Sentence Correction Examples with Rules

Understanding Sentence Correction Rules with Examples

Sentence correction requires selecting a sentence that is grammatically correct or conveys the intended meaning accurately. These questions assess your understanding of grammar, syntax, and sentence structure.

Sentence correction requires acute grammatical proficiency, contextual understanding, and attention to detail. This comes by absorbing and understanding the rules of grammar well.

Following are a few rules that you need to follow to solve sentence correction questions:

1. Subject Verb Agreement

Students must ensure that the subject and verb agree in terms of number (singular or plural). Pay attention to singular subjects requiring singular verbs and plural subjects requiring plural verbs.

The subject and the verb must agree in number: both must be singular or both must be plural.

For Example:

Incorrect : The dogs barks on the terrace.

Correct : The dogs bark on the terrace. Or The dog barks on the terrace.

Explanation:

Here, the subject is 'dogs' and the verb is 'barks' in the incorrect sentence. Since the subject (dogs) is plural, the verb should also be plural (bark).

Likewise, since the verb (barks) is singular, you can also correct the sentence by making the subject singular (dog).

There are various other cases and exceptions for subject-verb agreement.

Here are some major rules of subject-verb agreement:

1. 1 Use Singular Verbs with the Following Words

Everybody	Anybody	Somebody	Nobody	Each
Everyone	Anyone	Someone	No one	Either
Everything	Anything	Something	Nothing	Neither

For Example:

• She prepares food for everyone.
• Everybody likes her food.
• Someone leaves the trash outside continuously.
• Nobody likes a narcissist.

1.2 When 'every' and 'each' Come Before a Singular Subject Joined by 'and', the Verb Used is Singular.

For Example:

• Every man and woman has the right to vote.
• Each student and teacher was aware of the difficulty.

1.3 Non –Intervention Principle

Prepositional phrases that come between the subject and the verb do not change the number of the subject. Some examples of prepositional phrases are as follows: As well as, In addition to, Together with, Along with, Except, etc.

For Example:

The teacher as well as the students was working on the problem.

The mother, together with her children, is waiting.

1.4 When the verb comes before the subject, it agrees with the subject that immediately follows the verb.

For Example:

There is a tree in the garden.
There arise problems.

1.5 An introductory ' _ it _ ' is always followed by a singular verb.

For Example:

It is my sister who works in the hospital.

It is the people who caused the trouble.

1.6 Subjects joined by ' _ and _' take a plural verb (except each and every).

For Example:

My sister and brother live in Berlin.

Both the teacher and the student were surprised**.

1.7 Several, many, both, few are plural words and take a plural verb.**
For Example:

Both are happy with the grades they got.

Many were lost on the way.

Few have done their homework.

1.8 Some nouns are always plural and always take a plural verb.

Nouns like trousers, pants, slacks, shorts, briefs, jeans, glasses, sunglasses, scissors, pliers, tweezers, etc. are plural. Hence they need a plural verb.

For Example:

The sunglasses look nice.

The scissors keep falling down.

1.9 Some words, such as _ none, any, all, more, most, some, majority, and half _ may take either singular or plural verbs depending on the meaning.

For Example:

All of the students know the answer.

Most of the money is spent.

1.10 Proximity Principle

When subjects are joined by words such as neither -nor, either-or, not only-but also the verb must agree with the closer subject.

For Example:

Either the man or the children know the cause.

Neither the team nor the manager is responsible for this.

Not only the politician but also his followers, spread fake news.

1.11 Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms. They take singular or plural verbs, depending on the meaning.

Some nouns like Species, series, deer, aircraft, fish, sheep, etc. remain unaffected by singular or plural form and hence take the verb accordingly.

For Example:

This species of monkey lives only in India.

A hundred aircraft fly over this area every day.

1.12 Expressions stating the amount of time, money, weight, and volume are plural in form but take a singular verb

For Example:

Three weeks is not a concern at all.

Two hundred dollars is a lot of money.

1.13 Use a plural verb with 'A large number of'/'A number of'

For Example:

A large number of pilgrims were killed in the accident.

A number of animals are affected by global warming.

1.14 Use a singular verb with "The large number of"/"The number of"

For Example:

The number of people on the guest list is very high.

The large number of rides in the park makes it the best.

1.15 Use a singular noun and singular verb while using the "Many a/an" phrase in a sentence.

For Example:

Many a teacher has taught us English this semester.

Many a woman loves the actor.

1.16 Use the 2nd form of the verb in the sentence after phrases 'it's high time/it's about time/it's time

For Example:

It's high time she understood the rules of this house.

It's about time he played for the big leagues.

2. Take care of Collective Nouns

When the collective nouns represent a group as a unit, they are used in the singular form and thus, a singular verb is used with them.

Although, in a few cases, when the members of the group are acting independently, we use these collective nouns in the plural forms, hence a plural verb for them.

For Example:

The bundle of keys is lying on the table.

The bundle of keys have different types of them.

Explanation:

The first sentence has the keys as a single unit, hence the word 'bunch' is used in a singular sense. In the next sentence, the sentence gives the impression of the keys being individualistic in type, so plural form is used.

3. Use of Modifiers

Modifiers are terms that modify a noun or verb. Misplacing them can cause big errors and change the meaning of the sentence completely. The key is to place them closest to the word they're modifying.

For Example:

I almost failed every art class I took.

I failed almost every art class I took.

Explanation:

The first sentence (I almost failed every art class I took) means that although it was close, I passed all those classes. The second sentence (I failed almost every art class I took) means that I passed only a few art classes.

4. Maintain Parallelism

Make sure to check parallel structures in lists, comparisons, and conjunctions. Ensure that items within a series or phrases joined by conjunctions follow a consistent grammatical pattern in terms of the tenses and the form of verbs.

For Example:

Incorrect: She likes swimming, hiking, and to play tennis.

Correct: She likes swimming, hiking, and playing tennis.

Explanation:

Here, the incorrect sentence uses the infinitive form of play (to play) after the conjunction "and" in the list of activities.

The other word forms maintain a participle or "-ing" form of verbs 'swim' and 'hike'. Thus, to maintain parallelism, we have to use the "-ing" or participle form of the verb for 'play' as well.

5. Prepositions Usage

Prepositions are always a source of confusion because of their particular use cases.

5.1 Certain Words that Don't Need a Preposition

For Example:

• Home
• Downstairs
• Upstairs
• Downtown
• Uptown
• Inside
• Outside

There are many other prepositions that are used in particular use cases. The following table will help you understand that:

For Example:

S.No	Preposition	Use Cases
1	about	Discussing a topic (Let's talk about the project) Expressing the subject of a story or report (The book is about dogs)
2	above	Position in relation to something at a higher level or rank (above the clouds/ above the tree)
3	across	Movement from one side to another (She walked across the street) Positions extending from one point to another (The bridge extends across the river)
4	after	Time-related events happening later than a certain point (We'll meet after the meeting)
5	against	In contact with or opposition to something (The ladder is leaning against the wall/She pressed her back against the chair)
6	along	Movement parallel to or in a line with something (He walked along the beach/the river flows along the valley)
7	among	Being a part of a group, surrounded by others (She felt comfortable among her friends)
8	around	Surrounding or encircling something, moving in a circular path (e.g., "They sat around the campfire"; "He walked around the block.")
9	at	Specific location or address ( at home/at H-22, Baker’s street) Specific time (at 12:15) State of being (at ease, at peace)
10	before	Time-related events happening earlier than a certain point (before sunset/before she arrived)
11	behind	Position at the back or in the rear of something (behind the building/behind the tree)
12	below	Position in relation to something at a lower level or rank (below the ground floor/below average)
13	beneath	Position directly under or below something (beneath the table/buried beneath the sand)
14	beside	Position next to or by the side of something or someone (sat beside her sister/beside the river)
15	between	Position or action involving two or more items, places, or people (between his parents/between two mountains)
16	beyond	Position or action that is further away or extends past a certain point (beyond my reach/beyond my imagination)
17	by	Position beside (by the window) Means of transportation (come by bus) Doer of an action (written by John) Indicating a deadline (submit the report by Friday).
18	down	Movement toward a lower position or level (climbing down the ladder/down the hill)
19	during	A period of time when something happens (during her lunch break/during the summer)
20	except	Exclusion or leaving out something or someone (Everyone attended the meeting except John/I like all fruits except bananas)
21	for	Receiver of an action (fruits for the patient/gift for the girl) To measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years (for two hours/for five seconds/for one minute/for some time) Benefit of something (for growth/for gaining weight)
22	from	Point to the origin or source of a noun (He is from Canada) Source or starting point of something (She received a letter from her friend/They started from scratch)
23	Since	Used with specific date or time (since 1970, since December 12, since 12:30)
24	in	Position within a space (in the box/ in the room/in the bed) Position in Land areas like towns, counties, states, countries, and continents (in India, in Asia, in Delhi) Time frame Situation in the evening (in a difficult situation)
25	inside	Position within the boundaries or confines of something (The keys are inside the drawer/They sat inside the house)
26	into	Movement or transformation towards the inside or within something (She walked into the room/He turned the caterpillar into a butterfly)
27	near	Position close to or not far from something or someone (near the park/near his workplace)
28	of	To show possession or origin (School of art/glass of Riya) Material used by something (A statue made of marble) For composition (A cup of coffee/top of the mountain)
29	off	Separation from a surface or detachment (She took her hat off/The cat jumped off the table)
30	on	Position upon a surface (book on table/clock on the wall) Dates or days (On independence day/On monday/On 20 April) State of activation (e.g., "The TV is on.")
31	over	Position above or covering something (The bird flew over the house/She placed a blanket over the bed)
32	through	Movement or penetration from one side to another (He walked through the door/The train passed through the tunnel)
33	to	With Direction (She went to the store) With a goal (I want to earn more) For the recipient of an action (He gave a gift to his friend)
34	under	Position below or covered by something (e.g., "The cat is hiding under the bed"; "She wore a jacket under her coat.")
35	with	Accompaniment (I am coming with you/This crate comes with extra egg) Means of achieving something (He cut the paper with scissors)
36	within	Position inside the boundaries or limits of something (Play within this area/They will arrive within an hour)
37	without	Exclusion or absence of something (lunch without dessert/left without saying goodbye)

5.2. Unnecessary Prepositions

Sometimes, we use prepositions unnecessarily. For sentence correction, we must avoid them.

For Example:

• She met up with the new coach in the hallway.
• The book fell off of the desk.
• He threw the book out of the window.
• She wouldn't let the cat inside of the house. [or use "in"]
• Where did they go to?
• Where is your college at?

5.3. Prepositions in Parallel Form

When two words or phrases are used in parallel and require the same preposition to be idiomatically correct, the preposition does not have to be used twice.

For Example:

You can wear that outfit in summer and in winter.

However, when the idiomatic use of phrases calls for different prepositions, we must be careful not to omit one of them.

For Example:

The children were both interested in and disgusted by the movie.

It was clear that this player could both contribute to and learn from every game he played.

6. Comparison

If you're faced with a sentence that doesn't compare two things of the same kind, you're faced with a faulty comparison.

For Example:

Incorrect : Unlike Jerry, who has an A+ in the class, Tom's history textbook looks like it hasn't been opened all year.

Correct : Unlike Jerry, who has an A+ in the class, Tom appears not to have opened his history textbook all year.

Explanation:

The incorrect sentence compares Jerry (a person) and the history textbook of Tom. This is erroneous. The correct sentence compares Jerry with Tom (both people).

7. Verb Tense Agreement

Verb tenses exist in order to allow us to specify at what point in time some event occurred. The verb and tense should agree in a sentence.

If the sentence is in a particular tense, the verb should be in line with the tense of the sentence.

For Example:

Incorrect : After he had finished his performance, he would go to the party.

Correct : After he had finished his performance, he went to the party.

Explanation:

The order of events is well clarified in the correct sentence. Both events - the performance and the party - happened in the past, but the performance happened first, and the party second.

Thus both verbs should be in the past tense: "had finished" in the past perfect to indicate that this happened first, and then "went" in the simple past.

The incorrect sentence implies that the performance happened once in the past, but that his after-performance party attendance was ongoing - which doesn't make any sense.

Tips and Tricks to Solve Sentence Correction Questions

Sentence correction questions can be easily solved by learning a few tips and tricks for sentence correction. These tips and tricks are very useful in finding the correct answer quickly and effectively, saving a lot of time.

Follow these tips and tricks while solving sentence correction questions:

1. Careful and Attentive Reading

Read the sentence slowly a couple of times while paying close attention to the words, spellings, and grammatical structure. Stay alert and gauge each word for a possible error.

2. Grammar Rules are Crucial

Keep the grammar rules like subject-verb agreement, verb forms, tenses, and parts of speech on tips. Apply them to quickly identify possible errors.

3. Context Matters

Analyzing the context of the sentence will help identify errors quickly. Spot inconsistencies, logical errors, and vocabulary that seems unfit for the context.

4. Reduce Available Options

Eliminate visibly wrong or impossible options and enhance the chances of selecting the right answer.

5. Mind the Modifiers

Most errors are around the adjectives, adverbs, and phrases being wrongly placed or modifying the wrong words. Spot any issues with the placement of such modifiers and the words they're modifying.

6. Take Care of Parallelism

Look out for errors in parallelism. Ensure that the contents of a list or comparison follow the same grammatical pattern.