In an error-identification question, you are shown a sentence with several parts marked A, B, C and D. At most one part contains a mistake, and sometimes none does. Your job is to find it. This format appears in many school and admissions tests, and it is also a good way to train your eye as an editor.
What These Exercises Test
The mistakes in these questions usually come from a small set of categories:
- Subject-verb agreement
- Pronoun case and reference
- Verb tense and consistency
- Modifier placement
- Parallel structure (see isocolon for parallelism done on purpose)
- Comparisons (for example, double comparatives)
- Word choice and common confusions
- Punctuation, especially comma splices
If you want to rewrite whole sentences rather than just locate the error, try the sentence correction exercises.
A Quick Checklist for Spotting Errors
- Read the whole sentence once without stopping.
- Find the verb and ask what its subject is. Ignore phrases that sit between them.
- Check every pronoun.
- Compare the verb forms for tense consistency.
- Look at any list or pair for matching grammatical form.
- If nothing stands out, consider that the answer may be “No error”.
Practice Questions
Choose the letter of the underlined part that contains an error. If the sentence is correct, choose E (No error).
- The group of students (A) were waiting (B) for their teacher (C) outside the room (D). (E) No error
- Between you and (A) I, (B) the plan is (C) not finished (D) yet. (E) No error
- Each of the players (A) have (B) a locker (C) near the gym (D). (E) No error
- After he had finished (A) his homework, (B) he go (C) to bed (D). (E) No error
- She is (A) more taller (B) than her (C) brother (D). (E) No error
- He enjoys (A) swimming, (B) to hike, (C) and riding bikes (D). (E) No error
- The tickets (A) were sold out (B) by noon (C) on Friday (D). (E) No error
Answers and Explanations
- B. Group is the singular subject, so the verb should be was waiting. The phrase of students does not change the number.
- B. After the preposition between, the object form is needed: between you and me.
- B. The subject is each, which is singular, so the verb is has. The phrase of the players is a modifier.
- C. The sentence is in the past, so the verb should be went. (The first clause uses the past perfect had finished, and the main clause needs a past form.)
- B. Taller is already comparative, so more is redundant. The correct form is taller than her brother.
- C. The list mixes -ing forms with an infinitive. For parallel structure it should read swimming, hiking, and riding bikes.
- E. No error. The sentence is grammatically correct as written.
Strategies for Error-Spotting Questions
- Do not trust nearby nouns. Many agreement errors hide behind a prepositional phrase.
- Do not hunt for an error at any cost. Some sentences really are correct.
- Check one category at a time. Reading once for verbs, once for pronouns and once for punctuation is more reliable than hoping an error jumps out.
- Read aloud, silently or not. Many mistakes sound wrong even when they are hard to name.
- Look for more than one error. If you find a mistake in one part, make sure another part is not also faulty before you choose.
Punctuation errors, such as comma splices, are often subtle in this format. Reading our overview of why punctuation matters can help you notice them more quickly.
Keep Practising
Write your own error sentences from your reading, swap them with a friend, and try to identify each other’s mistakes. Also try fixing a sentence containing a because clause fragment, a common classroom error.