Question 1

Select the option that best improves the sentence.

She is one of the few students who has scored above 90% in the examination.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. The relative pronoun 'who' refers to 'students' (plural), not 'one', so the verb in the relative clause should be plural 'have', not singular 'has'.

Question 2

Select the option that best improves the sentence.

The teacher asked the students to complete their homework and submit it by tomorrow.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a tense inconsistency. When 'asked' (past tense) is used, the reported instruction should use the infinitive form without changing the time reference inappropriately. However, 'by tomorrow' from the teacher's perspective at that moment would be 'by the next day' in reported speech. The most natural improvement maintains the original structure but clarifies the time reference.

Question 3

Select the option that best improves the sentence.

Either the manager or the employees is responsible for the error.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. When 'either...or' connects two subjects, the verb must agree with the nearest subject. Here, 'employees' (plural) is nearest to the verb, so the verb should be plural 'are'.

Question 4

The report highlights that the majority of the population are living in poverty and lacking access to basic amenities.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. 'Majority' is a collective noun that takes a singular verb when referring to the group as a whole.

Question 5

The government has announced new policies to address the issues of unemployment, inflation, and to improve the standard of living.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a parallelism error. The list mixes noun phrases ('unemployment', 'inflation') with an infinitive phrase ('to improve'), breaking parallel structure.

Question 6

The committee have decided to postpone the meeting because of the heavy rainfall.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. 'Committee' is a collective noun that takes a singular verb in Indian English when referring to the group as a single unit.

Question 7

She is one of the few students who has scored above 90% in the entrance examination.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. The relative pronoun 'who' refers to 'students' (plural), not 'one', so the verb must be plural.

Question 8

Despite of his extensive experience in the field, he was unable to solve the complex problem that had been troubling the team for weeks.

Accepted Answer

The phrase 'despite of' is grammatically incorrect. The correct form is either 'despite' (preposition) or 'in spite of' (prepositional phrase), but never 'despite of.' The corrected sentence should read: 'Despite his extensive experience in the field, he was unable to solve the complex problem that had been troubling the team for weeks.' or 'In spite of his extensive experience in the field, he was unable to solve the complex problem that had been troubling the team for weeks.'

Question 9

The manager insisted that all employees should strictly adhere to the new protocols, but many of them was reluctant to implement the changes immediately.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. The subject 'many of them' is plural (many = plural quantifier), so the verb must be plural 'were,' not singular 'was.' The corrected sentence should read: 'The manager insisted that all employees should strictly adhere to the new protocols, but many of them were reluctant to implement the changes immediately.'

Question 10

The report suggests that the government should take immediate action to address the growing inflation, which have affected millions of people across the country.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a relative pronoun-antecedent agreement error. The relative pronoun 'which' refers to 'inflation' (singular noun), so the verb must be singular 'has,' not plural 'have.' The corrected sentence should read: 'The report suggests that the government should take immediate action to address the growing inflation, which has affected millions of people across the country.'

Question 11

The principal, along with the teachers, have been working tirelessly to improve the academic standards of the school.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. When a singular subject ('principal') is followed by a prepositional phrase ('along with the teachers'), the verb must agree with the main subject, not the object of the preposition. The correct verb is 'has,' not 'have.' The corrected sentence should read: 'The principal, along with the teachers, has been working tirelessly to improve the academic standards of the school.'

Question 12

The committee have decided to postpone the meeting, and they is planning to reschedule it for next month.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error. 'Committee' is a collective noun that takes a plural verb in British English when referring to members acting individually. The first clause correctly uses 'have,' but the second clause incorrectly uses 'is' instead of 'are.' The corrected sentence should read: 'The committee have decided to postpone the meeting, and they are planning to reschedule it for next month.'

Question 13

The data shows that neither the government nor the private sector have taken sufficient measures to combat climate change, despite the urgency of the situation.

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a subject-verb agreement error with a compound subject joined by 'neither...nor.' According to the rule, when 'neither...nor' joins two subjects, the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Here, 'the private sector' (singular) is nearer to the verb, so the verb must be singular 'has,' not plural 'have.' The corrected sentence should read: 'The data shows that neither the government nor the private sector has taken sufficient measures to combat climate change, despite the urgency of the situation.'

SSC GD Constable Sentence Improvement

Sentence Improvement— Rules & Concept

Key Points to Remember

Exam-Specific Tips

Sentence Improvement — Practice Questions

60-Second Revision — Sentence Improvement