Question 1

Identify the error in the following sentence:
When she (A) arrives at the office, / (B) she always drinks / (C) a cup of tea before / (D) starting work.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a tense error. The subordinate clause uses 'arrives' (simple present), which is correct for habitual actions. However, the main clause should also use simple present 'drinks' to maintain tense consistency in describing a habitual routine. The sentence is actually correct as written. No error exists.

Question 2

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The students (A) had completed / (B) their assignments / (C) before the teacher / (D) has arrived.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a tense error. Part D uses 'has arrived' (present perfect), which is inconsistent with the past tense context established by 'had completed' (past perfect) in part A. Both actions occurred in the past, so part D should use 'arrived' (simple past) to maintain tense consistency. Error is in part D.

Question 3

Identify the error in the following sentence:
By the time the train (A) arrives, / (B) we will have waited / (C) for three hours at / (D) the station.

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. 'Will have waited' (future perfect) is the appropriate tense because it describes an action that will be completed before another future action ('arrives'). The preposition 'at' correctly precedes 'the station'. No error exists.

Question 4

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The manager (A) has instructed / (B) all employees to complete / (C) their reports by tomorrow / (D) No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. 'Has instructed' (present perfect) is appropriate because the instruction was given in the recent past and remains relevant. 'All employees' (plural) correctly agrees with 'their' (plural pronoun). 'By tomorrow' is a correct time expression indicating a deadline. No error exists.

Question 5

Identify the error in the following sentence:
She (A) has been working / (B) in this company / (C) since she have graduated / (D) from university.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a tense error in part C. The phrase 'since she have graduated' is incorrect. After 'since' (which introduces a point in time), the verb should be in simple past 'graduated', not present perfect 'have graduated'. The correct form is 'since she graduated'. Error is in part C.

Question 6

The manager (A) has instructed / (B) the team members that they (C) should complete / (D) the project by next Friday. No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. 'Has instructed' (present perfect) is appropriate for a recent action with present relevance. The indirect speech structure 'instructed that they should complete' correctly uses the modal 'should' for reported commands. All parts maintain proper tense consistency and agreement.

Question 7

Since the company (A) had implemented / (B) the new software system, (C) the employees have been / (D) working more efficiently. No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a tense error. Part A uses past perfect 'had implemented', but the main clause uses present perfect 'have been working'. Since both actions are related to a timeframe extending to the present, both should use present perfect. The correct form should be 'has implemented' (present perfect) to match the ongoing relevance indicated by 'have been working'.

Question 8

Identify the error in the following sentence:

The manager (A) has instructed the team that they (B) should complete the project before the deadline, and they (C) have been working on it since last month (D). No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. All parts maintain proper tense consistency and subject-verb agreement. Part A uses present perfect ('has instructed') appropriately for a recent action with present relevance. Part B correctly uses 'should' in reported speech. Part C uses present perfect continuous ('have been working'), which correctly indicates an action that started in the past and continues to the present—perfectly aligned with 'since last month'. Part D correctly identifies the time marker. There is no error.

Question 9

The students (A) have been studying / (B) for the examination (C) since three weeks / (D) and they are confident. No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a preposition error in part C. The phrase 'since three weeks' is incorrect; 'since' is used with a point in time (e.g., 'since Monday', 'since 2020'), not a duration. The correct preposition is 'for', which is used with durations. The correct phrase should be 'for three weeks'. Part A correctly uses present perfect continuous 'have been studying'.

Question 10

By the time the conference (A) will begin / (B) next month, (C) the committee will have completed / (D) all the preliminary discussions. No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a tense error in part A. In a time clause beginning with 'by the time', the verb should be in simple present tense, not future tense. The correct form should be 'begins' (simple present), not 'will begin' (simple future). The main clause correctly uses future perfect 'will have completed'.

Question 11

The report (A) which was submitted / (B) yesterday contains / (C) several errors that (D) needs / to be corrected. No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error in part D. The subject of the relative clause is 'errors' (plural), so the verb should be 'need' (plural), not 'needs' (singular). The phrase 'several errors that needs to be corrected' violates agreement rules.

Question 12

Identify the error in the sentence below:

By the time the auditor (A) arrives at the office tomorrow, the accountant (B) will have been preparing the financial statements (C) for three hours already (D). No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a tense consistency error. When 'by the time' introduces a future event, the main clause should use future perfect ('will have + V3'), but the subordinate clause must use simple present, not future. Here, 'arrives' is correct (simple present in the time clause), but the main clause structure is problematic because it uses 'will have been preparing' (future perfect continuous) when the logical meaning requires 'will have prepared' (future perfect simple). However, examining more carefully: the real error is that 'already' at the end is redundant and awkward with 'for three hours'—but the core tense is actually acceptable in Indian English usage. The ACTUAL error is in part (B): 'the accountant' should be 'the accountant's work' or the verb should be singular-agreeing. On strict re-examination, the sentence is grammatically sound: 'will have been preparing for three hours' is correct future perfect continuous. The error is actually NONE—this is a valid construction in British/Indian English where future perfect continuous expresses an action that will be in progress up to a future point. However, for exam difficulty, the trap is that students confuse 'will have been preparing' (correct) with 'will be preparing' (incorrect here). Since the question requires exactly one error, the answer is **(E) No error**, as the sentence correctly uses future perfect continuous with a time clause in simple present.

Question 13

Identify the error in the following sentence:

If the company (A) had invested in renewable energy five years ago, it would not be facing (B) financial difficulties now, and the shareholders (C) would have received better dividends than they have (D).

(A) had invested in renewable energy five years ago
(B) would not be facing
(C) would have received better dividends
(D) than they have

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The sentence mixes two different conditional structures. The first part is a mixed conditional (past condition + present result: 'if had invested...would not be facing'), which is correct. However, part (C) incorrectly uses 'would have received' (past result). For consistency with the present result in part (B), it should be 'would be receiving' (present result). Alternatively, the entire sentence should maintain one conditional type, but mixing 'would not be facing' (present) with 'would have received' (past) is grammatically inconsistent.

Question 14

Identify the error in the following sentence:

The economist argued that if the government (A) had implemented stricter regulations a decade ago, the financial crisis would have been averted, and the economy (B) would not have suffered (C) the losses that it has experienced (D) in recent years.

(A) had implemented stricter regulations a decade ago
(B) would not have suffered
(C) the losses that it has experienced
(D) in recent years

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The phrase 'that it has experienced' uses present perfect, but it should use simple past 'that it experienced' because the losses occurred in the past (specifically 'in recent years', which is a completed time period). Present perfect is used for actions that began in the past and continue to the present or have present relevance; however, 'in recent years' is a closed time frame, requiring simple past. The sentence structure is a third conditional (past condition + past result), so all result clauses must use past perfect or simple past, not present perfect.

Question 15

Identify the error in the following sentence:

By the time the manager (A) arrives at the office tomorrow, the team (B) will have completed (C) the project which they have been working (D) on for three weeks.

(A) arrives at the office tomorrow
(B) will have completed
(C) the project which they have been working
(D) No error

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The phrase 'which they have been working on' uses present perfect continuous, but it should use past perfect continuous 'which they had been working on' because the action of working on the project will be completed before the manager arrives (future reference point). The sentence structure requires: by the time + future event, the action must be expressed in past perfect continuous when referring to the duration leading up to that future moment.

Question 16

Identify the error in the following sentence:

The research team (A) has been investigating the phenomenon since 2015, and they (B) have discovered that the data which was collected (C) over the past decade reveals patterns that scientists have long been seeking (D).

(A) has been investigating the phenomenon since 2015
(B) have discovered that the data
(C) which was collected over the past decade
(D) reveals patterns that scientists have long been seeking

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The phrase 'which was collected' uses simple past, but it should use present perfect 'which has been collected' because the collection occurred over a period extending to the present ('over the past decade'). The simple past 'was collected' suggests the collection is entirely finished and disconnected from the present, whereas the context indicates an ongoing process of data collection that continues to the present moment.

Question 17

Identify the error in the following sentence:

The board of directors (A) have decided that once the merger (B) is completed next quarter, the company will have consolidated (C) its operations, and employees will be informed of the changes that will have been implemented (D).

(A) have decided that once the merger
(B) is completed next quarter
(C) will have consolidated its operations
(D) will have been implemented

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (D). The phrase 'will have been implemented' uses future perfect passive, but it should use simple future passive 'will be implemented' because the sentence is describing what will happen at the time of the merger completion (next quarter), not before it. Future perfect is used only when an action will be completed before another future action; here, the implementation happens at the same time as the merger completion, so simple future is correct.

SBI Clerk Tenses

Tenses— Rules & Concept

Key Points to Remember

Exam-Specific Tips

Tenses — Practice Questions

60-Second Revision — Tenses