Sentence correction questions, with answers

The questions, with answers

1. 1How should you approach a sentence-correction question?

   In short: Find the error in the original first, eliminate every option that keeps it, then choose among the rest by meaning, clarity and length.

   Read the whole sentence, not just the marked part, because the error often lies in how that part fits the rest. Name the error before looking at the options: a verb that disagrees with its subject, a list whose items do not match, a modifier attached to the wrong noun. Then eliminate every option that repeats it. Of the options left, reject any that introduce a new error or change the meaning, since the corrected sentence must say what the original meant. If two are still correct, prefer the shorter and clearer one. When the original has no error, the answer is the option that keeps it unchanged, often listed first or as no improvement.

2. 2What is parallel structure, and how is it tested?

   In short: Items joined in a list, a comparison or a pair such as 'either … or' must share the same grammatical form.

   When a sentence joins two or more items with 'and', 'or', 'but', or a paired conjunction such as 'either … or', 'both … and' or 'not only … but also', the items should take the same form. 'She enjoys coding, reading and to swim' mixes two -ing forms with an infinitive, so it should be 'coding, reading and swimming'. Paired conjunctions must also sit before matching parts: 'He will either travel by train or by bus' puts 'either' before a verb and 'or' before a phrase, so it becomes 'He will travel either by train or by bus'. Comparisons follow the same rule: 'Writing code is quicker than to test it' should be 'than testing it'.

3. 3What is a dangling modifier?

   In short: It is an opening phrase that describes someone who is not the subject of the sentence, so the sentence says something absurd; the fix is to make that person the subject.

   An introductory phrase without its own subject, such as 'Having finished the report' or 'At the age of ten', is read as describing the subject that follows the comma. In 'Having finished the report, the laptop was switched off', the laptop seems to have finished the report. There are two fixes: make the doer the subject, 'Having finished the report, she switched off the laptop', or give the phrase a subject of its own, 'After she had finished the report, the laptop was switched off'. In a question, first ask who performs the action in the opening phrase, then choose the option whose subject is that person.

4. 4What is a misplaced modifier?

   In short: It is a word or phrase placed next to the wrong part of a sentence, so that it changes the meaning or attaches to the wrong noun.

   Modifiers attach to what is nearest them, so their position is part of their meaning. Limiting words such as 'almost', 'just' and 'even' show this clearly: 'She almost failed every paper' means she came close to failing but passed, while 'She failed almost every paper' means she failed nearly all of them. Descriptive phrases need the same care: 'The shop sold second-hand books to students in plastic covers' suggests the students were in covers, and should read 'The shop sold students second-hand books in plastic covers'. Move the modifier next to the word it describes, then check that the sentence can be read in only one way.

5. 5How do comparison errors appear in sentence correction?

   In short: The things compared must be of the same kind, so the salary of an engineer is compared with that of a teacher, not with a teacher.

   A comparison is valid only between like things. 'The salary of an engineer is higher than a teacher' compares a salary with a person; the correct version is 'higher than that of a teacher' or 'than a teacher's'. 'That of' stands for a singular noun and 'those of' for a plural one: 'The roads of the city are wider than those of the town'. Two more errors belong here. A comparative takes 'than', except for 'senior', 'junior', 'superior' and 'inferior', which take 'to'. And the comparative is for two things, the superlative for three or more: 'the better of the two plans' but 'the best of the three plans'.

6. 6Which fixed pairs of words are tested in sentence correction?

   In short: Wrong options break fixed pairs such as 'between … and', 'so … that' and 'too … to', or put a negative after 'lest', which takes 'should' or the plain verb.

   Some constructions come in fixed pairs, and wrong options replace one half. The distance is 'between Pune and Mumbai', never 'between Pune to Mumbai', which mixes 'between … and' with 'from … to'. 'So' pairs with 'that' for a result ('He was so tired that he slept at his desk'), while 'too' pairs with an infinitive ('too tired to work'), so 'too tired that he slept' is wrong. 'Lest' already means 'so that … not', so it takes 'should' or the plain verb ('lest you forget') and never a negative ('lest you do not forget'). And 'unless' already contains a negative, so 'Unless you do not practise' says the opposite of what is meant.

7. 7When two options are both grammatical, which should you choose?

   In short: The one that keeps the original meaning in the fewest words, with active verbs and no pronoun or modifier that can be read two ways.

   Setters often pair an option that is correct but wordy with one that is correct and tight, and the tight one is the intended answer. Compare 'A decision was made by the committee to postpone the event due to the fact that it rained' with 'The committee postponed the event because it rained': the same meaning, half the words, an active verb and no filler such as 'due to the fact that'. Also check that each pronoun points to one noun: in 'When Ravi met Arjun, he was nervous', 'he' could be either, so the option that names the nervous person is better. Never choose a shorter option that drops or changes part of the meaning.