What the question looks like
A sentence is split into four parts (A), (B), (C), (D). You choose the part that has a grammatical error, or option E, No error. SBI Clerk Prelims usually has about 5 such questions; Mains may give the sentence with three or four parts and ask which part is wrong, or ask you to pick the correct sentence.
Step-by-step approach
- Read the full sentence once for meaning. Find the main subject and main verb; most errors live there.
- Run a fast checklist on each part: agreement, tense, pronoun, article, preposition, comparison, conjunction pair, word form.
- If nothing is wrong after the checklist, choose No error with confidence. In most papers, one in five or six sentences is correct.
The rules that appear again and again
| Rule | Wrong | Right |
|---|---|---|
| The number of takes a singular verb; a number of takes a plural verb | The number of users have grown | The number of users has grown |
| Each / every / one of / neither of take a singular verb | Each of the branches have | Each of the branches has |
| Neither...nor / either...or / not only...but also: verb agrees with the nearer subject | Neither the manager nor the clerks was | Neither the manager nor the clerks were |
| Along with / as well as / together with do not change the subject's number | The cashier, along with his assistants, were | The cashier, along with his assistants, was |
| Uncountable nouns (information, advice, furniture, equipment) are singular | The information were | The information was |
| Since + point of time, for + period, with the perfect tense | working here since five years | working here for five years |
| Third conditional: If + had + V3, would have + V3 | If he would have checked | If he had checked |
| It is high time + past tense | It is high time we take | It is high time we took |
| Time clauses take present, not future | by the time they will arrive | by the time they arrive |
| No sooner...than; hardly/scarcely...when | No sooner did it start when | No sooner did it start than |
| Look forward to / object to / used to (accustomed) + -ing | look forward to meet | look forward to meeting |
| Comparison with any inside the same group needs other | better than any student in the class | better than any other student in the class |
| Compare like with like | The quality of mangoes is better than the apples | The quality of mangoes is better than that of the apples |
More quick checks
- Pronouns: between you and me; who as subject even when I think / many believe sits between (the man who many believe will win); whose (possessive) vs who's (who is).
- Articles: use a or an by sound: a unique, a European, a one-rupee coin, an hour, an MBA.
- Prepositions: discuss, demand, attack, reach take no preposition; despite takes no of; insist on, prefer X to Y, accused of, charged with.
- Conjunctions: no but after although; no not after unless or until; no that before a question word in reported speech (asked me why).
- Negatives: avoid double negatives (could not find no becomes could not find any).
- Parallelism: items joined by and/or or by paired conjunctions must have the same form (to save, to invest and to plan).
Worked example
(A) Each of the branches / (B) have been instructed / (C) to display the interest rates / (D) on a notice board. The subject is Each, which is singular, so (B) should read has been instructed. The answer is B.
Time target: 25-35 seconds per sentence. If you cannot find the error in 45 seconds, mark your best guess (or skip if negative marking worries you) and move on.