MPESB Group · Bite-size lessons
Error Spotting and Correction
About 7 min · General English · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 484 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Error Spotting and Correction is a high-scoring section in MPESB Group 1/2/3 exams that tests your command of English grammar fundamentals. Questions typically present a sentence divided into parts, and you must identify which part contains a grammatical error—or confirm that no error exists.
Key ideas
- Subject-Verb Agreement: The verb must match the subject in number and person. Intervening phrases between subject and verb often create confusion—ignore them and connect subject directly to verb.
- Tense Consistency: A sentence (or related clauses) should maintain the same time frame unless a logical shift is indicated. Watch for sudden jumps from past to present without reason.
- Article Usage: "A" before consonant sounds, "an" before vowel sounds. "The" for specific/previously mentioned nouns. Some nouns (uncountable, abstract, proper) take no article.
- Preposition Selection: Prepositions are idiomatic—many verbs and adjectives demand specific prepositions. "Depend on" (or "depend upon"), "consist of" (not "consist in" for composition).
- Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement: Pronouns must match their antecedents in number and gender. "Everyone" takes singular pronouns (his/her, not their in formal grammar).
Watch out for
- Ignoring intervening phrases → Students match verb with the nearest noun instead of the actual subject. Fix: Mentally bracket prepositional phrases and find the true subject. "The box of chocolates *is*" (not are).
- Confusing "than" with "then" → "Than" is for comparison; "then" is for time sequence. Fix: If comparing two things, always use "than."
- Using double negatives → "He doesn't know nothing" is incorrect. Fix: Use only one negative element: "He doesn't know anything" or "He knows nothing."
Quick reference
- Subject-verb agreement: Ignore phrases between subject and verb; match the actual subject.
- "One of the" + plural noun + singular verb: "One of the boys *is*" (not are).
- Since = point in time (with perfect tense); For = duration.
- Neither/Either + singular verb when alone; with nor/or, verb matches nearer subject.
- Collective nouns (team, committee, jury): Singular when acting as one unit.
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Read each part of the sentence below and identify which part has an error. If there is no error, select 'No error'. (A) The committee members / (B) has decided to postpone / (C) the meeting until next week. / (D) No error
2. Read each part of the sentence below and identify which part has an error. If there is no error, select 'No error'. (A) Each of the students / (B) were given a certificate / (C) for their outstanding performance. / (D) No error
3. Read each part of the sentence below and identify which part has an error. If there is no error, select 'No error'. (A) If I would have known / (B) about the traffic situation, / (C) I would have left earlier. / (D) No error
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 17 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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