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Question

Read each part of the sentence labelled (a), (b) and (c)  to find out whether there is any error 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) Far from being appreciated,

b) his conduct was discussed

c) and sharply commented 

d) No error

This question was previously asked in
NDA I 2017 GAT Previous Year Paper (23-Apr-2017)
The correct answer is

c

Identifying Grammatical Errors in Sentences

The question asks us to identify the part of the sentence that contains a grammatical error. The sentence is broken into three parts: (a), (b), and (c). If no error is found in any part, the answer is (d).

Let's examine each part of the sentence:

Sentence: Far from being appreciated, (a) his conduct was discussed (b) and sharply commented (c).

Analysis of Part (a): "Far from being appreciated,"

This part is an introductory participial phrase. It describes the subject of the main clause, which is "his conduct". The structure "Far from being + past participle" is grammatically correct and functions adverbially, indicating a contrast to the expected outcome (appreciation). There is no apparent error in this part.

Analysis of Part (b): "his conduct was discussed"

This is the main part of the sentence, stating what happened to "his conduct". The verb phrase "was discussed" is in the passive voice, which is appropriate because "his conduct" is the receiver of the action (being discussed). The structure is correct. There is no apparent error in this part.

Analysis of Part (c): "and sharply commented"

This part is connected to the previous part by the coordinating conjunction "and". It continues the passive verb phrase from part (b). The structure implies that "his conduct" was both "discussed" and "commented". While "discussed" works correctly in the passive voice as "was discussed", the verb "comment" typically requires a preposition (like 'on' or 'upon') when used transitively or in a passive construction referring to the subject being commented *upon* or *on*. The passive form should be "was commented upon" or "was commented on". Simply saying "was commented" in this context is incomplete and ungrammatical. The verb needs to be followed by the appropriate preposition to complete the meaning in the passive structure parallel to "was discussed".

Therefore, the error lies in part (c) due to the missing preposition after "commented". The sentence requires parallel structure; since "was discussed" is used, the parallel passive verb "commented" should also be completed, typically with "upon" or "on".

Corrected Sentence

The corrected sentence would be: "Far from being appreciated, his conduct was discussed and sharply commented upon." or "Far from being appreciated, his conduct was discussed and sharply commented on."

Based on the analysis, part (c) contains the grammatical error.

Revision Table: Sentence Error Analysis

Part Sentence Fragment Analysis Error?
(a) Far from being appreciated, Introductory participial phrase, grammatically correct. No
(b) his conduct was discussed Main clause, subject 'conduct' and passive verb 'was discussed'. Grammatically correct. No
(c) and sharply commented Continuation of passive verb phrase. 'Commented' requires a preposition (on/upon) in this passive structure for parallelism. Yes
(d) No error Incorrect, as there is an error in part (c). No

Additional Information on Parallel Structure and Passive Voice

Parallel Structure: This refers to using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. In this sentence, "his conduct was discussed and sharply commented" attempts to link two passive verbs ("discussed" and "commented") applying to the same subject ("his conduct"). For parallelism, both parts should be grammatically complete and consistent.

Passive Voice: The passive voice is used when the subject of the sentence is the receiver of the action, rather than the doer. It is formed using a form of the verb 'to be' followed by the past participle of the main verb (e.g., 'was discussed', 'is eaten', 'will be built'). When linking multiple verbs in the passive voice, they must follow the correct structure, including any necessary prepositions, especially if the verbs behave differently (e.g., one is transitive, the other requires a preposition). The verb 'comment' often requires a preposition like 'on' or 'upon' when indicating what was commented about, particularly in passive constructions like this.

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