Choose the Correct - Incorrect Sentence Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The word is used correctly in When the thief keeps eluding the police, he is being elusive.

Elude means to escape or evade, and elusive describes someone or something hard to catch or pin down. A thief who keeps escaping the police is being elusive.

In the first sentence the teacher alludes (refers indirectly) to authors, so the right word would be allusive, not elusive. Matters hard to understand or remember are elusive, not allusive, so the third sentence is wrong. Mirages are illusory (deceptive), not allusive, so the fourth is wrong too.

Answer: D

The incorrect sentence is This country's expenditure on educational reforms is very less.

'Less' is a comparative and needs something to be compared with, as in 'less than last year'. It cannot be intensified by 'very'. The sentence should read 'is very low' or 'is very little'.

The others are correct. In the first, 'less' is used as a preposition meaning minus. In the second, 'not less than that of Bangladesh' is a proper comparison. In the third, 'a lesser sum' uses 'lesser', the adjective meaning smaller, correctly before a noun.

Answer: A

The correct sentence is It is I who am responsible for this fiasco.

In a cleft sentence, the relative pronoun 'who' takes the person and number of its antecedent. Here the antecedent is 'I', so the verb must be first person singular: 'who am'. After 'It is', formal grammar also requires the subject form 'I', not 'myself'.

'Who is' treats 'I' as third person, 'who are' as plural, and 'It is myself' misuses a reflexive pronoun that has no antecedent to reflect.

Answer: B

The verb is wishes.

The subject is 'The President', which is singular. A phrase introduced by 'along with', 'together with' or 'as well as' is parenthetical and does not make the subject plural, so the verb stays singular: 'The President ... wishes to visit India'. The simple present also suits a stated intention about next week.

'Wish' is the plural form, which would treat the Council of Ministers as part of the subject. 'Will wish' and 'is wishing' put the wish itself in the future or as a passing state, which is not idiomatic for a planned visit.

Answer: A

The correct sentence is He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.

The subject of will be victorious is the whole phrase He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot: the relative clause who knows... tells us which person is meant. The tenses agree, present knows with future will be.

Option B drops who, leaving two main verbs with one subject. Options C and D mix past knew with present can and also lack a proper subject for will be; D also changes when to where.

Answer: D

The correct sentence is A pair of spectacles has been bought by me.

Nouns such as scissors and spectacles are plural in form and take a plural verb: 'My scissors are not sharp', 'My spectacles are very costly'. When they are counted with a pair of, the subject becomes pair, which is singular, so 'A pair of spectacles has been bought' is right.

'Order for his transfer has been issued' is marked wrong because, in the sense of an official direction, the usage is 'Orders for his transfer have been issued'.

Answer: C

The correct sentence is It’s finally a holiday, and my dog is happily wagging its tail.

It’s is the short form of it is: ‘It is finally a holiday’. Its, with no apostrophe, is the possessive pronoun, like his or her: the tail belonging to the dog is its tail.

The other sentences each misuse one form: ‘Its finally a holiday’ drops the apostrophe the contraction needs, and ‘wagging it’s tail’ would mean ‘wagging it is tail’. Only one sentence gets both right.

Answer: D

The correct sentence is The board of trustees comprised older people.

'Comprise' means 'consist of' and takes a direct object: the whole comprises its parts. So 'The board comprised older people' is right.

'Comprised of' is a common error (the correct passive alternatives are 'consisted of' or 'was composed of'); 'consisted older people' omits the needed 'of'; and 'Older people comprised the board' reverses whole and parts, using 'comprise' to mean 'compose'.

Answer: A

The correct sentence is Who is the man in the funny hat over there?

It is a properly formed direct question with the verb before the subject.

The others contain errors. In an indirect question the word order is that of a statement: 'Can you tell me what your name is?' 'Me' cannot be part of a subject: 'My team and I drove'. And 'a smallest hotel' combines the indefinite article with a superlative, while 'in the backside of' should be 'behind'.

Answer: A

The sentence expressing a wish is Would that I had made contact with him before his departure.

'Would that' is a formal, literary way of saying 'I wish' or 'if only': here the speaker regrets not having contacted him. That is the use of would to express a wish or desire.

'Would you mind opening the window?' is a polite request. 'She would look at the stars for hours when she was a child' expresses a past habit, and 'She would not follow my advice' expresses refusal or unwillingness.