Direction: In this Section, a number of sentences are given. The sentences are underlined in three separate parts and each one is labelled a), b), c). Read each sentence to find out whether there is an error in any underlined part. No sentence has more than one error. When you find en error in any one of the underlined parts a), b) or c), indicate your response on the Answer Sheet at the appropriate space. You may feel that there is no error in a sentence. In that case letter ‘d)’ will signify a ‘No error’ response. a) Since it was his first election campaign, the candidate was confused; b)/ none could clearly understand c)/ either the principles he stood for or the benefits he promised. d)/ No error.
c
Understanding Sentence Structure and Grammar
The question asks us to identify the part of the sentence that contains an error. We need to carefully read each underlined part and check for grammatical correctness, usage, and structure.
The sentence is:
a) Since it was his first election campaign, the candidate was confused;
b) none could clearly understand
c) either the principles he stood for or the benefits he promised.
d) No error.
Analyzing Each Part of the Sentence
Part a) Analysis: Since it was his first election campaign, the candidate was confused;
This part introduces the reason for the candidate's confusion using the conjunction "Since". The clause "it was his first election campaign" correctly uses "it" as a placeholder subject for the situation. The main clause "the candidate was confused" is grammatically sound. The semicolon correctly separates two closely related independent clauses, where the second clause elaborates on the first.
Conclusion for part a): This part appears to be grammatically correct.
Part b) Analysis: none could clearly understand
"None" means "not one" or "no one". It is used as a pronoun here, functioning as the subject of the verb "could understand". The verb "could understand" is correctly used with "none". "Clearly" is an adverb modifying the verb "understand". This part seems grammatically correct on its own, stating that no one was able to understand something.
Conclusion for part b): This part appears to be grammatically correct in its structure and word usage.
Part c) Analysis: either the principles he stood for or the benefits he promised.
This part uses the correlative conjunction "either... or". Correlative conjunctions like "either... or", "neither... nor", "both... and", "not only... but also" connect grammatically similar elements (words, phrases, or clauses). In this case, "either" is followed by "the principles he stood for" and "or" is followed by "the benefits he promised". These are both noun phrases acting as the direct object of the verb "understand" from part (b).
However, the subject in part (b) is "none", which is a negative term ("not one"). The phrase "none could clearly understand" implies a negative action (or lack of positive action). Correlative conjunctions must match the overall tone or polarity of the sentence.
When the subject or the main verb of a sentence is negative, the correct correlative conjunction to use for listing alternatives is typically "neither... nor", not "either... or". "Either... or" is generally used in positive statements or questions.
Since the sentence says "none could clearly understand" (a negative idea), it should be followed by "neither... nor" to indicate that they could not understand the principles *and* they could not understand the benefits.
The corrected phrasing would be: "none could clearly understand neither the principles he stood for nor the benefits he promised."
Conclusion for part c): This part contains a grammatical error due to the mismatch between the negative subject ("none") and the use of the positive correlative conjunction "either... or".
Part d) Analysis: No error.
Since we found an error in part (c), this option is not applicable.
Identifying the Error
Based on the analysis, the error lies in part (c) where "either... or" is used in a sentence with a negative subject ("none"). The correct construction should be "neither... nor" in this context.
The corrected sentence would read: Since it was his first election campaign, the candidate was confused; none could clearly understand neither the principles he stood for nor the benefits he promised.
Therefore, part (c) contains the error.
Revision Table: Grammatical Structures
| Structure | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Either... or | Used in positive sentences or questions to present two or more possibilities. | You can either study now or go to the park. |
| Neither... nor | Used in negative sentences to present two or more things that are not true or possible. Often follows a negative subject or verb, or is used with a positive verb to create a negative meaning for two alternatives. | She speaks neither English nor French. Neither the students nor the teacher was ready. |
| None | A pronoun meaning "not one" or "no one". Functions as a negative subject. | None of the students completed the assignment. He looked for errors, but found none. |
Additional Information on Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together to join words, phrases, or clauses. They must be used correctly to maintain parallelism in the sentence structure.
- Parallelism: The structure following the first part of the correlative conjunction must be grammatically parallel to the structure following the second part. In the given sentence part (c), "the principles he stood for" and "the benefits he promised" are both noun phrases, maintaining parallelism. The error was not in parallelism but in the choice of conjunction pair ("either/or") following a negative context ("none could understand").
- Subject-Verb Agreement with Correlative Conjunctions: When correlative conjunctions like "either... or" or "neither... nor" connect two subjects, the verb usually agrees with the subject closer to the verb. However, in the original sentence, "none" is the subject, and "either... or" connects the objects of the verb, so subject-verb agreement rules for correlative conjunctions applied to subjects are not relevant here. The main issue is the negative subject "none" combined with "either... or".
The presence of the negative subject "none" dictates the use of "neither... nor" to maintain logical consistency in the sentence's meaning.
Important Questions from Error Spotting
Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A honest mistake (a) / is no more than that; (b) / just an honest mistake. (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A company of five thousand soldiers , (a) / having marched tirelessly for over five days , (b) / have just moved into their cantonment . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
Every person who believes in principles (a) / must stand up to fight (b) / for their convictions . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The Olympic Games reflects(a) / the highest spirit of (b) / human endeavour and achievement . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The principal of the school (a) / stressed the need for discipline (b) / amongst the students. (c) / No error (d)
