sentence correction

In this article, we will try to highlight various types of errors that one may encounter in a sentence correction problem (which
may include selecting the correct/incorrect sentences in the exam).
Remember, more often than not, a sentence correction question will present to you a combination of multiple errors
simultaneously. All the errors should be corrected and no other error should be introduced during the correction process.
Following sections deal with different errors separately, but the examples taken may present you multiple errors. So, be careful!
Here are the most common errors in sentences.
1. Using the wrong word.
2. Singular-Plural pronouns.
3. Modifier errors
4. Parallelism errors
5. Idiomatic errors.
6. Diction errors
7. Punctuation errors
Let us have a detailed look at them now.
1. Using the wrong word
• Practice vs. Practise
• Affect vs. Effect
• Lay vs. Lie
Practice vs. Practise
These words sound alike and are spelled similarly – they differ only by one alphabet in spelling. They have a variety of
meanings (to practise an instrument, a profession; a doctor’s practice etc.) but there is one golden rule:
The word practise with an S is a verb, whereas the word practice with a C is a noun.
For example: I practise the piano (verb), but I did my piano practice (noun). The doctor practised for twenty years (verb), but
his brother, the solicitor, had a practice that lasted over thirty years.
Another pair of words that functions exactly the same way is advise (the verb) and advice (the noun).

Batman’s VA score was 25%ile.
2. Singular-Plural Errors
Illustrative Sentences
• A picture of the All-Star Team, composed of players from different leagues, were given to each member.(This is incorrect)
Explanation
The trick to catch these errors is to isolate the true subject of a sentence. Remember to use the bracket technique to isolate the
distracting phrases so that you can focus on the important elements of each sentence.
In the above example, the subject—picture—is singular, but the verb—were—is plural.
Therefore, this is not a correct sentence. The correct statement would be:
A picture of the All-Star Team, composed of players from different leagues, was given to each member.
3. Modifier Errors:
Modifiers should be close to what they modify. This is the golden rule used for finding modifier errors.
Example: The man saw the house on the hill with the telescope.
So, why is this wrong?
We have two modifiers here, which are phrases that give additional information: on the hill and with the telescope. It isn’t clear
from the way in which the sentence has been corrected to what these modifiers refer. We can reasonably assume that the
seeing was done with the telescope, since that is what telescopes are for. Probably, the house was on a distant hill, so it seems
the scenario on the left is the most likely one. However, it would have been better to put the modifier with the telescope next to
the seeing, and the on the hill next to the house:
The man saw with the telescope the house on the hill.
… or better still …
Using the telescope, the man saw the house on the hill.
This makes it abundantly clear that the seeing was done with the telescope, and it is a quite legitimate change to make.

This is what you mean by the sentence :P

4. Parallelism Errors
Parallelism is comparing or listing of two or more phrases or clauses which should both/all take the same form. Here is an
example of two parallel items being compared:
Seeing is believing.
In this case, seeing is being listed alongside believing. They both take the same form, i.e. a verb ending in ―-ing‖ which is being
used as a noun (termed a gerund in grammatical text books). The three-word proverb above does not contain any parallelism
errors. We could also rewrite the proverb as follows:
To see is to believe.
This time, both verbs are listed as infinitives, ―to …‖ Again, since they are both in the same form, there is no parallelism errors.
However, if we wrote the following, it would be wrong:
To see is believing.
Here a gerund is being compared to an infinitive. This is grammatically wrong. The same applies to the following:
Seeing is to believe.
5. Idiom Errors
Idiom errors arise due to incorrect usage of idioms. It is not easy to spot these errors if one hasn’t heard of them before. Go
through the various idioms booklets for practice.

Tyrone was close to tears can mean this too ;)
Sample this:
• Many teenagers feel a great deal of pressure to conform with the values, attitudes, and behavior of their peers.(Incorrect
idiomatic usage).
The correct expression is ―conform to‖; the preposition ―with‖ is incorrect.
6. Diction Errors
A diction error refers to using the wrong word for the meaning intended. You have to be very careful to spot this error because
the word given in the sentence is spelled almost exactly like the word that should have been used.
Example:
• The space launch will take place next month, providing that the weather is good.
The word providing in the example should have been provided. A diction error is not a spelling error, but rather the wrong
word.
7. Punctuation errors
Sentence fragments and run-on sentences can be fixed with proper punctuation and by transitional words or phrases.
• Example:
Many students are intimidated by math, they do not realize that solving problems is a lot like following simple recipes.
The error here lies with the comma that appears after the word math.
Why is it an error?
When two halves of a sentence can both stand on their own, a comma is not the correct punctuation. The comma here should
be replaced by either a period or a semicolon.
So, replace the comma with a semi colon in the above statement and you are done.
Lets take a look at another common error.
Example 2:
The summer program offered intensive immersion sessions in the following languages, French, German, Spanish,
Italian, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and even Latin and ancient Greek.
The statement looks just about fine. I can’t find any tense, modifier, parallelism error in it.
The error lies in the incorrect punctuation (read absence of a colon) in the sentence. The error free sentence should be:
The summer program offered intensive immersion sessions in the following languages: French, German, Spanish,
Italian, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and even Latin and ancient Greek.
Important: A colon is used to introduce specific information discussed earlier in a sentence.
These are few of the major errors that you will encounter in exams for Sentence Corrections. Solving these questions from
previous year papers is the only panacea for gaining a sufficient level of prowess over it.
- See more at: http://www.careeranna.com/sentence-correction-catch-these-7-common-errors/#sthash.FUWTXK6G.dpuf
 Introduction
 1. Subject-Verb Agreement
 2. Parallelism
 3. Tautological error
 4. Misplaced modifier
 5. Use of few and less
 6. Comparisons
 7. Lay and lie
 8. Trust your ears
 9. Know the time
 10. Run the numbers
INTRODUCTION

One of the most important and high scoring section in verbal ability portion of any test, SC is generally taken by
students to be English grammar. This is a misconception as the questions asked in this section are based not only on
the fundamentals of grammar but also on correct usage of various words. The students find it difficult to crack these
because they are not familiar with the subtle nuances of the language. Though the intricacies of this language are far
more than what can be covered here, we can take a short cut route to answering these questions. Looking at the
questions from various sources we have made a list of common sentence correction errors that are repeated
frequently. We will be discussing the list in detail and will equip our self to handle almost all the questions in this
section.
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1. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

The verb in a sentence must agree with its subject.
(i) They both should be either singular or plural.
Example
A boy is reading a novel (sing.).
The boys are reading a novel (plural)

(ii)In case, the subject is a collective noun, then the verb will take a singular form.
Example:
The class is making a noise.
Note:There are four collective nouns viz.- cattle, poultry, police and gentry; with these nouns, we use a plural verb.
There are exceptions to the rule.

(iii)In case, the subjects are connected by AND; they require a plural verb.
Example:
Gold and Silver are precious metals.
If the subjects are connected by OR, the verb used will be singular
Example:
The dog or the pup is sick.
In case there are two different subjects; the verb is put matching the closure subject.
Example:
Sachin or I am going for a party.
Sachin or Rahul is going for the party.

(iv)All the sentences that begin with EACH, EVERYONE and ANYONE will have a singular verb.
Example:
Every one of the boys loves to ride.
Anyone has a pen, please.

(v) I, ME: While deciding between the nominative form (i.e. I ) and the objective form (i.e., me); earlier the
nominative form was preferred.
Example:
Atul and I are going for a walk.
But lately its use is considered formal and over correct .We usually use the objective form, i.e. there is no difference
between you and me.
Example:
Please, let Jack and me go to the theatre.
But whenever a comparison is made with THAN or AS; the objective form is used.
Example:
He is taller than I am.
He writes as fast I am.
I swim better than him.
I am as tall as her.

(vi) In the constructions of NEITHER-NOR and EITHER-OR; if both the subjects are singular , the verb will also be
singular example Either the mother or the daughter has cooked the meal.
But when one of the subjects are joined by OR or NOR is plural, the verb must be plural and the subject should be
placed near the verb.
Example:
Neither the teacher nor the students were present.
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2. PARALLELISM

While forming a sentence, the structure of the sentence should be kept parallel. If an infinitive is used, then all the
phrases should have an infinitive. If a verb is used after it, then we use the objective cases.
Example:
She likes to cook, dance and play.
Similar rule is used for a gerund.
Example:
She likes cooking, dancing and playing.
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3. TAUTOLOGICAL ERROR

Sometimes also referred a ‘redundancy’, this is the error of writing the same thing twice.
Example:
He returned back from Delhi.
I hardly have any money to give you.
The correct constructions should be;
He came back from Delhi.
I have no money to give you.
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4. MISPLACED MODIFIER

A common blunder is to leave a participle dangling without a subject.
Example:
Sitting on the g ate, a scorpion stung him.
Here, ‘sitting’ cannot be used for scorpion as it is grammatically incorrect.. The correct should be:-
Sitting on the gate, he was stung by a scorpion or
While he was sitting on the gate, a scorpion stung him.
Example:
He visited the place where Napoleon died during his holidays.
It seems as the participle ‘during his holidays’ is used for Napoleon while it is meant for the person visiting .So the
correct sentence should be:-
During his holidays, he visited the place where Napoleon died. This way, it is correctly understood.
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5. USE OF FEW AND LESS

Few is used before countable nouns while ‘less’ is used before uncountable nouns.
Example:
There a few children in the class today.
There is less juice left in the jar.
Few and A few have different meanings
Few is equivalent to something negligible, hardly any while. A few is equivalent to some
Example:
Few persons can keep a secret.
A few persons are convinced about the new manager.
Similarly ‘little’ and ‘a little’ are used for quantity in the same manner. There is little hope of his recovery (almost nil).
A little tact would have saved the situation (some tact).
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6. COMPARISONS

The comparisons made should be between two similar things. If we say:- The population of London is greater than any
other city in India. We are comparing:-
(a) The population of London
(b) Any other city in India.
While comparison had to be made between the populations of both. So, the correct expression should be:-
The population of London is greater than that of any other city in India.
(a) When comparative degree is used with than, make sure that we exclude the thing compared from the rest of class
of things by using the
Example:
He is stronger than any man living.(incorrect).
He is stronger than any other man living.(correct).
Similarly, Solomon was wiser than all other men.
In superlative degree, we must include the thing compared.
Solomon was the wisest of all men.
He is the strongest of all men.
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7. LAY AND LIE

We need to distinguish between these two words as they are used very differently.
(a) Lay, laid, laid
‘Lay the table’ ordered the mistress
He laid the guitar by his side.
The hen had laid an egg.
(b) Lie, Lay, Lain
Let me lie down here.
He lay under the Banyan tree.
He had lain in the sun for three hours yesterday.
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8. TRUST YOUR EARS

If you become stuck, 'say' the choices in your head and then select the passage that sounds best to your ears. Most
test takers, particularly native English speakers, have internalized many more grammar rules than they can explicitly
identify.
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9. KNOW THE TIME

Use time cues (ex. before, during, as, in 1960) to eliminate options that contain verb tense errors. Remember,
events that occur during the same time period must be in the same tense!
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10. RUN THE NUMBERS

If a sentence is about some sort of numerical quantity (ex. the percentage of homeowners in Minneapolis or the
number of women studying French) check for idiomatic errors. Remember: "fewer" describes a countable quantity,
like people; "less" describes an uncountable quantity, like sugar. Also check for redundancy (ex. "went up by a 20%
increase").