Error Spotting
🔒 Log in to trackA sentence is split into parts and one part carries a grammatical fault. Errors cluster in a short list — agreement, tense, articles, prepositions, pronouns, correlative pairs and comparison — so a fixed audit order (SVA → tense → article → preposition → pronoun → pairs → word choice) converts this into the most mechanical scoring topic in the section.
One page per subtopic: detailed notes, every question type, formulas, tricks and practice sets.
Every formula on one printable page, grouped by subtopic.
3 exam-level questions worked step by step.
84 questions — untimed practice or a timed test with analysis.
Track record in the exam
Questions per shift in recent SSC CGL papers.
Test difficulty mix (84 questions)
Question patterns exams keep repeating
Taken from previous-year papers. If a pattern is marked "very common", expect to see it in your exam.
Subject-verb agreement error
very commonA verb separated from its subject by 'of...', 'as well as...', 'along with...'; one of / each of / neither of; either...or and neither...nor; a number of vs the number of.
How to solve: Cover the interrupting phrase with a finger and find the true subject; then match the verb's number. For or/nor pairs use the nearer subject; for one-of/each-of/every structures keep the verb singular no matter what plural noun follows.
Example: 'The number of accidents on this highway / have fallen / after the new signals were installed.' Find the error.
'The number of' names a single count → singular: the number has fallen. The plural 'accidents' next to the verb is the decoy.
Tense and time-anchor error
very commonTime words sit in one part (ago, since 2019, by the time, as soon as, yesterday) while the verb in another part does not match them, or a when/if/until clause carries will.
How to solve: Circle every anchor word first, then check each verb against its anchor: ago and yesterday demand simple past; since + point and for + length; the earlier of two past events takes had + participle; a when/if/until clause about the future uses the simple present with no will.
Example: 'I will return your camera / as soon as / I will reach / home tomorrow.' Find the error.
The as-soon-as clause takes the simple present: as soon as I reach home. Will belongs only in the main clause.
Verb form error (gerund vs infinitive)
very commonOne verb follows another (denied to have, enjoys to, capable to handle) or a preposition is followed by to + verb (look forward to see).
How to solve: Recall the fixed group of the first word: enjoy, avoid, deny, suggest and every preposition take the -ing form; want, decide, agree, refuse take to + verb. 'Look forward to' ends in a preposition, so -ing follows it.
Example: 'She denied to have / taken the file, / but the register / proved otherwise.' Find the error.
Deny takes -ing: she denied having taken the file. The infinitive after denied is the error.
Article error (a / an / the)
commonThe suspect part contains a/an/the before a noun, a superlative with a instead of the, or an abbreviation like MLA/ university where the first sound differs from the first letter.
How to solve: Say the next word aloud: vowel sound → an (an hour, an MLA), consonant sound → a (a university, a European). A superlative or a one-of-a-kind noun needs the; general plurals and meals need no article at all.
Example: 'She reached the hall / an hour late / because of / a MLA's convoy.' Find the error.
MLA begins with the vowel sound 'em' → an MLA's convoy. Note that 'an hour' is correct because the h is silent.
Preposition pair error
very commonA verb, adjective or noun sits next to a preposition that looks plausible but breaks its fixed pair: accused for, insist for, comply by, angry on, jump into conclusions.
How to solve: Treat the verb/adjective + preposition as one memorised chunk: accuse of, insist on, comply with, angry with (person), capable of, prefer to, jump to conclusions. Where two partners exist (apply to an office, apply for a post), the noun after the blank chooses.
Example: 'The coach did not agree / with the umpire's decision, / but he complied / by the rules.' Find the error.
The frozen pair is comply with. 'Comply by' borrows the by of 'abide by' — that is the decoy.
Pronoun and connective error
commonA subject-form pronoun after a preposition (between you and I), a relative clause with the wrong case (the lawyer who we met), its/it's, or a reported question welded to 'that' (asked that why, that whether).
How to solve: Objects after prepositions and after let take me/him/them. For who/whom, substitute he (→ who) or him (→ whom); possession is whose even for buildings. A reported question keeps only one connective: asked why, wanted to know whether.
Example: 'Mother wanted to know / that whether / I had locked / the back door.' Find the error.
A reported yes/no question takes whether (or if) alone; 'that whether' stacks two connectives. The part to pick is 'that whether'.
Comparison error
commonDouble comparatives (more better), a superlative for exactly two items, a best without the, superior/senior with than, or a member compared with its own group without any other.
How to solve: One shape only (-er or more, never both). Two things take the comparative (the shorter of the two); Latin comparatives (superior, senior, junior, prior, preferable) take to; when a thing is compared with its own group, insert other/any other so it is not compared with itself.
Example: 'The summer of Nagpur / is harsher than / any city / in Maharashtra.' Find the error.
Nagpur is itself a city of Maharashtra — it cannot be harsher than itself: harsher than any other city in Maharashtra.
Redundancy and word-choice error
commonA doubled idea (returned back, repeat again, both of you two) or a swapped twin (advise for advice, effect for affect, loose for lose) in an otherwise clean sentence.
How to solve: Ask of each word whether a neighbour already says it — return, repeat and revert carry 'back/again' inside them, so cut the extra word. For twins, decide the job: advice (noun) vs advise (verb), affect (verb) vs effect (noun), lose (misplace) vs loose (not tight).
Example: 'This year's harvest / is more better / than the last one's, / thanks to the rains.' Find the error.
'More better' doubles the comparative — better is already comparative. The part to pick is 'is more better'.
Question tag and structure error
occasionalA statement ends with a short tag (isn't it? after they have...) or a sentence mixes shapes in a list, uses would have inside an if-clause, or puts an adjective where an adverb belongs.
How to solve: The tag repeats the statement's helping verb, flips sign, and ends in a matching pronoun — hidden negatives (never, rarely, hardly) flip to a positive tag. In conditionals, would have never enters the if-clause; in lists, every item copies the first item's shape; action verbs take adverbs, linking verbs take adjectives.
Example: 'Suresh rarely / misses his morning walk, / doesn't he? / his neighbour asked.' Find the error.
Rarely makes the statement negative, so the tag must be positive: does he? 'Doesn't he' fails to flip the sign.