Identify the segment in the sentence, which contains the grammatical error. Prema is the girl in my class who write beautiful poems.
who write
Understanding Grammatical Errors in Sentences
Let's analyze the given sentence to find the grammatical error. The sentence is: "Prema is the girl in my class who write beautiful poems." We need to examine each part of the sentence as presented in the options.
Analyzing the Sentence Segments for Grammatical Errors
We will look at each segment provided in the options and check its grammatical correctness within the context of the whole sentence.
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Segment: "Prema is the girl"
Analysis: This part introduces the subject, Prema, and connects her to "the girl" using the verb "is". This seems grammatically sound. "Prema" is a singular subject, and "is" is the correct singular form of the verb 'to be' in the present tense. -
Segment: "who write"
Analysis: This segment uses the relative pronoun "who" which refers back to "the girl" (Prema). Since "the girl" is a singular subject (she), the verb that follows "who" should agree with this singular subject. In the simple present tense, for a singular third-person subject (like 'she', 'he', 'it', or a singular noun/pronoun like 'girl' or 'who' referring to a singular noun), the verb usually ends in '-s' or '-es'. The verb used here is "write". The correct form for a singular subject would be "writes". This segment appears to contain a grammatical error related to subject-verb agreement. -
Segment: "beautiful poems"
Analysis: This phrase describes the object of the action (writing). "Poems" is a plural noun, and "beautiful" is an adjective modifying it. This phrase is grammatically correct. -
Segment: "in my class"
Analysis: This is a prepositional phrase modifying "the girl". It specifies the location or group to which the girl belongs. This phrase is grammatically correct.
Identifying the Grammatical Error
Based on the analysis, the segment "who write" contains a grammatical error. The relative pronoun "who" acts as the subject of the clause "who write beautiful poems", and it refers to "the girl", which is singular. Therefore, the verb should be in the singular form, "writes", to agree with the singular subject.
The sentence should correctly read: "Prema is the girl in my class who writes beautiful poems."
Conclusion on the Grammatical Error
The grammatical error lies in the verb form "write" when it should be "writes" to agree with the singular subject ("who" referring to "the girl").
Revision Table: Subject-Verb Agreement Basics
| Subject Type | Verb Form (Simple Present) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular (He, She, It, Singular Noun) | Base verb + -s/-es | She writes The girl writes |
| Plural (They, We, You, Plural Noun) | Base verb | They write The girls write |
| I | Base verb | I write |
Additional Information: Relative Pronouns and Verb Agreement
A relative pronoun like "who", "which", or "that" introduces a relative clause and connects it to a preceding noun (the antecedent). The verb within the relative clause must agree in number (singular or plural) with the antecedent that the relative pronoun refers to.
- In the sentence "Prema is the girl in my class who write beautiful poems", the antecedent of "who" is "the girl".
- "The girl" is singular.
- Therefore, the verb following "who" must be singular.
- The singular form of "write" in the simple present tense is "writes".
- Hence, "who write" is incorrect, and "who writes" is correct.
Understanding subject-verb agreement, especially with relative clauses, is crucial for constructing grammatically correct sentences.
Important Questions from Error Spotting
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).
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No one knows (a) why he did it, (b) or who was behind his doing it.(c) No error. (d)
