Golden rules for error spotting – part 3

As promised, we have continued with our on-going error spotting series. A total of 13 rules will be discussed today.

Rule 25

A noun, usually forms its plural by adding ‘-s’ at the end.

E.g. dog – dogs, pigeon – pigeons

Rule 26

Most nouns ending in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ change into ‘-ves’.

E.g. leaf – leaves, knife – knives Exceptions: staffs, cliffs, chiefs, roofs, safes

Rule 27

Nouns ending in ‘y’ add ‘s’ if the ‘y’ follows a vowel.

E.g., toy – toys, ray – rays

Rule 28

Nouns ending in ‘y’ change the ‘y’ to ‘-ies’ if the ‘y’ follows a consonant.

E.g. baby – babies, story – stories

Rule 29

Most nouns ending in ‘o’ form their plurals by adding ‘-es’.

E.g., tornado – tornadoes, echo – echoes Exceptions: pianos, solos, bamboos

Rule 30

Nouns ending in ‘s’, ‘ss’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘x’, or ‘z’ add ‘es’ to form plurals.

E.g., gas – gases, grass – grasses, branch – branches

Rule 31

When the sound is ee and alphabets used are ‘i’and ‘e’:

1) ‘e’ comes first, when they come after ‘c’ E.g., deceive, receive

2) ‘i’ comes first in all other cases

E.g., pie, grief Exceptions: seize, weird

Rule 32

When the words ‘all’ and ‘full’ are used to make up longer words, one ‘l’ is dropped.

E.g., always, cheerful

Rule 33

When adding ‘dis’ and ‘mis’ to other words, the ‘s’ is always kept, even if the other word begins with an ‘s’. E.g., Misspell

Rule 34

‘Where’, ‘When’ & ‘Why’ as Relative Pronoun

Although there is no place for these three words in the formal English, but we are still habitual in using them. Let’s understand this by taking three different examples:

Case 1 – Where’ as a relative pronoun – Places

Informal – This is the temple where I visited last year for my prayers.

Formal – This is the temple at which I visited last year for my prayers.

Case 2 – ‘When’ as a relative pronoun – Times

Informal – The day when I joined my first job was a day to be remembered.

Formal – The day on which I joined my first job was a day to be remembered.

Case 3 – ‘Why’ as a relative pronoun – ‘Reasons’

Do you know the reason why our boss fired our co-employee?

Do you know the reason for which our boss fired our co-employee?

Rule 35

The hyphenated noun does not have a plural form

Correct – I always stay at five-stars hotels whenever I visit a new city.

Incorrect – I always stay at five-star hotels whenever I visit a new city.

Hyphenated (compound nouns) are always used in singular form.

Rule 36

Superlative degree, none, no one, anyone, much, little, (the same + noun,) (the only + noun) are followed by ‘that’ relative noun.

Incorrect – Julie is the smartest girl who I ever met

Correct – Julie is the smartest girl that I ever met

Rule 37

A Noun or Pronoun governing a Gerund should be put in the possessive case.

Incorrect – My father doesn’t like me partying late night with my friends.

Correct – My father doesn’t like my partying late night with my friends.

50 golden rules for error spotting – Part 1

50 golden rules for error spotting – Part 2

SBI PO Error Spotting Questions April, 2013

Directions (Q.16-20): Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical mistake error in it. The error if any, will be in one part of the sentence. Mark the number of that part with error as your answer. If there is “No error”, mark 5.

16. 1) There cannot be any situation where / 2) somebody makes money in an asset / 3) located in India and does not pay tax / 4) either to India or to the country of his origin. / 5) No error.

17. 1) India has entered a downward spiral / 2) Where the organized productive / 3) and law abide sectors are subject to / 4) savage amounts of multiple taxes. / 5) No error.

18. 1) The bank may have followed / 2) an aggressive monetary tightening policy / 3) but its stated aim of / 4) curbing inflation have not been achieved. / 5) No error.

19. 1) Equal opportunities for advancement / 2) across the length and breadth / 3) of an organization will / 4) keep many problems away. / 5) No error.

20. 1) A customized data science degree / 2) is yet to become / 3) a standard programme / 4) to India’s premier educational institutes. / 5) No error.