English Spotting Errors For Competitive Exams PDF

 

'Spotting errors' forms an essential part of any competitive examination. It is all about to find an error in a sentence. In this section, candidates are required to find out that part of the sentence has an error and mark that part.

Hence, it is necessary that candidates appearing in the examinations have the knowledge and awareness of the basic rules of grammar and its usage. The errors may be related to different grammatical structures like 'Article, Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Tense, Voice etc.

Article

A, An and The are called articles.

'A' and 'An' are called indefinite articles.

'The' is called definite article.

Use of Indefinite Articles 'A' and 'An' 

1. 'A' is used before singular countable nouns with a consonant sound or starting with consonants (b, c, d, Z).

Exempli gratia - A bag, A cow, A university etc.

2. 'An' is used before singular countable nouns with a vowel sound, or starting with a consonant with a vowel sound.

Exempli gratia -  An hour, An apple, An umbrella.

Use of Definite Article 'The' 

1. The' can be used before a singular or plural noun both which is obvious or clear.

Exempli gratia - The pen is on the table which I have gifted you. 

2. With musical instrument.

Exempli gratia - The guitar, The violin, The drums etc.

The guitar is my favourite instrument.

3. With the name of rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges etc.

Exempli gratia - The Yamuna, The Indian Ocean, The Himalayas etc. 

The Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism.

4. With the directions.

Exempli gratia - The East, The North-West

I was told to walk in the East direction.

5. With newspapers, magazines and epics.

Exempli gratia - The Times of India, The India Today, The Bible etc.

The Times of India is an english language daily newspaper.

6. With unique things.

Exempli gratia - The Sun, The Moon, The Taj Mahal etc.

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. 

7. With the superlative degree of adjectives.

Exempli gratia - The biggest, the most etc.

Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system.

Omission of Articles

Don't use articles

1. Before proper nouns.

Exempli gratia - Rahul, Narendra Modi, India etc.

Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of India.

2. Before material nouns.

Exempli gratia - Gold, Silver, Milk etc.

He told us there was gold in the mine.

3. Before institutions, religious places, schools, hospitals etc.

Exempli gratia - I go to temple daily.

4. Before uncountable nouns and plural nouns.

Exempli gratia - Indian players played well in the tournament.

5. Before planets.

Exempli gratia - Mars, Jupiter etc. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar system.

6. Before sports or games.

Exempli gratia - Cricket, hockey etc.

Cricket is not our national game.

7. Before meals.

Exempli gratia - Breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.

Never skip breakfast as it provides you energy to work efficiently.

8. Before languages and subjects.

Exempli gratia English, Hindi, Japanese, Mathematics etc.

English is a universal language.