Error Detection Questions for SSC Stenographer: Download Free PDF

If you are a student preparing for SSC Stenographer exam, you know that competition is very high. Many students easily solve general awareness and reasoning, but when it comes to the English language, they get very confused. One topic that scares almost everyone is “Error Detection” or “Spotting Errors.” You look at a long English sentence, and everything looks perfectly fine! But hidden inside it is a small grammatical mistake that can cost you your marks. Here is the good news: you do not need to memorize the entire English grammar book to solve these. The exam board mostly repeats the exact same basic rules every year. In this blog, we have explained this topic in very simple words and provided real exam-level questions for you to practice.

What is Error Detection? (Explained in Simple Words)

You do not need to be an English expert to understand this. Think of a sentence like a car. If the car has a flat tire, it will not run properly. Similarly, if an English sentence has a wrong word, it breaks the grammar rule.

In the exam, you will be given a long sentence. This sentence is divided into 3 or 4 small parts (labeled A, B, C, D). Your job is simply to read the sentence and find out which part has the grammar mistake.

The mistakes are usually very simple. They only test 3 basic things:

• Subject-Verb Match: If the hero (subject) is single, the action (verb) must also be single. (Example: “He go” is wrong. “He goes” is right).
• Time and Tense: If the story happened yesterday, the words should be in the past tense.
• Wrong Words (Prepositions): Using “in” instead of “on”, or using “than” instead of “to”.

If you just focus on these simple daily rules, spotting errors will become a fun game for you!

Important Error Detection Questions for Practice

Here is a list of the top-most repeated error detection questions. Grab a pen, read the sentences carefully, and try to find the hidden grammar mistakes to test your current exam preparation level.

Q1. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) Neither the manager /
(B) nor the employees /
(C) was present in the meeting. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (C) was present in the meeting.

Explanation: This is a very famous rule! When we use “Neither… nor”, the verb always matches the noun that is closest to it. The closest noun is “employees” (plural). So, we must use “were” instead of “was”.

Q2. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) One of my best friend /
(B) is going to London /
(C) for his higher studies. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (A) One of my best friend

Explanation: If you say “One of the…”, it means you are choosing one person from a big group. So, the group must be plural. It should be “One of my best friends”.

Q3. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) I have been /
(B) working on this project /
(C) since three hours. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (C) since three hours.

Explanation: We use “since” for a fixed starting point (like since Monday, since 2010). But we use “for” when we talk about a length of time. So, it should be “for three hours”.

Q4. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) The police could not /
(B) find any true /
(C) informations about the thief. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (C) informations about the thief.

Explanation: In English grammar, the word “information” is uncountable. You cannot count it like 1, 2, 3. So, we never put an ‘s’ at the end. It is always just “information”.

Q5. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) Rahul is /
(B) very senior than /
(C) me in the office. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (B) very senior than

Explanation: Words that end with “ior” (like senior, junior, superior, inferior) always take the word “to” with them, never “than”. It should be “senior to me”.

Q6. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) She did not /
(B) went to the market /
(C) to buy fresh vegetables. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (B) went to the market

Explanation: This is a very common speaking mistake. With the word “did”, we always use the first form of the verb (V1). So, it should be “She did not go”.

Q7. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) Scarcely had I /
(B) reached the station /
(C) than the train left. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (C) than the train left.

Explanation: This is a fixed pair rule. The word “Scarcely” or “Hardly” is always followed by the word “when”, not “than”. It should be “when the train left”.

Q8. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) A large number of /
(B) students has /
(C) applied for the exam. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (B) students has

Explanation: The phrase “A number of” or “A large number of” means many. Since it means many (plural), the verb must also be plural. It should be “students have”.

Q9. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) The heavy rain /
(B) prevented us to go /
(C) out for a movie. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (B) prevented us to go

Explanation: After the word “prevent”, we always use the preposition “from” followed by an ‘ing’ word. It should be “prevented us from going”.

Q10. Read the sentence and find the error:

(A) If I was /
(B) the Prime Minister, /
(C) I would remove poverty. /
(D) No Error.

Answer: (A) If I was

Explanation: When we talk about an imaginary wish (something that is not real), we always use “were” for everyone (I, he, she, it). It should be “If I were the Prime Minister”.

5 Simple Tips to Prepare Error Detection

You do not need a master’s degree in English to score full marks in this section. Just play smart and follow these 5 easy tips:

• Read the Full Sentence Once: Do not start looking for mistakes in the very first word. Read the whole sentence like a simple story. Many times, your ear will naturally catch the wrong-sounding word.
• Check the Subject and Verb First: This is where 50% of the mistakes hide. Just check: if the main person is one (singular), is the action word also singular?
• Learn the Fixed Pairs: SSC loves to ask fixed pairs! Memorize them: Neither-nor, Either-or, Not only-but also, Hardly-when. If you see one word, immediately check if its partner is correct.
• Focus on ‘Uncountable’ Nouns: Make a small list of words that never take an ‘s’ at the end (like luggage, furniture, advice, information). Examiners use these a lot to trick you.
• Practice Previous Year Papers: The exam board rarely invents new grammar rules. They just change the names and places in the sentences. If you solve previous year questions daily, you will easily crack the exam pattern.

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FAQs: Error Detection Questions

1. What is an error detection question in exams?

In these questions, a complete sentence is given but it is divided into small parts. One part has a simple grammar or spelling mistake. You have to find and select that wrong part.

2. Is the English language section asked in the SSC Stenographer exam?

Yes, the SSC asks the questions from the English section in the SSC Stenographer exam.

3. Which grammar rules are the most important for finding errors?

You should mostly focus on Subject-Verb Agreement, Tenses, Prepositions, and Articles (A, An, The). Most of the questions are framed around these four basic topics.

4. How can I solve these questions faster in the exam hall?

The best way to save time is by learning the “Fixed Preposition” rules and reading simple English for 15 minutes daily. The more you read, the faster your brain will spot the wrong words automatically.

5. Can a Hindi medium student score full marks in this topic?

Yes, 100%! Thousands of Hindi medium students clear these exams every year with top ranks. You do not need to speak fluent English. You just need to understand basic rules and practice daily mock tests.