Sentence Correction / Error Spotting

Sentence Correction & Error Spotting — MPT Master Hub

Exam goal: Find the exact grammatical, structural, idiomatic, or logical defect. Then choose the option that fixes the complete sentence without changing its intended meaning.

Start with this method

The six-part scan

1. Subject: Find the real subject and match its verb.
2. Time: Mark words such as yesterday, since, before, and when.
3. Verb: Check the auxiliary, base form, participle, infinitive, or gerund.
4. Small words: Inspect articles, prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions.
5. Structure: Check parallelism, modifiers, comparison, and clause completeness.
6. Meaning: Remove ambiguity, illogical comparison, and unnecessary repetition.

Memory line: Subject → Time → Verb → Small words → Structure → Meaning.

Study in four focused parts

Learn the five-step scan, the 12 checkpoints, the segmented-question method, and how to handle No error safely.

Revise agreement, tense, verb forms, auxiliaries, articles, determiners, pronouns, prepositions, and fixed patterns. Every rule includes a wrong and corrected example.

Master parallelism, comparisons, modifiers, fragments, run-ons, conjunctions, redundancy, confused words, word order, and idiomatic patterns.

Attempt 20 solved MCQs and 10 correction drills. Each solution names the tested rule and explains why the answer is correct.

High-frequency error map

Five-second MPT checklist

Before selecting an answer, ask:

• Does the verb agree with the real subject?
• Does the tense match the time clue?
• Is the required verb form used?
• Is the article or preposition part of a fixed pattern?
• Are linked items parallel?
• Is the comparison logical?
• Is every modifier placed beside its target?
• Is any word repeated unnecessarily?
• Have I checked the entire sentence before choosing No error?

Existing focused analysis

• Exam Trap Patterns — FPSC Psychology
• Frequency Data & Structural Zones (2022–2025 Analysis)

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Quick Correction Bank

1️⃣ Subject–Verb Agreement Errors

• Wrong: Each of the boys have a book. → Right: Each of the boys has a book.
• Wrong: The number of students are increasing. → Right: The number of students is increasing.
• Wrong: Neither of the answers were correct. → Right: Neither of the answers was correct.
• Wrong: The police is investigating. → Right: The police are investigating.
• Wrong: Physics are my favorite subject. → Right: Physics is my favorite subject.

2️⃣ Tense Errors

• Wrong: I have went there yesterday. → Right: I went there yesterday. (yesterday = simple past, not present perfect)
• Wrong: She is knowing the answer. → Right: She knows the answer. (stative verb, no continuous)
• Wrong: I am living here since 2015. → Right: I have been living here since 2015. (since = perfect, not simple continuous)
• Wrong: When I will reach home, I will call you. → Right: When I reach home, I will call you. (no "will" in time clause)
• Wrong: If it will rain, we will stay home. → Right: If it rains, we will stay home. (no "will" in if-clause)

3️⃣ Article Errors

• Wrong: He is ___ university student — using "an". → Right: "a university student" (consonant sound)
• Wrong: I need an one-hour break. → Right: a one-hour break ("one" = "won" sound)
• Wrong: ___ Honesty is a good quality (with "The"). → Right: Honesty is a good quality (no article — abstract noun, general sense)
• Wrong: He is the best student of the class. → Right: He is the best student in the class

4️⃣ Preposition Errors

• Wrong: He is married with a doctor. → Right: married to a doctor
• Wrong: He prefers tea than coffee. → Right: prefers tea to coffee
• Wrong: Despite of his hard work, he failed. → Right: Despite his hard work (no "of")
• Wrong: Discuss about the matter. → Right: Discuss the matter (no preposition)
• Wrong: He reached to the station on time. → Right: He reached the station (no preposition)
• Wrong: I am angry on him. → Right: I am angry with him
• Wrong: She is good in English. → Right: She is good at English

5️⃣ Pronoun Errors

• Wrong: This is between you and I. → Right: between you and me (object of preposition)
• Correct modern English: Everyone should bring their own ID. Singular they/their is standard and avoids the awkward his/her. If an older exam option tests traditional agreement, judge the wording and the alternatives carefully.
• Wrong: Me and him went to the market. → Right: He and I went to the market (subject pronouns; also "I" typically listed last: He and I)
• Wrong: The teacher gave the prize to whomever won. → Right: to whoever won (subject of "won", not object of "to")

6️⃣ Parallel Structure Errors

• Wrong: She likes reading, to write, and painting. → Right: She likes reading, writing, and painting. (all -ing forms)
• Wrong: He is intelligent and works hard. → Right: He is intelligent and hardworking. (both adjectives)
• Wrong: The plan is to save money and spending less. → Right: to save money and spend less (both infinitives)
• Wrong: Not only he is smart but also hardworking. → Right: Not only is he smart but also hardworking (matching structure after not only/but also)

7️⃣ Comparison Errors

• Wrong: She is more smarter than her sister. → Right: smarter (never double comparatives — no "more" + "-er" together)
• Wrong: He is senior than me. → Right: senior to me (senior/junior take "to", not "than")
• Wrong: This is the most best solution. → Right: the best solution (never double superlatives)
• Wrong: He is taller than any boy in his class (including himself). → Right: taller than any other boy in his class
• Wrong: Karachi is larger than any city in Pakistan (illogical — Karachi is a city). → Right: larger than any other city

8️⃣ Redundancy (unnecessary repetition)

• Wrong: He returned back home. → Right: He returned home (return already implies back)
• Wrong: Repeat again, please. → Right: Repeat, please
• Wrong: The reason is because he was late. → Right: The reason is that he was late
• Wrong: Each and every student must attend. → Right: Each/Every student must attend
• Wrong: Free gift for all customers. → Right: Gift for all customers (gifts are free by definition)

9️⃣ Modal & Auxiliary Errors

• Wrong: I am agree with you. → Right: I agree with you (remove "am" — "agree" is a full verb)
• Wrong: She can able to solve it. → Right: She can solve it / She is able to solve it (don't combine both)
• Wrong: He don't like tea. → Right: He doesn't like tea
• Wrong: You should to finish this. → Right: You should finish this (modals never take "to")

10️⃣ Word Order / Modifier Placement

• Wrong: He only ate two apples (implies he did nothing else but eat). → Right (intended meaning): He ate only two apples (limits the quantity)
• Wrong: I saw a man walking his dog with a hat (ambiguous — who has the hat?). → Right: I saw a man wearing a hat, walking his dog
• Wrong: Almost all the students passed the difficult exam. (ok, but compare) vs She almost failed every subject (means she nearly failed all — different from "she failed almost every subject")

11️⃣ Commonly Confused Word Pairs (structural errors)

• one of the + plural noun (not singular): He is one of the best players (not "player")
• as...as for equal comparison: He is as tall as his brother (not "so tall as" in affirmative)
• so...that for result: He was so tired that he slept immediately
• lest expresses prevention: Study hard lest you fail. In traditional British and South Asian exam usage, lest + should + base verb is also common: Study hard lest you should fail.

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Drill: Find & Correct the Error (Mixed, 25 items)

1. He don't like tea. → doesn't
2. She is more smarter than her sister. → smarter
3. I have went there yesterday. → went
4. Each of the boys have a book. → has
5. He is married with a doctor. → married to
6. I am agree with you. → I agree with you
7. She can able to solve it. → She can solve it
8. Neither of the two answers were correct. → was
9. He is one of the best player in the team. → players
10. This is between you and I. → me
11. He prefers tea than coffee. → to
12. Despite of his hard work, he failed. → Despite his hard work
13. The reason he failed is because he didn't study. → is that he didn't study
14. He returned back to his hometown. → returned to his hometown
15. She likes singing, dancing, and to paint. → and painting
16. Karachi is bigger than any city in Pakistan. → any other city
17. Each and every student must submit the form. → Each/Every student
18. You should to complete the task today. → should complete
19. He is the most best player on the team. → the best player
20. When I will arrive, I will call you. → When I arrive
21. She is good in cooking. → good at cooking
22. Everyone must bring his ID card themselves. → his/her ID card (avoid mixing singular "his" and "themselves")
23. He discussed about the issue with his boss. → discussed the issue
24. Not only he is rich but also generous. → Not only is he rich
25. I have been knowing him for ten years. → I have known him

Drill: Choose the Grammatically Correct Sentence (MCQ)

1. (a) He is senior than me (b) He is senior to me (c) He is more senior than me — b
2. (a) The number of accidents are rising (b) The number of accidents is rising (c) The number of accident is rising — b
3. (a) She is as tall as her sister (b) She is so tall as her sister (c) She is as taller as her sister — a
4. (a) He returned back home late (b) He returned home late (c) He was returned home late — b
5. (a) Neither Ali nor his friends was present (b) Neither Ali nor his friends were present (c) Neither Ali or his friends were present — b
6. (a) This is the most unique solution (b) This is a unique solution (c) This is the more unique solution — b (unique is absolute, no comparison)
7. (a) I look forward to meet you (b) I look forward to meeting you (c) I look forward meeting you — b
8. (a) He is capable to do this (b) He is capable of doing this (c) He is capable to doing this — b

Your Mistake Bank

Log every repeated error you personally make here, with the rule that fixes it, and the category it falls under (1–11 above).

Template

• Wrong:
• Right:
• Category:
• Why I got it wrong:

Practice tracker

YYYY-MM-DD

• MCQs attempted / correct:
• Error category I keep missing:
• Rule to revise: