Error Spotting with Shortcut tricks Set 06

Answer: (a) Part (a)

Explanation:
1. The subject 'Rosy' is singular third person, so the simple present verb takes -es.
2. Correct form: 'Rosy herself washes'.
3. The verb 'gives' in (c) shows the correct pattern.

Teacher's Note:
1. Third person singular subjects take verbs ending in -s or -es.
2. Reflexive 'herself' after the subject only adds emphasis.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. The reporting verb 'said' is in the past, so the reported verb must be backshifted.
2. Correct form: 'he preferred a white shirt'.
3. Parts (c) and (d) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. In indirect speech, simple present changes to simple past after a past reporting verb.
2. Universal truths are the exception to backshift.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'Whatever' already means 'that which', so adding 'that which' repeats the idea.
2. Correct form: 'Whatever work you undertake'.
3. The imperative 'put your best efforts' in (c)-(d) is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Avoid repeating a word that already has the same meaning (whatever = anything that).
2. Redundancy is a common error in this exam.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. The verb is missing; 'sympathy' is a noun and cannot be used as a verb after 'cannot'.
2. Correct form: 'sympathise with the poor'.
3. A modal such as 'cannot' must be followed by a verb.

Teacher's Note:
1. Modal + base verb.
2. Do not use a noun where a verb is required.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'The majority of' + plural noun (professionals) takes a plural verb.
2. Correct form: 'professionals recommend'.
3. Parts (c) and (d) form a correct subjunctive-type clause.

Teacher's Note:
1. The majority of + plural noun uses a plural verb.
2. Check the noun that follows 'of'.

Answer: (d) Part (d)

Explanation:
1. The comparison is made with a present state of a person, so the verb must be the simple present 'is', not the future 'will'.
2. Correct form: 'so dedicated as Mahesh is'.
3. The earlier part 'are' also expresses present time.

Teacher's Note:
1. Both sides of a comparison must be in the same time frame.
2. 'So ... as' is used in negative or near-negative comparisons.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. The noun 'inquiry' takes the preposition 'into' for the thing being examined.
2. Correct form: 'inquiry into the incident'.
3. The present perfect passive in (c)-(d) is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Inquiry into, investigation into, research on.
2. Learn fixed noun + preposition pairs.

Answer: (d) Part (d)

Explanation:
1. The noun 'way' is followed by 'of' when it describes a style or method.
2. Correct form: 'a flexible way of thinking'.
3. The rest of the sentence is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Way of doing/thinking is the standard pattern.
2. 'About' does not fit after 'way'.

Answer: (a) Part (a)

Explanation:
1. 'Until they quarrelled' refers to a time already finished in the past, so the earlier state must be in the past perfect.
2. Correct form: 'They had been very close friends until they quarrelled'.
3. Present perfect cannot be used with a finished past point.

Teacher's Note:
1. Past perfect for the earlier of two past events.
2. Present perfect links the past to now, which is not the case here.

Answer: (c) Part (c)

Explanation:
1. 'Latter' refers to the second of two items; for a part coming later in a series we use 'later' (or 'last').
2. Correct form: 'in its later parts'.
3. Parts (a) and (b) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Latter = second of two; later = after in time.
2. Latter and former are used for two things only.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'Hardly' means scarcely and is an adverb; the compound adjective meaning won with difficulty is 'hard-won'.
2. Correct form: 'to defend the hard-won freedom'.
3. The rest is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Hard (adverb) means with effort; hardly means almost not.
2. Do not add -ly to hard when you mean 'with effort'.

Answer: (a) Part (a)

Explanation:
1. 'Contact' is used here as an uncountable noun in the idiom 'come into contact with', and takes no article.
2. Correct form: 'come into contact'.
3. The rest of the sentence is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Come into contact with is a fixed phrase without an article.
2. Do not insert 'the' in a set idiom.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'Remember' means to keep in memory, while 'remind' means to make someone remember; here we need 'remind'.
2. Correct form: 'You must remind me to post this letter'.
3. The infinitive 'to post' fits 'remind'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Remind someone to do something.
2. Remember to do something refers to your own memory.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'Collusion' means a secret agreement for fraud, which does not fit; the intended word is 'collision' (a crash).
2. Correct form: 'we witnessed a collision'.
3. The preposition 'between' with two vehicles is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Collision = crash; collusion = secret plot.
2. Watch commonly confused words.

Answer: (a) Part (a)

Explanation:
1. 'Couldn't help' is followed directly by a gerund; 'but' is not added to it. 'Couldn't but' is followed by a bare verb.
2. Correct form: 'He couldn't help shedding tears' (or 'couldn't but shed').
3. Using both 'but' and 'help' is a mixed construction.

Teacher's Note:
1. Cannot help + -ing; cannot but + base verb.
2. Do not mix the two patterns.

Answer: (c) Part (c)

Explanation:
1. The two infinitive verbs 'to keep' and '(to) help' are joined by 'and' and must have the same form.
2. 'Helps' is a third person singular form; the correct pattern is 'to keep skin blemish-free and help cope'.
3. Parts (a) and (b) are correct, and the present tense 'is' in (a) is acceptable for a general claim.

Teacher's Note:
1. Words joined by and must be in the same grammatical form (parallelism).
2. After 'to', the verb stays in the base form.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'Mood' is a singular countable noun and needs an article in this phrase.
2. Correct form: 'in a bad mood'.
3. Parts (a) and (c) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Singular countable nouns take a or the.
2. In a good/bad mood is the fixed idiom.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'So far' refers to a period up to now, so the present perfect tense is needed.
2. Correct form: 'he has not so far sent any reply'.
3. The simple past 'did not send' cannot be used with 'so far'.

Teacher's Note:
1. So far, till now and yet call for the present perfect.
2. Past simple is for finished past time.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'Between' is a preposition and needs the object form 'me', not the reflexive 'myself', when there is no earlier 'I' in the clause.
2. Correct form: 'between my brother and me'.
3. Parts (a) and (c) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Reflexive pronouns need a matching subject in the same clause.
2. Use me after prepositions.

Answer: (d) No error

Explanation:
1. 'What I want is that you should finish the work' is a correct noun clause used as the complement of 'is'.
2. The subjunctive 'should finish' is also correct after 'what I want is that'.
3. No part violates any rule.

Teacher's Note:
1. Test each part for a rule before marking an error.
2. Pseudo-cleft sentences (what I want is...) are grammatical.

Answer: (a) Part (a)

Explanation:
1. A participle phrase must refer to the subject of the main clause, but the dog was not walking; the modifier is dangling.
2. Correct form: 'While he was walking slowly in the park'.
3. Parts (b) and (c) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. The doer of the -ing phrase must be the subject of the main clause.
2. Rewrite with a full clause to fix a dangling participle.

Answer: (c) Part (c)

Explanation:
1. 'Prefer' is followed by 'to', not 'than', when two things are compared.
2. Correct form: 'prefer margarine to butter'.
3. The first two parts are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Prefer A to B (not than).
2. Than is used only with comparatives and 'rather'.

Answer: (a) Part (a)

Explanation:
1. The noun 'juncture' needs the definite article here.
2. Correct form: 'At the present juncture'.
3. Parts (b) and (c) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Fixed phrase: at the present juncture/moment.
2. Articles are often missing in the faulty part.

Answer: (a) Part (a)

Explanation:
1. A particular nation as a group takes the definite article ('the Greeks').
2. Correct form: 'Troy was taken by the Greeks'.
3. Parts (b) and (c) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Use 'the' with nationalities as a group.
2. Plural nationality without the means some Greeks.

Answer: (c) Part (c)

Explanation:
1. The infinitive in a pair joined by 'and' must follow the same pattern as 'to learn'; a perfect infinitive is illogical here.
2. Correct form: 'and to remember for a longer period of time'.
3. Parts (a) and (b) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Keep parallel infinitives in the same form.
2. Perfect infinitive shows a completed action, which does not fit.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. 'One and a half' is followed by a plural noun, and the article 'a' is needed before 'half'.
2. Correct form: 'more than one and a half hours'.
3. The other parts are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. One and a half takes a plural noun.
2. Do not drop the article before half.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. The sentence contrasts the father's death with the mother's recovery, but 'also' adds a similar fact and wrongly suggests that she died too.
2. Correct form: 'but his mother, though very weak, is out of danger'.
3. Parts (a) and (c) are correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Do not use 'also' where two clauses are in contrast.
2. Check meaning along with grammar.

Answer: (b) Part (b)

Explanation:
1. A preposition ('of') must be followed by a gerund, not an infinitive.
2. Correct form: 'thinking of going to Agra'.
3. Part (c) is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Preposition + -ing form.
2. Think of/about + gerund.