Episode 8 — Aptitude and Reasoning / 8.26 — Error Identification
8.26 -- Quick Revision: Error Identification
Subject-Verb Agreement (Top Priority)
| Rule | Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Each/Every/Neither/Either = singular | Each has come | Each have come |
| One of the + plural noun + singular verb | One of the boys has passed | One of the boy have passed |
| The number of = singular | The number is rising | The number are rising |
| A number of = plural | A number have applied | A number has applied |
| Uncountable nouns = singular (news, furniture, scenery, information, advice, luggage) | The news is good | The news are good |
| Along with / together with / as well as -- verb agrees with first subject | He along with friends was | He along with friends were |
| Neither...nor / Either...or -- verb agrees with nearer subject | Neither he nor they were | Neither he nor they was |
| Collective noun (single unit) = singular | The team has won | The team have won |
| The poet and philosopher (same person, one "the") = singular | The poet and philosopher has | The poet and philosopher have |
Tense Rules
| Rule | Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Since + present/past perfect | He has worked here since 2010 | He is working since 2010 |
| For + duration | He has worked here for 10 years | He has worked here since 10 years |
| Earlier past event = past perfect | He had left before I came | He left before I came |
| If + past simple = would + base verb (Type 2) | If I were you | If I was you |
| If + past perfect = would have + PP (Type 3) | If I had studied | If I would have studied |
| Reported speech: will --> would | She said she would come | She said she will come |
| Universal truths stay present tense | He said the Earth revolves | He said the Earth revolved |
Preposition Rules
| Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|
| Discuss (no preposition) | Discuss about |
| Comprise (no preposition) | Comprise of |
| Reach (no preposition) | Reach to/at |
| Enter (no preposition, for places) | Enter into the room |
| Superior to | Superior than |
| Inferior to | Inferior than |
| Senior to | Senior than |
| Prefer A to B | Prefer A than B |
| Consist of | Consist in/with |
| Despite (no "of") | Despite of |
| Insist on | Insist to |
Article Rules
| Rule | Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| "An" before vowel sounds | an honest man, an hour | a honest man, a hour |
| "A" before consonant sounds | a university, a European | an university, an European |
| No article before sports | He plays cricket | He plays the cricket |
| No article before abstract nouns (general) | Honesty is the best policy | The honesty is the best policy |
| "The" before superlatives | She is the best | She is best |
| Uncountable nouns have no "a/an" | He gave me advice | He gave me an advice |
Pronoun and Word-Pair Rules
| Rule | Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Between + object pronoun | Between you and me | Between you and I |
| Fewer (countable) / Less (uncountable) | Fewer people / Less water | Less people / Fewer water |
| Would rather + base verb | Would rather go | Would rather to go |
| Its (possessive) / It's (it is) | The dog wagged its tail | The dog wagged it's tail |
| Principal (person/main) / Principle (rule) | A man of great principles | A man of great principals |
Parallelism
All items in a list must have the same grammatical form.
Wrong: She likes reading, to write, and dancing. Right: She likes reading, writing, and dancing.
Correlative Conjunctions
| Pair | Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| No sooner...than | No sooner...than | No sooner...when |
| Hardly/Scarcely...when | Hardly...when | Hardly...than |
| Not only...but also | Parallel structures on both sides | Non-parallel |
Redundancy (Remove the Extra Word)
| Wrong | Correct |
|---|---|
| Return back | Return |
| Revert back | Revert |
| Repeat again | Repeat |
| Reason is because | Reason is that |
| Combine together | Combine |
| Free gift | Gift |
| Past history | History |
Modifier Rule
The opening participial phrase must modify the subject right after the comma.
Wrong: Walking down the road, the trees looked beautiful. Right: Walking down the road, I found the trees beautiful.
Degree Errors
| Wrong | Correct | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| More smarter | Smarter | No double comparative |
| Most unique | Unique | Absolute adjective -- no degrees |
| More better | Better | No double comparative |
Error-Spotting Checklist (In Order)
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- Tense Consistency
- Pronoun Agreement and Case
- Articles (a/an/the)
- Prepositions
- Parallelism
- Modifiers
- Redundancy
- Confused Words
- Degrees of Comparison
Exam Target: Under 30--45 seconds per question. Start with the verb -- most errors live there.