Spotting Error Sentence Improvement Qns for IBPS PO Exam

D.1-10): A sentence is shown in four parts marked as (a), (b), (c) and (d) in each question. Read the sentences carefully and select the part which is grammatically wrong. If every part of the sentence is grammatically correct then, choose ‘No error’ (e) as the answer.

Q.1) India has had a long history of (a)/ political and ideological murders (b)/ and assassinations; the way (c)/ we lost Mahatma Gandhi is a prominent example. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option e)

Q.2)Two security personal were(a)/injured on Sunday in separate Naxal-related (b)/ incidents in Chhattisgarh’ s(c)/ Dantewada district, the police said.(d)/No error. (e)

Ans: Option a)

The subject of the main clause “Two security personal” is incorrect.

It should be “Two security personnel”

Note: Personal is an adjective indicating something is private to a particular person or thing. Personal means members of the staff.

Q.3) He promised most bulletproof vehicles, (a)/ bullet-proof vests and a trauma centre for (b)/ the police, as well as helicopter services (c)/ for security forces in the State. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option a)

Bulletproof is a composite adjective which cannot be used in degrees of comparison.

We cannot say much bulletproof, more bulletproof or most bulletproof.

Either we should have simply bulletproof vehicles etc. which means the provision of equipment which probably security forces presently do not possess.

(OR) We can have the sentence as “He promised more bulletproof vehicles…” in which case the promise is for increasing the number of existing equipment of these types.

Q.4) Salimullah, the primary earning member of (a)/ an eight-member family in Myanmar’ s Rakhine, (b)/ has crossed the border into (c)/ Bangladesh last week. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option c)

The main clause is “Salimullah, has crossed the border into Bangladesh?

When? We have the adverb of past time ‘last week’

Note: ‘has crossed’ is in the present perfect tense

We get alarmed bells in our mind.

Adverbs of past time cannot go with present perfect tense.

So that is the error.

Simply replace the pp tense by simple past tense. So remove ‘has’ from ‘has crossed’

Note: the phrase “the primary earning member of an eight-member family in Myanmar’s Rakhine” is an appositive phrase. It serves as an identifier or adjective and is correct.

Q.5) Even social media platforms (a)/ were being used to spread (b)/ the message that vaccination (c)/ will adversely affect children’s health. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option d)

Q.6) Though much time and money (a)/ are being spent on individual cases as (b)/ part of the drive, the number of (c)/ unimmunized children are not coming down. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option e)

“Though much time and money are …. of the drive” is the subordinate clause with the conjunction of reason ‘ though’ as the connector.

In this clause “much time and money”– subject plural

“are being spent….. drive”– predicate with ‘ are’ as the main verb is correct.

“The number of unimmunized children” is the subject of the main clause

“number” is the subject for matching with the verb – subject is singular

So the verb ‘is’ matches with the subject

Therefore there is no error in the sentence.

Q.7) Few months after the U.S. imposed new sanctions (a)/, North Korea (b)/ responded with its first nuclear test in 2006 (c)/ and the Six-Party Talks collapsed. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option a)

This is a complex sentence with two independent clauses, viz; “North Korea… 2006” and “Six-Party Talks collapsed”

The adverbial clause “Few months after the Us….sanctions” has an adverbial phrase “few months after” which should be “a few months after” because ‘few’ has negative sense meaning virtually nothing. “A few” means ‘some’.

Q.8) The police obtain call details (a)/ of Raja and it was found (b)/ that he was shuttling between (c)/ Delhi and Mumbai frequently. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option a)

The entire sentence is in the past tense. So the “The police obtain call details” is incorrect and we should have “The Police obtained call details”.

Q.9) The benefits were available to students (a)/ whom secured admission in (b)/ one of the top 300 universities under (c)/ the QS World University Ranking system. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option b)

The relative clause “whom …….system” the pronoun usage is incorrect. Instead of object case of pronoun “whom” we should have nominative case “who”

Q.10) The family of the deceased, Mohammed (a)/ demanded compensation of Rs.1 crore along (b)/ on a government job for a family member, holding (c)/ the police responsible for his death. (d)/ No error. (e)

Ans: Option c)

The sentence means that the demand is for both compensation and job.

The preposition used “along on” is incorrect. It should be “along with”

So the preposition ‘on’ in part c) should be changed to “with”.

Answer Key: 1. (e) 2. (a) 3. (a) 4. (c) 5. (d) 6. (e) 7. (a) 8. (a) 9. (b) 10. (c)