PET Error Identification & Correction 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Find the error: 'She suggested to go to the cinema, but we decided staying home.'
- suggested to go
- but we decided
- decided staying home (Correct answer)
- to the cinema
Correct answer: decided staying home
'Decide' is followed by an infinitive, so it should be 'decided to stay home'.
Question 2: Which sentence contains an error?
- He made me to wait for an hour. (Correct answer)
- She let him borrow her car.
- They watched the children play.
- I heard someone knock at the door.
Correct answer: He made me to wait for an hour.
After 'make' in the causative, use a bare infinitive: 'He made me wait.'
Question 3: Identify the error: 'Despite of the rain, they continued playing football.'
- Despite of (Correct answer)
- the rain
- continued playing
- football
Correct answer: Despite of
'Despite' is never followed by 'of'; the correct form is simply 'Despite the rain'.
Question 4: Find the error: 'The number of students who passed their exams are increasing every year.'
- The number of
- who passed
- their exams
- are increasing (Correct answer)
Correct answer: are increasing
'The number of' takes a singular verb, so it should be 'is increasing'.
Question 5: Which underlined word is incorrect? 'She is used to (A)work late, so finishing (B)this report by (C)midnight should not be (D)a problem.'
- A – work (Correct answer)
- B – this
- C – midnight
- D – a
Correct answer: A – work
'Be used to' requires a gerund, so it should be 'used to working late'.
Question 6: Identify the error: 'Neither the manager nor the employees was informed about the change.'
- Neither the manager
- nor the employees
- was informed (Correct answer)
- about the change
Correct answer: was informed
With 'neither…nor', the verb agrees with the nearest subject ('employees'), so it should be 'were informed'.
Question 7: Find the error: 'He asked me where did I buy that jacket.'
- He asked me
- where did I buy (Correct answer)
- that jacket
- No error
Correct answer: where did I buy
Indirect questions use statement word order: 'where I had bought that jacket'.
PET Error Identification & Correction 2
Find the error: 'She suggested to go to the cinema, but we decided staying home.'