Spot the Error: TN Board 12th English Grammar PYQs & Rules
Welcome to the ultimate 5-mark lifesaver for your TN Board 12th English Exam! Spot the Error appears in Part IV of the public exam. It tests your microscopic understanding of grammar, from Subject-Verb agreement (Concord) to tricky prepositions and invisible article rules. Examiners repeat the same grammatical traps year after year. Master our advanced grammar cheat sheet below, practice the top 20 Previous Year Questions (PYQs), and challenge yourself with the interactive Self-Test!
🔥 Exam Tip & The Advanced Error Spotting Cheat Sheet:
- 1. The "One of the" Rule: "One of the" is ALWAYS followed by a Plural Noun and a Singular Verb.
👉 Error: One of the boy is missing. → Correct: One of the boys is missing.- 2. The Latin Adjectives (The 'to' Trap): Words ending in '-ior' (senior, junior, superior, inferior) and the word 'prefer' take the preposition to, NEVER than.
👉 Error: I prefer coffee than tea. → Correct: I prefer coffee to tea.- 3. Double Conjunction Trap: Never use two conjunctions of the same family in one sentence.
👉 Error: Though he is poor, but he is honest. → Correct: Though he is poor, he is honest. (Or) He is poor, but he is honest.- 4. Uncountable Nouns (No 's'): Words like furniture, advice, scenery, luggage, information, machinery, poetry, news do not have a plural 's'.
👉 Error: He gave me many advices. → Correct: He gave me a lot of advice (or pieces of advice).- 5. The Article Pronunciation Rule: Use 'an' before vowel SOUNDS, not just letters.
👉 Exceptions: a European, a university, a one-rupee coin. / an honest man, an hour, an MLA.
Top 20 Board Exam Questions: Spot the Error
Part 1: Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord) & Nouns
Fix the errors related to singular/plural subjects, uncountable nouns, and verbs.
- Question: One of the student have scored full marks. (March 2019)
Answer: One of the students has scored full marks. - Question: The sceneries of Kashmir are beautiful.
Answer: The scenery of Kashmir is beautiful. ('Scenery' is uncountable and takes a singular verb) - Question: Neither Ram nor Shyam have attended the meeting. (March 2022)
Answer: Neither Ram nor Shyam has attended the meeting. (Rule: Neither/Nor takes the verb matching the subject closest to it) - Question: Physics are my favourite subject.
Answer: Physics is my favourite subject. (Subjects ending in 'ics' are singular) - Question: A group of boys are playing in the ground.
Answer: A group of boys is playing in the ground. ('A group' is a singular collective noun)
Part 2: Prepositional Traps
Fix wrong prepositions or remove unnecessary ones.
- Question: He prefers reading books than playing games. (March 2020)
Answer: He prefers reading books to playing games. - Question: The ministers discussed about the water crisis.
Answer: The ministers discussed the water crisis. (Rule: 'Discuss' means 'talk about', so never add 'about' after it) - Question: My sister is senior than me by two years.
Answer: My sister is senior to me by two years. - Question: She goes to school by walk every day.
Answer: She goes to school on foot every day. (Idiomatic rule) - Question: He congratulated me for my success.
Answer: He congratulated me on my success.
Part 3: Articles & Conjunctions
Fix a/an/the errors and remove double conjunctions.
- Question: Though he was sick, but he attended the class. (March 2023)
Answer: Though he was sick, he attended the class. (Or: He was sick, but he attended the class) - Question: As I was suffering from fever, so I took leave.
Answer: As I was suffering from fever, I took leave. (Remove 'so') - Question: My father is a honest man.
Answer: My father is an honest man. ('h' is silent, so it has an 'o' vowel sound) - Question: He is studying in an university in Chennai.
Answer: He is studying in a university in Chennai. ('University' starts with a 'Y' consonant sound - 'Yoo') - Question: Ganges is a holy river.
Answer: The Ganges is a holy river. (Names of rivers always take 'The')
Part 4: Redundancy & Commonly Confused Expressions
Remove unnecessary words and fix Indian English slangs.
- Question: He is my cousin brother.
Answer: He is my cousin. (Never add brother/sister after cousin) - Question: I will return back the library books tomorrow.
Answer: I will return the library books tomorrow. (Return means 'give back', so 'back' is redundant) - Question: John is tallest boy in our class.
Answer: John is the tallest boy in our class. (Superlative degrees must have 'the') - Question: If I was a bird, I would fly in the sky.
Answer: If I were a bird, I would fly in the sky. (Imaginary conditions always take 'were') - Question: They bought new furnitures for their house.
Answer: They bought new furniture for their house.
📝 Test Yourself: Spot the Error Challenge!
Have you mastered the 5-mark traps? Try spotting the errors in these tricky 12th board-level questions. Click on "Show Answer" to check your accuracy!
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Question: Spot the error: Each of the boys were given a prize.
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: Each of the boys was given a prize.
(Rule: Words like 'Each', 'Every', 'Either', 'Neither' ALWAYS take a singular verb, even if the noun next to them is plural.) -
Question: Spot the error: I ordered for two cups of coffee.
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: I ordered two cups of coffee.
(Rule: 'Order' as a transitive verb directly takes an object. Remove the preposition 'for'.) -
Question: Spot the error: Let you and I do this work together.
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: Let you and me do this work together.
(Rule: The verb 'Let' is always followed by an objective pronoun - me, him, her, us, them. Never 'I'.) -
Question: Spot the error: He is having a large family.
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: He has a large family.
(Rule: Verbs of possession like 'have', 'own', 'belong' are stative verbs and generally should NOT be used in the 'ing' continuous form to show possession.) -
Question: Spot the error: She packed her luggages and left.
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Answer: She packed her luggage and left.
(Rule: 'Luggage' and 'Baggage' are uncountable nouns. They never take an 's'.)
The ultimate trick to scoring 5/5 in Error Spotting is to scan the sentence like an X-Ray: First check the Subject-Verb Agreement, then check the Prepositions, and finally check for Articles and Uncountable Nouns. Bookmark this page, practice thoroughly, and secure your marks in the TN Board English Exam!