Identifying Grammar Errors in Sentence Structure

Let's analyze the provided sentence part by part to identify any potential grammatical errors. The sentence describes the situation in the Maldives and a past political event.

Analyzing Each Part of the Sentence

• Part (1): "The Maldives has been buffeted by one political crisis after another"

  This part uses the present perfect passive voice ("has been buffeted by") which correctly indicates an action that started in the past and continues to affect the present. The phrase "one political crisis after another" is also a standard and correct idiomatic expression to describe a series of crises. This part appears to be grammatically correct.

• Part (2): "since Nasheed, the first democratically elected president,"

  This part introduces the starting point in time ("since Nasheed... in 2012" from part 3, though split here) and identifies the person involved. The phrase "the first democratically elected president" acts as an appositive, providing additional information about Nasheed, and is correctly punctuated with commas. This part is grammatically sound in isolation and in context.

• Part (3): "was forcibly to quit in 2012."

  This part describes the event that happened to Nasheed. The structure used is "was forcibly to quit". This construction is grammatically incorrect in standard English. When someone is made or compelled to do something against their will in the passive voice, the typical structure is "was forced to [verb]" or "was made to [verb]". The adverb "forcibly" can be used with these structures, for example, "was forcibly removed" or "was forced to quit forcibly". However, "was forcibly to quit" is not a correct passive infinitive construction. The correct phrasing should be "was forced to quit" or similar.

• Part (4): No error

  Since an error has been found in part (3), this option is incorrect.

Identifying the Error

Based on the analysis, the grammatical error is located in part (3) of the sentence. The structure "was forcibly to quit" is incorrect. The correct passive construction when referring to someone being compelled to do something is typically "was forced to [verb]".

Therefore, the part of the sentence that contains the error is (3).

Revision Table: Correct Passive Voice Constructions

Additional Information: Understanding Passive Voice and Infinitives

The passive voice is used when the focus is on the action and the object of a sentence, rather than the subject performing the action. It is formed using a form of "to be" + the past participle of the main verb.

Infinitives are the base form of a verb, usually preceded by "to" (e.g., to quit, to run, to eat). When certain verbs are used in the passive voice, they are followed by an infinitive. The verb "force" is one such verb. In the active voice, we say "They forced him to quit." In the passive voice, this becomes "He was forced to quit."

Adverbs like "forcibly" modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, describing how, when, where, or to what extent something is done. In the phrase "was forcibly to quit", the adverb "forcibly" is awkwardly placed and the infinitive structure is incorrect following "was forcibly". The correct use with "force" in the passive is "was forced to quit".