In the following question, some part of the sentence may have errors. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and select the appropriate option. If a sentence is free from error, select 'No Error'. The museum's revolving doors (A)/ stopped the crooks (B)/ as they jam half way round. (C)/ No error (D)
C
Analyzing the Sentence for Grammar Errors
The question asks us to identify the part of the sentence that contains a grammar error. The sentence describes an event involving a museum's revolving doors, crooks, and the doors' action.
Let's break down the sentence part by part to find any potential issues.
Examining Sentence Parts
- Part (A): "The museum's revolving doors" - This is the subject phrase. "The museum's" shows possession, and "revolving doors" is the noun phrase. This part is grammatically correct.
- Part (B): "stopped the crooks" - This is the main verb and object. "stopped" is the past tense of the verb "to stop". "the crooks" is the direct object. This part uses the past tense, indicating an action that happened in the past. This part is grammatically correct.
- Part (C): "as they jam half way round." - This part describes the condition under which the doors stopped the crooks. "they" refers to the "revolving doors". The verb used here is "jam".
- Part (D): "No error" - This is the option if the sentence is perfect.
Identifying the Error in Part (C)
Part (B) of the sentence, "stopped the crooks," uses the past tense verb "stopped". This establishes that the action occurred in the past. For the sentence to be grammatically consistent, the verb describing the doors' action in part (C) should also be in a past tense form.
The word "jam" is the present tense form of the verb. The past tense of "jam" is "jammed". Since the stopping action happened in the past, the reason for the stop (the jamming) must also be described using a past tense verb or a construction appropriate for a past event.
The phrase "as they jam half way round" should use the past tense verb "jammed" to match the tense of the main verb "stopped". The correct phrasing would be "as they jammed half way round."
Therefore, part (C) contains the error because it uses the present tense verb "jam" instead of the past tense "jammed" in a sentence describing a past event.
Conclusion on the Sentence Error
The sentence has an error in part (C) due to the incorrect verb tense. The verb "jam" should be in the past tense ("jammed") to align with the past tense verb "stopped" used earlier in the sentence. This is a common type of error related to maintaining consistent verb tense within a sentence.
The part of the sentence with the error is (C).
Revision Table: Correcting the Sentence
| Original Part | Analysis | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| (A) The museum's revolving doors | Subject phrase, grammatically correct. | No change |
| (B) stopped the crooks | Verb in past tense, grammatically correct in isolation. Sets the past tense context. | No change |
| (C) as they jam half way round. | Verb 'jam' is present tense, conflicts with past tense context. | Change 'jam' to 'jammed'. |
| Corrected Sentence | The museum's revolving doors stopped the crooks as they jammed half way round. | |
Additional Information: Understanding Verb Tense Consistency
Verb tense consistency is crucial for clear and logical writing. It means using the same verb tense when describing actions that happen at the same time or in the same sequence. If you start telling a story in the past tense, you should generally stay in the past tense for all actions within that narrative unless there's a specific reason to shift (like describing a habitual action or a future event relative to the past). In this sentence, both the stopping and the jamming happened in the past, so both verbs should reflect that.
- Simple Past Tense: Used for actions completed at a definite time in the past. (e.g., stopped, jammed, walked, ate)
- Present Tense: Used for actions happening now, habitual actions, or general truths. (e.g., stop, jam, walk, eat)
Mixing tenses without a valid reason can confuse the reader about when the actions occurred.
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)
