Jharkhand TET – English Language
Topic: Error Spotting
Goal of this topic – In the exam you will be given a passage or a few sentences that contain one or more grammatical, punctuation, or lexical errors. Your task is to identify all the errors and correct them.
1. Simple Explanation
| What is Error Spotting? | Why is it important? |
|---|---|
| A sub‑skill of Reading Comprehension that tests your ability to spot mistakes in grammar, usage, punctuation, and style. | It checks your command of standard written English and your attention to detail—skills that are essential for a teacher. |
Typical errors you may encounter:
| Category | Example |
|---|---|
| Grammar | Subject‑verb agreement, tense, pronoun‑antecedent, article usage, prepositions, conjunctions. |
| Punctuation | Comma splice, missing commas, misplaced apostrophes, semicolons, colons. |
| Spelling/Word Choice | Homophones (their/there/they’re), “principle” vs. “principal”, “affect” vs. “effect”. |
| Style | Wordiness, passive voice, redundancy, awkward phrasing. |
2. Key Points to Remember
| # | Point | Quick Tip |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read the whole sentence first – don’t jump to the first word. | “First, read. Then, check.” |
| 2 | Identify the subject and verb – they must agree. | “She writes.” not “She write.” |
| 3 | Check pronouns – they must agree in number and gender with their antecedents. | “Everyone should bring their book.” (acceptable in modern usage; in exam, “his or her” is safer). |
| 4 | Look for missing or extra articles – a, an, the. | “She saw a cat.” vs. “She saw the cat.” |
| 5 | Punctuation – commas separate clauses; semicolon joins closely related independent clauses. | “I like tea; I don’t like coffee.” |
| 6 | Spelling/Word Choice – use a mental “spell‑check” for common confusions. | “Their home, not there.” |
| 7 | Avoid comma splices – two independent clauses separated by only a comma. | “He ran, he fell.” → “He ran, and he fell.” |
| 8 | Check verb tense consistency – past, present, future. | “She had gone and is now waiting.” |
| 9 | Avoid double negatives – they can cancel each other. | “I don’t have no money.” → “I have no money.” |
| 10 | Be cautious of idioms – many are fixed expressions. | “It’s raining cats and dogs.” |
3. Worked Example
Original Paragraph (with errors)
- The students had been studying for the exam, and they has finished their assignments.
- One of the teachers, shied from the criticism, was eager to improve the curriculum.
- The school is going to launch new programs in 2024, where many students will be enrolled.
- Although the results are not good, there was a significant improvement compared to last year.
- The students should used better study techniques to increase their scores.
Step‑by‑Step Error Identification
| Line | Error | Why it’s wrong | Corrected version |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | has | subject‑verb agreement: plural subject “students” → plural verb “have” | have |
| 1 | “been studying” (present perfect) + “finished” (simple past) | Tense mismatch: both should be present perfect or simple past | either “had finished” or “have finished” |
| 2 | shied | Wrong form of “shied” (past of “shy”) vs. “shied” (past of “shy”)? Actually “shied” is correct; but the sentence logic: “shied from criticism” is odd; probably meant “shied away from criticism” | Add “away” (or use “shied from criticism” is acceptable but consider style). |
| 2 | was eager | Past tense verb “was” + adjective “eager” is fine. The error is actually improve (base form) after modal was? Not an error. None. | |
| 3 | in 2024 | Preposition should be “in” or “for” – correct is “in 2024”. No error. | |
| 3 | where | Wrong relative pronoun; should be “when” for time. | when |
| 4 | there was | Should be “there were” because plural noun “students”. | there were |
| 5 | should used | Wrong verb form: should + base form; use “should use” | should use |
Corrected Paragraph
- The students had been studying for the exam, and they have finished their assignments.
- One of the teachers, shied away from the criticism, was eager to improve the curriculum.
- The school is going to launch new programs in 2024, when many students will be enrolled.
- Although the results are not good, there were a significant improvement compared to last year.
- The students should use better study techniques to increase their scores.
Quick Revision Checklist
| Category | What to check? | Quick Question to Self |
|---|---|---|
| Subject‑verb | Is the verb form compatible with the subject? | “The students ___?” |
| Tense | Are all verbs in the same tense unless |