Error spotting: the rules that carry the marks
Most error-spotting questions test one of five things. Learn to run this checklist over every sentence and the section stops being guesswork.
- ✓Subject-verb agreement - find the real subject, ignoring phrases between it and the verb.
- ✓Tense consistency - a sentence should not slide between tenses without a reason.
- ✓Prepositions after specific verbs and adjectives - these are fixed and must be learnt.
- ✓Pronoun agreement and reference - does 'it' or 'they' clearly point to one noun?
- ✓Countable vs uncountable and comparison forms - fewer/less, between/among, more/most.
Spot the error: 'One of my friend is a doctor.'
'friend' should be 'friends'. 'One of' is always followed by a plural noun - one of my friends - while the verb stays singular because the subject is 'one'.
Choose the correct form: 'Neither of the two boys (was / were) present.'
'was'. 'Neither', 'either', 'each' and 'every' take singular verbs, no matter what plural noun follows them.
Spot the error: 'The list of items were sent to the manager.'
'were' should be 'was'. The subject is 'the list', not 'items' - a prepositional phrase between subject and verb never changes the number.
Spot the error: 'She is married with a doctor.'
'with' should be 'to' - one is married to someone. Fixed prepositions like this cannot be reasoned out; collect them as you meet them.
Spot the error: 'He is one of the best player in the team.'
'player' should be 'players'. After a superlative in 'one of the best...', the noun is plural.
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Words that are constantly confused
Sentence-correction and cloze questions lean heavily on near-identical pairs. This table is worth revising the night before any test.
| Pair | Meaning 1 | Meaning 2 |
|---|---|---|
| affect / effect | affect = to influence (verb) | effect = the result (noun) |
| principal / principle | principal = head, or main | principle = a rule or belief |
| stationary / stationery | stationary = not moving | stationery = paper and pens |
| complement / compliment | complement = completes something | compliment = praise |
| accept / except | accept = to receive | except = other than |
| fewer / less | fewer = countable (fewer books) | less = uncountable (less water) |
| lose / loose | lose = to misplace (verb) | loose = not tight (adjective) |
| advice / advise | advice = guidance (noun) | advise = to give guidance (verb) |
| its / it's | its = belonging to it | it's = it is |
| than / then | than = comparison | then = at that time / next |
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Para jumbles: find the opener, then chain
A jumbled paragraph has exactly one sentence that can stand alone with no backward reference. Find it and the rest usually falls into place, because writers link sentences with visible hooks.
- ✓The opener introduces a subject by full name and contains no 'this', 'it', 'they', 'however' or 'therefore'.
- ✓A sentence containing a pronoun must come after the sentence naming that noun.
- ✓Connectives fix order: 'however' and 'but' reverse the previous idea; 'therefore' and 'thus' conclude it; 'for example' follows a general claim.
- ✓Chronology and cause-effect run forward - the problem before the solution, the event before the consequence.
- ✓Check the options: if two sentences clearly form a pair, eliminate every option that separates them, and you often finish without ordering all four.
Which of these is the opening sentence? (A) 'This made revision far more effective.' (B) 'Ravi began testing himself instead of re-reading his notes.'
(B). Sentence (A) opens with 'This', which must refer back to something already stated, so it cannot come first.
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Reading comprehension: a repeatable method
Comprehension is a scoring section that students lose to time. The fix is a fixed procedure rather than a careful read.
- ✓Skim the questions first so you know what you are hunting for before you read.
- ✓Read the passage once at normal speed, marking where each idea shifts - do not re-read while reading.
- ✓Answer factual questions by returning to the exact line. Answer inference questions by choosing the option the passage forces, not the one you agree with.
- ✓Distrust options containing 'always', 'never', 'only' and 'all' - passages rarely support absolutes.
- ✓Rank the passages: attempt the one on a familiar subject first, and leave the densest for last.
A passage says a study 'suggests a link between sleep and recall'. An option claims the study 'proves sleep causes better recall'. Is it correct?
No. 'Suggests a link' is weaker than 'proves causes'. Overstating the strength of a claim is the most common wrong-option pattern in comprehension.
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Related reading
Vocabulary: the words that keep reappearing
You do not need a dictionary in your head - a few hundred recurring words cover most synonym, antonym and cloze questions. Learn them in context, and learn the common prefixes and roots so you can decode unfamiliar words instead of guessing.
- ✓Ubiquitous - present everywhere. Ephemeral - short-lived. Meticulous - extremely careful.
- ✓Candid - frank and honest. Frugal - careful with money. Prudent - showing good judgement.
- ✓Ambiguous - open to more than one meaning. Alleviate - to lessen or relieve. Mitigate - to make less severe.
- ✓Obsolete - no longer in use. Tenacious - persistent. Verbose - using too many words.
- ✓Prefixes worth knowing: bene- (good), mal- (bad), ante- (before), post- (after), anti- (against), circum- (around), omni- (all).
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Idioms and phrases
What does 'to let the cat out of the bag' mean?
To reveal a secret, usually accidentally.
What does 'beat around the bush' mean?
To avoid coming to the main point.
What does 'a blessing in disguise' mean?
Something that seems bad at first but turns out to be beneficial.
What does 'bite the bullet' mean?
To accept something painful or difficult that cannot be avoided.
What does 'once in a blue moon' mean?
Very rarely.
What does 'burn the midnight oil' mean?
To work or study late into the night.
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How to prepare in three weeks
- ✓Week 1 - grammar rules: subject-verb agreement, tenses, prepositions, pronouns. Drill error spotting daily.
- ✓Week 2 - reading comprehension. One passage a day under time, plus the confusable-words table.
- ✓Week 3 - vocabulary, idioms and para jumbles, then mixed timed sets only.
- ✓Read one long-form article a day - a newspaper editorial or a magazine feature. Nothing builds comprehension speed faster, and it doubles as current-affairs preparation.
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