Spotting Errors

What you need to understand

A verb must agree in number with its doer. A plural doer takes a plural verb, and the two must match however far apart they sit.

A helper verb is followed by the past participle, not by the past form: has written, not has wrote.

A modal verb is followed by the base form: can write, not can writes.

The article a goes before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound.

A and an cannot be used with a plural noun. A plural noun takes the, or takes no article at all.

A preposition has to suit its noun. Some pairings are fixed by usage, and a preposition that is fine with one noun can be wrong with another.

The other three parts of the sentence are correct, so the question can be settled by ruling them out as well as by spotting the fault.

How to work through these questions

Read the whole sentence first, so that the meaning is clear before any part is judged.

Find the doer and note whether it is singular or plural. That decides several possible faults at once.

Check the verb against the doer for agreement.

Look at any helper verb and ask whether what follows is the past participle or the past form.

Look at any modal and ask whether what follows is the base form.

Check every article against the noun that follows it.

Check each preposition against its noun, and rule out the parts you have cleared.

Mistakes that cost marks

Judging a part in isolation when the fault depends on another part. Agreement can only be checked against the doer, which may be three words away.
Stopping at the first part that looks slightly odd, when the fault is in a later part and the first is merely unusual.
Correcting the sentence instead of finding the fault, which can lead to choosing a part that is not wrong at all.
Missing a fault because the part sounds right. A sentence read quickly hides a has with a past form after it.
Assuming the fault must be in the verb, when articles and prepositions are just as often the part that is wrong.
Choosing a part because it is long or complicated rather than because it contains a fault.

Worked example

The farmers has built the barns in the field. One of the four parts is wrong. Which?

Find the doer: the farmers, which is plural.
Find the verb: has built.
The helper has is singular, but the doer is plural, so the two do not agree.
The correct form is have built, and the fault is in the verb part.
Check the remaining parts. The barns is a plural noun with no article, which is correct.
In the field is a preposition and its noun, correctly paired.
The fault is therefore in the verb, and in no other part.

Answer: has built

Practice questions with answers

A few Spotting Errors questions with the full solution shown, so you can see how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.

Question 1

Find the part of this sentence that contains the error: The boy are buying a window on the table. The sentence is in four parts, which are the four options.

A on the table
B a window
C The boy
D are buying

Answer: Option D — with explanation

The error is in the part reading 'are buying': the verb agrees with the wrong number, so a plural doer is given a singular verb.\nThe other three parts are as they should be, which is what rules them out. Common mistakes - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: on the table - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: a window - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: The boy

Question 2

Find the part of this sentence that contains the error: The girl has thrown a picture of the tower. The sentence is in four parts, which are the four options.

A of the tower
B a picture
C has thrown
D The girl

Answer: Option A — with explanation

The error is in the part reading 'of the tower': the preposition does not belong with this noun.\nThe other three parts are as they should be, which is what rules them out. Common mistakes - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: has thrown - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: a picture - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: The girl

Question 3

Find the part of this sentence that contains the error: The boy will test a windows at the market. The sentence is in four parts, which are the four options.

A will test
B The boy
C a windows
D at the market

Answer: Option C — with explanation

The error is in the part reading 'a windows': the article 'a' is used with a plural noun.\nThe other three parts are as they should be, which is what rules them out. Common mistakes - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: at the market - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: will test - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: The boy

Question 4

Find the part of this sentence that contains the error: The girl sends a watch of the river. The sentence is in four parts, which are the four options.

A The girl
B sends
C a watch
D of the river

Answer: Option D — with explanation

The error is in the part reading 'of the river': the preposition does not belong with this noun.\nThe other three parts are as they should be, which is what rules them out. Common mistakes - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: The girl - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: a watch - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: sends

Question 5

Find the part of this sentence that contains the error: The boy had held an report inside the temple. The sentence is in four parts, which are the four options.

A an report
B had held
C The boy
D inside the temple

Answer: Option A — with explanation

The error is in the part reading 'an report': 'an' is used before a word that begins with a consonant sound.\nThe other three parts are as they should be, which is what rules them out. Common mistakes - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: had held - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: inside the temple - this part is correct, so the error is elsewhere: The boy

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to correct the sentence?

No. The question asks only which part is wrong. Correcting it can be a useful check on your answer, but the answer itself is the part, not the correction.

What if a part looks odd but is not actually wrong?

Then it is not the answer. Unusual is not the same as wrong. Check each part against the rule it must obey and keep the part that breaks a rule.

Can the fault be in the doer itself?

Yes. An article that does not suit its noun can appear in any part of the sentence, including the part that names the doer.

How do I check agreement when the doer is far from the verb?

Find the doer first and note its number, then read the verb on its own and compare. Distance is what makes these faults hard to see, not what makes them hard to check.

Are the other three parts definitely correct?

Yes. Exactly one part is wrong, which means the others can be used to rule options out, and it also means a part that seems unusual must be unusual but right.