' is a preposition, so it is followed by a gerund: 'I am looking forward to meeting you next week.'
Q8. Identify the error: 'The sceneries of Kashmir are breathtaking.'
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Answer: A. 'sceneries' should be 'scenery' and 'are' should be 'is'
'Scenery' is an uncountable noun, so it has no plural and takes a singular verb: 'The scenery of Kashmir is breathtaking.'
Q9. Identify the error: 'She is senior than me in the office.'
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Answer: B. 'than' should be 'to'
Comparatives ending in '-ior' (senior, junior, superior, inferior, prior) take 'to', not 'than': 'She is senior to me in the office.'
Q10. Identify the error: 'He denied to have taken the money.'
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Answer: B. 'to have taken' should be 'having taken'
'Deny' is followed by a gerund, not an infinitive: 'He denied having taken the money.'
Q11. Identify the error: 'The police has arrested the thief.'
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Answer: B. 'has' should be 'have'
'Police' is a plural noun and always takes a plural verb: 'The police have arrested the thief.'
Q12. Identify the error: 'Hardly had she left the house than the phone rang.'
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Answer: A. 'than' should be 'when'
'Hardly' is followed by 'when', while 'No sooner' is followed by 'than': 'Hardly had she left the house when the phone rang.'
Q13. Identify the error: 'Scarcely had I reached the station when the train left.'
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Answer: D. No error
The sentence is correct. 'Scarcely' and 'Hardly' are followed by 'when' (not 'than'), and a sentence beginning with 'Scarcely' uses inversion: 'Scarcely had I reached...'
Q14. Identify the error: 'Let you and I finish the work before lunch.'
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Answer: A. 'I' should be 'me'
'Let' takes an object, so the objective case is needed: 'Let you and me finish the work before lunch.'
Q15. Identify the error: 'The board will discuss about the proposal tomorrow.'
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Answer: B. 'about' should be removed
'Discuss' is a transitive verb and takes a direct object: 'The board will discuss the proposal tomorrow.' ('A discussion about' is correct, but 'discuss about' is not.)
Q16. Identify the error: 'My uncle, who lives in Jaipur, he is a lawyer.'
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Answer: B. 'he' should be removed
The subject 'My uncle' already has its verb 'is'; adding the pronoun 'he' repeats the subject. Correct: 'My uncle, who lives in Jaipur, is a lawyer.'
Q17. Identify the error: 'I have seen him yesterday at the station.'
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Answer: C. 'have seen' should be 'saw'
The present perfect tense is not used with a definite past time such as 'yesterday'; the simple past is needed: 'I saw him yesterday at the station.'
Q18. Identify the error: 'My grandfather is used to get up before sunrise.'
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Answer: D. 'get' should be 'getting'
In 'be used to' (be accustomed to), 'to' is a preposition and takes a gerund: 'My grandfather is used to getting up before sunrise.'
Q19. Identify the error: 'Of the two sisters, Meera is the tallest.'
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Answer: A. 'tallest' should be 'taller'
When two people or things are compared, the comparative degree is used: 'Of the two sisters, Meera is the taller.' The superlative is for three or more.
Q20. Identify the error: 'I did not know where was he going.'
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Answer: B. 'was he going' should be 'he was going'
In an indirect (embedded) question, the subject comes before the verb, as in a statement: 'I did not know where he was going.'
Q21. Identify the error: 'Both his brother-in-laws work in Mumbai.'
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Answer: B. 'brother-in-laws' should be 'brothers-in-law'
In compound nouns like this, the plural is formed on the main noun: 'brothers-in-law', 'passers-by', 'commanders-in-chief'.
Q22. Identify the error: 'He gave the beggar a ten-rupees note.'
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Answer: B. 'ten-rupees' should be 'ten-rupee'
When a number plus a noun is used as a hyphenated adjective, the noun stays singular: 'a ten-rupee note', 'a five-year plan'.
Q23. Identify the error: 'Having finished his homework, the boy went out to play.'
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Answer: A. No error
The sentence is correct. The participle phrase 'Having finished his homework' correctly refers to the subject 'the boy', and the past tense 'went' fits.
Q24. Identify the error: 'She gave me many informations about the course.'
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Answer: B. 'many informations' should be 'much information'
'Information' is an uncountable noun. It has no plural form and takes 'much', not 'many': 'She gave me much information about the course.'
Q25. Identify the error: 'Rohan is elder than his cousin.'
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Answer: D. 'elder' should be 'older'
'Elder' is used before a noun or with 'the' (my elder brother) and is never followed by 'than'. With 'than', use 'older': 'Rohan is older than his cousin.'
Q26. Identify the error: 'The scissors is lying on the table.'
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Answer: D. 'is' should be 'are'
'Scissors' is a plural noun, like 'trousers' and 'spectacles', so it takes a plural verb: 'The scissors are lying on the table.'
Q27. Identify the error: 'One of my friend is a doctor.'
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Answer: A. 'friend' should be 'friends'
'One of' takes a plural noun: 'One of my friends is a doctor.'
Q28. Identify the error: 'The furnitures in this room are new.'
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Answer: B. 'furnitures' should be 'furniture'
'Furniture' is uncountable: 'The furniture in this room is new.'
Q29. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'The committee comprised of / eminent jurists, economists / and retired bureaucrats / drawn from across the country.'
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Answer: A. The committee comprised of
'Comprise' means 'consist of', so it takes no 'of': 'The committee comprised eminent jurists...' (or 'consisted of' / 'was composed of').
Q30. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'He has been working / in this firm / since the last / ten years.'
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Answer: C. since the last
'Since' is used with a point of time; 'for' with a period of time. 'Ten years' is a period, so it should be 'for the last ten years'.
Q31. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'The manager, along with his assistants, / have been summoned / to explain / the discrepancies in the accounts.'
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Answer: B. have been summoned
When two nouns are joined by 'along with', 'as well as' or 'together with', the verb agrees with the first noun. 'The manager' is singular, so it should be 'has been summoned'.
Q32. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Being a rainy day, / we decided / to stay indoors / and play chess.'
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Answer: A. Being a rainy day,
This is a dangling participle: as written, 'we' were a rainy day. Use an absolute construction: 'It being a rainy day, we decided...'.
Q33. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'If he had worked harder, / he would have passed / the examination / without no difficulty.'
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Answer: D. without no difficulty.
'Without' is already negative, so 'without no' is a double negative. Correct: 'without any difficulty'.
Q34. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Neither of the two proposals / placed before the board / by the directors / were found acceptable.'
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Answer: D. were found acceptable.
'Neither of' is followed by a singular verb, because 'neither' means 'not either one'. Correct: 'Neither of the two proposals ... was found acceptable'.
Q35. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Unless you do not submit / the documents by Friday, / your application / will be rejected.'
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Answer: A. Unless you do not submit
'Unless' means 'if not', so it should not be followed by another 'not'. Correct: 'Unless you submit the documents by Friday...'.
Q36. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Inflation has soared, / and experts say that / it is high time / the government takes stringent measures.'
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Answer: D. the government takes stringent measures.
'It is high time' is followed by the past subjunctive (simple past) form: 'it is high time the government took stringent measures'.
Q37. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'She is one of those / novelists / who has won / international acclaim.'
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Answer: C. who has won
In 'one of those + plural noun + who', the relative pronoun refers to the plural noun ('novelists'), so the verb must be plural: 'who have won'.
Q38. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Scarcely had the chief guest arrived / than the audience rose / to give him / a standing ovation.'
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Answer: B. than the audience rose
'Scarcely' and 'hardly' are followed by 'when' (or 'before'), not 'than'. Only 'no sooner' takes 'than'. Correct: 'Scarcely had the chief guest arrived when...'.
Q39. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'The delegates said / that they were eagerly / looking forward / to meet the minister.'
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Answer: D. to meet the minister.
'Look forward to' is followed by a gerund because 'to' is a preposition here: 'looking forward to meeting the minister'.
Q40. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'The reason / why he failed / was because / he had not prepared.'
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Answer: C. was because
'The reason ... was because' is redundant. After 'the reason ... was', use 'that': 'The reason why he failed was that he had not prepared'.
Q41. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'This edition of the novel / is superior than / the earlier one, / critics agree.'
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Answer: B. is superior than
Latin comparatives such as superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior and preferable take 'to', not 'than'. It should be 'is superior to'.
Q42. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Between you and I, / the new manager / does not seem / very competent.'
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Answer: A. Between you and I,
A preposition takes the objective case of the pronoun. 'Between you and I' should be 'Between you and me'.
Q43. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'If he would have / listened to his parents, / he would not / have got into trouble.'
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Answer: A. If he would have
In a third conditional (past unreal condition), the 'if' clause takes the past perfect: 'If he had listened...'. 'Would have' belongs only in the main clause.
Q44. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Of the two proposals / submitted by the firms, / this one is / the best in every respect.'
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Answer: D. the best in every respect.
When only two things are compared, the comparative degree is used. 'The best' should be 'the better'.
Q45. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'You must walk carefully / on the wet floor / lest you will / slip and fall.'
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Answer: C. lest you will
'Lest' is followed by 'should' (or the base form of the verb), never 'will' or 'not'. It should be 'lest you should slip and fall'.
Q46. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Before I left for college, / my uncle gave me / many valuable advices / about managing money.'
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Answer: C. many valuable advices
'Advice' is an uncountable noun and has no plural form. It should be 'much valuable advice' or 'many valuable pieces of advice'.
Q47. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'At yesterday's meeting, / the members of the panel / discussed about the proposal / at great length.'
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Answer: C. discussed about the proposal
'Discuss' is a transitive verb and takes a direct object without 'about'. It should be 'discussed the proposal'.
Q48. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'I have met / your brother / at the conference / last week.'
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Answer: A. I have met
The present perfect is not used with a definite past time expression such as 'last week'. The simple past is needed: 'I met your brother at the conference last week.'
Q49. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'The teacher was disappointed / because many a student / in her class / have failed the test.'
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Answer: D. have failed the test.
'Many a' takes a singular noun and a singular verb. It should be 'many a student ... has failed the test'.
Q50. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Despite of his best efforts, / he could not / clear the examination / in his first attempt.'
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Answer: A. Despite of his best efforts,
'Despite' is itself a preposition and is not followed by 'of'. Use 'Despite his best efforts' or 'In spite of his best efforts'.
Q51. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'It is I / who is to blame / for the mess / in the office.'
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Answer: B. who is to blame
A relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in person and number. The antecedent is 'I' (first person), so it should be 'It is I who am to blame'.
Q52. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Many people prefer / travelling by train / than travelling by bus / on long journeys.'
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Answer: C. than travelling by bus
'Prefer' is followed by 'to', not 'than', when comparing two nouns or gerunds: 'prefer travelling by train to travelling by bus'.