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Question

Directions : 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 on the Answer Sheet accordingly. If there is no error, indicate your response as (d).

Either my brothers  / or my friend  / are coming to receive me at the airport.  / No error. 
            (a)                          (b)                                        (c)                                          (d)

This question was previously asked in
CDS 2 2026 Maths Question Paper (13-Sep-2026)
The correct answer is
are coming to receive me at the airport.

Identifying Subject-Verb Agreement Errors

This question concerns subject-verb agreement, particularly when using correlative conjunctions like 'either...or'.

Rule for 'Either...Or' Conjunctions

  • When two subjects are linked by 'either...or', the verb must agree in number with the subject closest to it.

Applying the Rule to the Sentence

The sentence is:
Either my brothers  / or my friend  / are coming to receive me at the airport.  / No error.
(a)                          (b)                                        (c)                                          (d)

  • The subjects are 'my brothers' (plural) and 'my friend' (singular).
  • The subject closer to the verb phrase 'are coming' is 'my friend', which is singular.
  • Therefore, the verb should be singular ('is coming') to agree with 'my friend'.
  • The sentence incorrectly uses the plural verb 'are coming'.

Conclusion

The grammatical error is in part (c) because the verb does not agree with the closest subject.

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Important Questions from Error Spotting

  1. The following question has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c). Read each sentence to find out whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response against the corresponding letter i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).

    It is identification with the audience(a)that makes one come home from the play so much more(b)satisfied than one ever is after merely passive enjoyment of the show.(c) No error.(d)

  2. The following question has a sentence with four parts labelled (a), (b), (c), and (d). Read each sentence to find out whether there is an error in any part and indicate your response against the corresponding letter i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).

    CV Raman was one of the greatest sons of India (a) who has earned everlasting fame (b) for scientific researches. (c) No error. (d)

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    This box(a)is heavy than(b) the other one.(c) No error. (d)

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