Question 1

In the following sentence, identify the part containing an error:

(A) The team members were divided / (B) because of the disagreement, / (C) yet they worked together / (D) and achieved the goal. / No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. The coordinating conjunctions 'yet' and 'and' are properly used. 'Yet' introduces a contrasting clause (despite division, they worked together), and 'and' connects two related independent clauses (worked together and achieved the goal). The logic and grammar are sound.

Question 2

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The teacher said that (A) the students must complete their assignments (B) and submit them on time, (C) or they will face consequences. (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error lies in part (D). The sentence uses mixed tenses: 'must complete' and 'submit' (present/imperative mood) are correctly paired with 'or' (a coordinating conjunction), but the second clause shifts to future tense 'will face' after 'or'. When using 'or' to join two clauses in reported speech with 'must', the second clause should maintain consistency. However, the actual error is the tense shift from imperative/present to future. The conjunction 'or' here requires parallel structure: either both clauses should use 'must' or both should use 'will'. Correct form: 'or they must face consequences' or restructure entirely.

Question 3

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The committee decided that either the finance department (A) / or the human resources team (B) / are responsible for (C) / submitting the annual budget. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The subject is a compound subject joined by 'or', and when 'either...or' is used, the verb must agree with the nearest subject. Here, 'the human resources team' (singular) is nearest to the verb, so the verb should be 'is responsible' (singular), not 'are responsible' (plural). The rule is: with 'either...or' or 'neither...nor', the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Correct form: 'Either the finance department or the human resources team is responsible for submitting the annual budget.'

Question 4

In the following sentence, identify the part containing an error:

(A) She will attend the meeting / (B) if and only if / (C) her supervisor approves, / (D) or she will send a representative. / No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains an error in part (D). The conjunction 'or' contradicts the condition 'if and only if' established in part (B). 'If and only if' means there is exactly one condition; using 'or' introduces an alternative, which violates the exclusivity. The sentence should use 'and' or restructure to maintain logical consistency.

Question 5

In the following sentence, one part is underlined. Identify the part that contains a grammatical error.

"She wanted to attend the meeting, (A) but she had no time, (B) so she decided to send her assistant (C) and also her colleague instead." (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error lies in part (C). The conjunction 'and also' is redundant and grammatically incorrect in this context. When two items are joined by a coordinating conjunction, 'and' alone is sufficient. The phrase 'and also' creates unnecessary repetition and violates the rule of conciseness in conjunction usage. The correct form should be: 'so she decided to send her assistant and her colleague instead' or 'so she decided to send both her assistant and her colleague instead.' Parts (A) and (B) correctly use 'but' and 'so' as coordinating conjunctions to join independent clauses.

Question 6

Identify the error in the sentence below:

Because she studied hard (A) / and prepared thoroughly, (B) / she passed the examination (C) / with flying colours. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

There is no error in this sentence. The conjunction 'because' correctly introduces a causal clause, and 'and' properly coordinates two parallel actions ('studied hard' and 'prepared thoroughly'). The main clause 'she passed the examination' logically follows from the reason given. All parts maintain grammatical correctness and logical coherence.

Question 7

Identify the error in the sentence below:

Although he was tired, (A) / but he continued working (B) / on the project (C) / until midnight. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (B). The conjunction 'although' is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a concessive clause. When 'although' is used, it should NOT be followed by 'but' in the main clause, as this creates a redundant double conjunction. The correct form should be either: 'Although he was tired, he continued working...' OR 'He was tired, but he continued working...' Using both 'although' and 'but' together is a common error in Indian English.

Question 8

Identify the error in the sentence below. The underlined parts are marked (A), (B), (C), and (D).

"She wanted to study medicine, (A) yet / (B) her parents insisted that she become / (C) an engineer instead, (D) so she reluctantly agreed."

Which underlined part contains an error?

(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. Part (A) uses 'yet' appropriately as a coordinating conjunction to show contrast between her wish and her parents' insistence. Part (B) correctly uses the subjunctive mood ('become') after 'insisted that' (required in formal English). Part (C) correctly uses the indefinite article 'an' before 'engineer' (vowel sound). Part (D) correctly uses 'so' as a coordinating conjunction showing consequence. The answer is (e) No error.

Question 9

Identify the error in the following sentence:
He neither likes coffee (A) / nor does he enjoy (B) / tea in the morning, (C) / and he prefers juice instead. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The correlative conjunction 'neither...nor' requires parallel structure. After 'nor does he enjoy,' the object should be 'tea' (noun), but the phrase 'tea in the morning' breaks parallelism because the first part 'neither likes coffee' has no time modifier. The correct form should be: 'He neither likes coffee nor tea in the morning' or 'He neither likes coffee in the morning nor does he enjoy tea in the morning.' The current structure creates an imbalanced comparison.

Question 10

Identify the error in the sentence below:

Either you submit the assignment (A) / or your friend submits it, (B) / but both of you (C) / cannot avoid responsibility. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The correlative conjunction 'either...or' presents two alternatives, and the sentence should not introduce 'but' to contradict this logic. The phrase 'but both of you' contradicts the 'either...or' structure, which implies only one person will submit. The sentence is logically inconsistent. It should be: 'Either you submit the assignment or your friend submits it, and both of you cannot avoid responsibility' OR restructured entirely to avoid the contradiction.

Question 11

Choose the correct conjunction to fill in the blank: She was tired, _______ she continued to work until midnight.

Accepted Answer

The sentence shows a contrast between being tired and continuing to work. The coordinating conjunction 'yet' is used to express contrast between two independent clauses, similar to 'but'. 'So' implies result, 'for' implies reason, and 'nor' is used in negative constructions — none of these fit the contrast here.

Question 12

Identify the error in the following sentence:
Neither the manager nor the employees (A) was willing to compromise, (B) yet they agreed (C) to attend the meeting together. (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error lies in part (B). When using the correlative conjunction 'neither...nor', the verb must agree with the nearest subject. Here, 'employees' (plural) is nearest to the verb, so the verb should be 'were' not 'was'. Correct form: 'Neither the manager nor the employees were willing to compromise.'

Question 13

Identify the error in the sentence below:

She wants to learn French (A) / as well as Spanish, (B) / so she enrolled (C) / in both language courses. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

There is no error in this sentence. The conjunction 'as well as' correctly coordinates two parallel objects ('French' and 'Spanish'), and 'so' appropriately introduces the result clause ('she enrolled in both language courses'). The sentence maintains proper parallelism, logical flow, and grammatical correctness throughout.

Question 14

Identify the error in the following sentence:
Both the manager and the supervisor (A) / has agreed to attend (B) / the conference, (C) / but they will arrive separately. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (B). The subject 'Both the manager and the supervisor' is a compound subject joined by 'and', which is always plural. Therefore, the verb should be 'have agreed' (plural), not 'has agreed' (singular). The rule is: when two or more subjects are joined by 'and', the verb must be plural. Correct form: 'Both the manager and the supervisor have agreed to attend the conference.'

Question 15

In the following sentence, identify the part containing an error:

(A) She wanted to study hard / (B) and also work part-time, / (C) but she could not manage / (D) both the responsibilities. / No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. All conjunctions are used properly: 'and' connects two parallel infinitive phrases ('to study hard' and 'work part-time'), and 'but' correctly introduces a contrasting clause. The structure maintains parallelism and logical flow.

Question 16

In the following sentence, identify the part containing an error:

(A) Although he was tired, / (B) but he continued / (C) to work on the project / (D) until midnight. / No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains an error in part (B). The subordinating conjunction 'although' already introduces a contrast, so using the coordinating conjunction 'but' is redundant and grammatically incorrect. The sentence should use either 'Although he was tired, he continued...' OR 'He was tired, but he continued...' — not both.

Question 17

Identify the error in the sentence:
The report suggests that (A) / the government should either increase funding (B) / or it should reduce expenditure, (C) / and the decision must be made soon. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The correlative conjunction 'either...or' requires parallel structure. The first part is 'increase funding' (base verb form), but the second part is 'it should reduce expenditure' (subject + modal + verb). For parallelism, it should be 'or reduce expenditure' to match the structure of 'increase funding'.

Question 18

Identify the error in the sentence:
The committee decided that (A) / they would implement the new policy (B) / and that all employees must attend (C) / the mandatory training session. (D) / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). When two clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction ('and') after 'that', they must maintain parallel structure and tense consistency. The first clause uses 'would implement' (conditional/future), so the second clause should also use 'would attend' instead of 'must attend' to maintain parallelism.

Question 19

Choose the correct conjunction to fill in the blank: She studied very hard, ________ she could not pass the examination.

Accepted Answer

The sentence expresses a contrast between two ideas — studying hard and failing the exam. 'Yet' is a coordinating conjunction used to show contrast or unexpected result, making it the correct choice. 'But' could also work structurally, but 'yet' is more precise for expressing an unexpected or surprising outcome. 'So' indicates result/consequence (wrong here), 'for' indicates reason (wrong here), and 'nor' requires a negative clause before it (not applicable here).

Question 20

Choose the option that identifies the error in the sentence below:

Although he was tired, (A) yet he continued working (B) because his boss insisted (C) and he could not afford to lose his job. (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The sentence contains a conjunction error. When 'although' is used to introduce a concessive clause, it should NOT be followed by 'yet' in the main clause. The conjunction 'although' already expresses the contrast; adding 'yet' creates redundancy and violates standard English grammar rules. The correct form should be: 'Although he was tired, he continued working because his boss insisted and he could not afford to lose his job.' The word 'yet' should be removed entirely.

SSC Selection Post Conjunctions

Conjunctions— Rules & Concept

Key Points to Remember

Exam-Specific Tips

Conjunctions — Practice Questions

60-Second Revision — Conjunctions