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 don't find an error, your response should be indicated as (d). Electricity companies are(a) working throughout (b)days and nights to repair the damage . (c) No error. (d)
C
Analyzing Grammar Errors in Sentences
This question asks us to identify if there's a grammatical error in one of the underlined parts of the given sentence. We need to examine each part carefully to check for mistakes in grammar, usage, or structure.
The sentence is: Electricity companies are(a) working throughout (b)days and nights to repair the damage . (c) No error. (d)
Let's break down each underlined part:
- Part (a):
Electricity companies are
Here, the subject is "Electricity companies," which is plural. The verb "are" is the correct form of the verb "to be" for a plural subject in the present tense. This part is grammatically correct.
- Part (b):
working throughout
The verb "working" is the present participle used with "are" to form the present continuous tense ("are working"). This is correct. The word "throughout" is a preposition indicating extent or duration. Its usage depends on the phrase that follows it in part (c).
- Part (c):
days and nights to repair the damage
This part contains the phrase "throughout days and nights." While grammatically possible in some contexts, the phrase "day and night" (using the singular forms) is a common idiom meaning "continuously" or "without stopping." When referring to working without interruption for a long period, the idiomatic expression is usually "working day and night". Using the plural "days and nights" with "throughout" implies working during the entirety of multiple specific days and nights, which is less common than the continuous sense conveyed by the singular idiom.
Comparing "working day and night" and "working throughout days and nights," the former is the standard idiomatic way to express continuous work. The sentence intends to convey that the companies are working non-stop or continuously to fix the damage. Therefore, the use of "days and nights" instead of the idiomatic "day and night" is the error.
The phrase "to repair the damage" is an infinitive phrase correctly used to express the purpose of the work.
The error lies in the phrase "days and nights" in part (c).
Identifying the Grammar Error
Based on the analysis, the most likely intended meaning is continuous work, which requires the idiom "day and night". The use of the plural form "days and nights" deviates from this standard idiom in this context.
| Part | Underlined Text | Analysis | Error? |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | Electricity companies are | Plural subject and verb agreement is correct. | No |
| (b) | working throughout | Verb form and preposition usage are correct so far. | No |
| (c) | days and nights to repair the damage | Use of plural "days and nights" is not the standard idiom for continuous work ("day and night"). | Yes |
The error is found in part (c) due to the incorrect form of the idiom for continuous work.
Revision Table: Correcting the Sentence
| Incorrect Part | Correction | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| days and nights | day and night | To use the standard idiom for continuous work. |
The corrected sentence would be: Electricity companies are working throughout day and night to repair the damage.
Therefore, the error is in part (c).
Additional Information on Idioms of Time
Idioms are phrases where the meaning is not obvious from the individual words. "Day and night" is a common English idiom.
- Day and night: Means continuously, without stopping. Example: Students studied day and night before the exams.
- Days and nights: Can refer to multiple periods of days and nights, often implying a longer duration, but typically not used in the same idiomatic sense of continuous action as "day and night". Example: We travelled for days and nights to reach the destination.
In the context of "working," "working day and night" is the established phrase for working continuously or around the clock. While "working throughout days and nights" is not strictly ungrammatical, it is not the idiomatic phrase for continuous effort and sounds unnatural compared to "working day and night" in this context.
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