Spotting Errors Tips for Exams

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Below are some useful tips for spotting some common grammatical errors.

• ►Check every and and but.

If they join sentences (independent clauses), they must be preceded by a comma. If and joins a list of three or more items, use a comma before it. Otherwise, only use a comma to prevent a misreading.

• ►If the essay contains narrative, check all uses of then.

Sometimes then is used incorrectly to join two sentences (independent clauses) as if it were a conjunction like and or but.

Wrong: We hiked seven miles, then we pitched camp. 
Right: We hiked seven miles then pitched camp. 
Right: We hiked seven miles, and then we pitched camp.


►A comma should only come before then if a clause beginning with the word if comes first.


Right: If a sentence begins with the word if, then a comma comes before then.


• ►Check all sentences beginning with words like when, after, as, before, once, since, until, while, where, wherever, because, if, though, or unless. A comma should come at the end of a clause beginning with these words. If these words appear in the middle of a sentence, they are usually not preceded by a comma.


Right: When I was seven, we moved to Missouri. 
Right: We moved to Missouri when I was seven.


• ►Commas are needed before who, whom, whose or short phrases identifying a noun (appositives) when they limit (restrict) the noun. Commas are never used before that, or which when it can be replaced by that. Commas always come before which when it can't be replaced by that. When in doubt, leave the commas out. (That almost never takes a comma. Which usually does.)


Right: A car that has a dead battery can't be driven. 
Right: My new car, which has a dead battery, is causing me nothing but trouble. 
Right: The man who is standing next to you is crazy. 
Right: The man standing next to you is crazy.
Right: Charles, my brother, is crazy.

• ►Semicolons are rarely used.

The most common uses are to join a short sentence to another sentence and to join items in a series which use internal commas.

Right: Red Bank, TN; Marietta, GA; Red Lion, PA; and Hancock, MD are small towns.


• ►If the subject of the sentence ends in s, the verb should not and vice versa. Don't be confused by words that come between the subject and verb.


Right: The latest study of marriages and divorces shows the divorce rate is decreasing. 
Right: The books about the man who invented the luxury car Porche are fascinating.

By following the above tips you can avoid some silly mistakes while finding out the errors in the given sentence. So that you wont loose the marks in the Spotting Errors Questions of the competitive exams.