Which of phrases given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark 'E' as the answer.
My hair stood off ends when I saw the horrible sight.
Answer: B
It should read stood on ends.
Hair stands on end is the idiom, from the hair rising at fright. The preposition is on; off, at and to are not used with it.
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The long or short of it is that I do not want to deal with that new firm.
Answer: A
It should read the long and short of it.
The long and short of it means the sum of the matter, and both words are held together by and. With or the phrase asks the reader to choose, which is not the sense.
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Can you tell me why did you not speak the truth?
Answer: C
It should read why you did not speak.
The clause after tell me is a noun clause, not a question, so it takes statement word order with no inversion. Did already carries the tense, so speak stays in the base form.
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The people generally try to curry favour with the corrupt but influential person
Answer: E
No correction is required.
Curry favour is the fixed idiom for seeking favour by flattery. It has nothing to do with the spice: it comes from currying a horse named Fauvel in a medieval French poem, and the name became favour in English.
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I have got some tea, but I do not have a sugar.
Answer: D
It should read any.
Sugar is uncountable, so it takes no article. In a negative sentence some becomes any, giving I do not have any sugar.
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Had I realised how close I was to the edge of the valley, I would not have carried the bags there.
Answer: E
No correction is required.
Had I realised is the inverted form of if I had realised, and the main clause correctly takes would not have carried. Every alternative either doubles the auxiliary or puts would into the if-clause.
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Most of the Indian workers are as healthy as, if not healthier than, British workers.
Answer: E
No correction is required.
As healthy as, if not healthier than, is the complete double comparison - the first as ... as is closed before the parenthesis, and than follows healthier. Dropping either half leaves the sentence unbalanced.
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Identify the part of speech of the underlined word in the following sentence.
A freeze warning was posted for Thursday night.
CBSE Assistant Secretary - 2024,
Answer: A
'Freeze' here is a noun.
In 'A freeze warning', freeze names a thing, a period of freezing weather, and is used before another noun, warning, to say what kind of warning it is. A noun used this way is called a noun adjunct or attributive noun, as in 'flood alert' or 'traffic signal'; it still counts as a noun.
It is not an adjective, since it cannot be compared ('more freeze') or used after 'is' in the same sense. It is not an adverb, because it modifies a noun, and not a conjunction, because it joins nothing.
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Identify the correct substitute for the bracketed segment.
(Jim had quickly) realized that he had lost the keys.
DSSSB PGT - 2023,
Answer: A
The sentence is 'Jim had quickly realized that he had lost the keys.' The bracketed part is in the past perfect, but the second clause 'he had lost the keys' already carries the earlier action (the losing), and so the realizing can be put in the simple past, as in 'Jim quickly realized that he had lost the keys.' The options with 'has quickly' and 'have quickly' have the wrong tense or agreement, with 'Jim have' also wrong because of the singular subject. 'No correction required' is not the key's choice. The answer is 'Jim quickly', option A.
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Identify the correct substitute for the bracketed segment.
(No sooner did we arrived) at the club than we got into an argument about parking.
DSSSB PGT - 2023,
Answer: C
After 'No sooner' at the start of a sentence, the auxiliary comes before the subject (inversion), and the main verb is in the base form, so 'No sooner did we arrive' is correct. The printed form 'did we arrived' puts the main verb in the past after 'did', which is a mistake, since 'did' already carries the tense. 'No sooner had we arrive' mixes 'had' with the base form, and 'No sooner than we arrived' uses 'than' in the wrong place, as 'than' belongs after the clause. The answer is 'No sooner did we arrive', option C.
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