The following sentence has been divided into parts. One of them may contain an error. Select the part that contains the error from the given options. If you don’t find any error, mark ‘No error’ as your answer. It has been / raining intermittently / since two days.
since two days
Understanding Grammar Errors in Sentences
The question asks us to find a grammatical error in the sentence "It has been / raining intermittently / since two days." We need to examine each part of the sentence to determine if it follows the standard rules of English grammar.
Analyzing the Sentence Parts
Let's break down the sentence:
- It has been
- raining intermittently
- since two days
The sentence uses the structure "It has been raining," which is the present perfect continuous tense. This tense is used for an action that started in the past and continues up to the present, or has just stopped but has a result in the present. It is often used with time expressions indicating duration or starting point.
Examining the Time Expression: 'since two days'
The phrase "since two days" indicates the duration of the rain. In English grammar, the prepositions 'since' and 'for' are used with time expressions, particularly with perfect and perfect continuous tenses, but they have different uses:
- Since is used with a point in time (e.g., since Monday, since 2022, since 9 o'clock, since yesterday). It indicates the starting point of an action or state.
- For is used with a period of time (e.g., for two days, for three weeks, for an hour, for a long time). It indicates the duration of an action or state.
In the phrase "since two days," "two days" represents a period of time (a duration), not a specific point in time. Therefore, using 'since' with "two days" is grammatically incorrect.
The correct preposition to use with a period of time like "two days" is 'for'. The correct phrase should be "for two days."
Identifying the Error Part
Based on the analysis, the error is in the part that contains the incorrect time expression. The part "since two days" contains the grammatical error.
Conclusion
The part of the sentence "since two days" contains the error because 'since' should be used with a point in time, while 'two days' is a period of time. The correct sentence would be "It has been raining intermittently for two days."
Therefore, the part containing the error is 'since two days'.
Revision Table: Since vs. For
| Preposition | Usage | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Since | Used with a point in time (start time) | since yesterday, since 2010, since morning, since she left |
| For | Used with a period of time (duration) | for two hours, for a week, for many years, for a long time |
Additional Information: Present Perfect Continuous Tense
The present perfect continuous tense is formed using has/have + been + verb + -ing.
It is used to talk about:
- Actions that started in the past and are still continuing now. Example: She has been studying for three hours. (She started studying three hours ago and is still studying).
- Actions that have recently stopped, but the results are visible now. Example: I'm tired because I have been running. (The running has stopped, but the tiredness is a result).
- Duration of an action that started in the past and continues to the present. This often uses 'for' or 'since'. Example: They have been living here since 2005. / They have been living here for fifteen years.
In the given sentence, "It has been raining intermittently," the action (raining intermittently) started in the past and continued up to the present moment. The time expression specifies the duration, which requires 'for'.
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Important Questions from Error Spotting
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 find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
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No one knows (a) why he did it, (b) or who was behind his doing it.(c) No error. (d)
