Spotting Errors

Before you begin

Formulas you will need

Key formulas Check in this order: 1 the verb agrees with the real subject, 2 every verb in the sentence shares one time frame, 3 articles and prepositions, 4 fixed idioms
Cross out prepositional phrases first — of the boys, along with, as well as never control the verb
Singular: each, every, neither, one of, news, the number of, a sum of money · Plural: scissors, trousers, a number of
senior/junior/superior take to · hardly pairs with when · no sooner pairs with than

How to use this worksheet. If one verb in the sentence is clearly past, every other verb must fit that time frame — that single check answers three of the four previous year questions here. Look for a time marker such as recently concluded or yesterday, because it fixes the tense for the whole sentence.

Section A · Level 1

Agreement and verb form errors

Ten questions. Find the real subject, then check the verb.

Select the part that contains the error.
The list of candidates / are displayed / on the notice board / since morning.

The subject is list, which is singular, so it should be is displayed. The plural candidates sits inside a prepositional phrase and never controls the verb.

Select the part that contains the error.
Each of the students / have been given / a separate form / for the examination.

Each is singular, so it must be has been given.

Select the part that contains the error.
He did not / went to the office / yesterday / because of the rain.

After the auxiliary did the main verb returns to its base form, so it should be go.

Select the part that contains the error.
One of my friend / is coming / to visit me / this weekend.

One of must be followed by a plural noun, so it should be one of my friends.

Select the part that contains the error.
The team / are playing / very well / this season.

A collective noun acting as one unit takes a singular verb, so is playing.

Select the part that contains the error.
Neither the manager / nor the clerks / was present / at the meeting.

With neither … nor the verb agrees with the nearer subject, and clerks is plural, so it should be were present.

Select the part that contains the error.
She has been working / in this company / since five years / without a break.

Five years is a duration, so it takes for, not since.

Select the part that contains the error.
The news / are very disturbing / and everyone / is talking about it.

News is a singular uncountable noun, so it takes is.

Select the part that contains the error.
He is senior / than me / by three years / in this department.

Comparatives of Latin origin — senior, junior, superior, inferior — take to, never than.

Q10

Select the part that contains the error.
I have been knowing him / for many years / and he has always / been reliable.

Know is a stative verb and takes no continuous form, so it should be I have known him.

Section B · Level 2

Tense, article, preposition and idiom errors

Ten questions. Look for the time marker that fixes the tense.

Q11

Select the part that contains the error.
By the time we reached, / the train / already left / the station.

Of two past events the earlier one takes the past perfect, so it should be had already left.

Q12

Select the part that contains the error.
If it will rain tomorrow, / we shall cancel / the picnic / and stay at home.

Will can never appear in the if clause of a first conditional. It should be If it rains.

Q13

Select the part that contains the error.
He is / an university professor / who teaches / modern history.

University begins with a consonant yoo sound, so it takes a, not an.

Q14

Select the part that contains the error.
She apologised / on her mistake / and promised / never to repeat it.

The collocation is apologise for something.

Q15

Select the part that contains the error.
The work was / completing by the team / before the deadline / last month.

A passive needs a past participle, so it should be completed.

Q16

Select the part that contains the error.
He told / to me / that he would come / the next day.

Tell takes a direct object with no preposition: told me.

Q17

Select the part that contains the error.
Divide the sweets / among the two boys / who are waiting / outside the room.

Between is used for two, among for more than two.

Q18

Select the part that contains the error.
The sun / rose in the east / and sets in the west / every day.

A permanent truth takes the simple present, so it should be rises. The second verb is already correct, which is the clue.

Q19

Select the part that contains the error.
He asked me / that I was ready / to leave / for the airport.

A reported yes-or-no question takes if or whether, never that.

Q20

Select the part that contains the error.
Hardly had he arrived / than the meeting / was called / to order.

Hardly pairs with when. It is no sooner that pairs with than.

Section C · Previous year questions and mixed practice

Straight from the AAI ATC papers

Ten questions. Four are real previous year questions.

Q21PYQ 2021 · Shift 2

Select the part that contains the error.
Dr. Trehan says / he felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness / when he is watching many of his patients / die of heart disease.

The sentence describes a past feeling, shown by felt, so the accompanying verb must also be past: when he was watching. Mixing a present continuous into a past narrative is the error. When one verb in a sentence is clearly past, check that every other verb agrees with it.

Q22PYQ 2021 · Shift 2

Select the part that contains the error.
In the recently concluded Paris Climate Agreement, / India will agree to reduce / its carbon emission intensity / by one-third from the 2005 levels.

The phrase recently concluded places the event firmly in the past, so the future will agree is impossible. It should be India agreed to reduce. The time marker at the start of the sentence is what fixes the tense.

Q23PYQ 2021 · Shift 2

Select the part that contains the error.
The King tried his best to groom his foolish son / to prepare him for his future role, / but the young prince only go / from bad to worse.

The subject the young prince is singular and the sentence is in the past, so it should be went. The surrounding verb tried fixes both the tense and the number.

Q24PYQ 2021 · Shift 2

Select the part that contains the error.
Nature have its own way / of teaching us / through different life experiences / that may seem unwelcome.

Nature is singular, so it must be Nature has.

Q25

Select the part that contains the error.
Neither of the two proposals / were acceptable / to the committee / at that stage.

Neither means not one and is singular, so it takes was acceptable.

Q26

Select the part that contains the error.
The quality of these mangoes / are far better / than those / we bought last week.

The subject is quality, which is singular, so it should be is far better.

Q27

Select the part that contains the error.
He is one of / the best player / in the team / this year.

One of requires a plural noun, so it should be the best players.

Q28

Select the part that contains the error.
She said that / she will come / to the office / the next day.

After a past reporting verb, will backshifts to would.

Q29

Select the part that contains the error.
The scissors / is lying / on the table / near the window.

Two-part tools such as scissors take a plural verb, so are lying.

Q30

Select the part that contains the error.
I am / having a headache / since morning / and cannot concentrate.

Have meaning to experience is stative, so it takes no continuous form. It should be have had a headache.

Formulas you will need

Agreement and verb form errors

Tense, article, preposition and idiom errors

Straight from the AAI ATC papers

Answers

↓ Free download — Spotting Errors PDF

Seven questions from one chapter in a single year.