Understanding Grammatical Errors in Comparison

The question asks us to find the segment in the given sentence that contains a grammatical error. Let's look at the sentence carefully: "Doctors say that home isolation is far more effective than hospitalise in cases of mild infection."

Analyzing the Sentence Structure

The sentence involves a comparison using the phrase "far more effective than". When we use 'than' to compare two things or actions, the items being compared should generally be in a parallel form. Let's break down the comparison:

• What is being compared? "home isolation"
• What is it being compared to? "hospitalise"

"Home isolation" is a noun phrase (or can be seen as a gerund acting as a noun, 'isolating at home'). "Hospitalise" is a verb.

We are comparing a state or action (isolation) with an action (hospitalise). For parallel structure, we should compare a state/action with another state/action, using similar grammatical forms.

Identifying the Grammatical Error

The phrase "home isolation" is a noun (or gerund acting as a noun). The word "hospitalise" is a verb. Comparing a noun (isolation) directly with a verb (hospitalise) using "than" is grammatically incorrect. The correct form after 'than' should be either a noun or a gerund that matches the form of 'isolation'.

• The noun form of "hospitalise" is "hospitalisation".
• The gerund form (often used with 'being') could be "being hospitalised".

Therefore, the comparison should correctly be:

• "...more effective than hospitalisation..." OR
• "...more effective than being hospitalised..."

The sentence uses "than hospitalise", which is where the error lies.

Examining the Options

Now let's look at the provided options and see which one contains the segment "than hospitalise":

1. <p>than hospitalise</p> - This segment contains the incorrect verb form "hospitalise" after "than".
2. <p>isolation is </p> - "isolation is" is grammatically correct in this context.
3. <p>Doctors say that</p> - "Doctors say that" is a standard introductory phrase and is grammatically correct.
4. <p>far more effective</p> - "far more effective" is a correct comparative phrase.

The segment "than hospitalise" clearly contains the grammatical error because the verb "hospitalise" should be a noun ("hospitalisation") or a gerund phrase ("being hospitalised") to maintain parallel structure with "home isolation".

Conclusion

The segment with the grammatical error is "than hospitalise". This is because the sentence compares "home isolation" (a noun/gerund) with "hospitalise" (a verb), violating the principle of parallel structure in comparisons.

Revision Table: Grammatical Error Analysis

Additional Information: Parallelism in English Grammar

Parallelism, or parallel structure, is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. By making each compared item or idea in a list or comparison follow the same grammatical pattern, you create a parallel construction.

Examples of Parallelism:

• Comparing Nouns: I like reading and writing. (Gerunds) / She enjoys books and movies. (Nouns)
• Comparing Clauses: What he said was less important than how he said it. (Noun clauses)
• Comparing Phrases with 'than' or 'as': Running is easier than lifting weights. (Gerund phrase) / He is as tall as his brother. (Noun phrase) / She prefers hiking to swimming. (Gerund)

In the given sentence, "home isolation" functions similarly to a noun or a gerund acting as a noun. Therefore, the element it is compared to using "than" should also be a noun or a similar structure. Using the verb "hospitalise" breaks this parallel structure, which is why it is a grammatical error.