Download Identifying Sentence Errors

Topic: Identifying Sentence Errors
Chapter: Wordiness and Redundancies 1
Sentences often sound pedagogical and appear lengthy, when they repeat what has
already been stated. Repetition is an effective device in poetry, but in prose sentences
they are redundant. For example:
Some species of animals have become extinct because the reason being they could not
adopt to a changing environment.
I was frightened because I thought in my mind that they were going to attack me.
In both the sentences there are redundant words. In the first sentence, the phrase ‘the
reason being’ is redundant as ‘because’ means giving the reason. In the second sentence,
the phrase ‘in my mind’ is redundant as ‘thought’ explains what the speaker had in his
mind.
Practice Questions
Q1.
The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room with a bitterly pungent smell after the
A
B
C
pistol had been fired. No error.
D
E
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: C is redundant as ‘with a bitterly pungent smell’ means the same as ‘acrid
odor’.
Q2. We were all agog at the news that the celebrated movie star was giving up his career
A
B
C
when he was so famous, in order to enter a monastery. No error.
D
E
Correct Answer: D
Explanation: D is redundant as B already mentions that he was a ‘celebrated movie star’.
Q3. Shakespeare’s reference to clocks in ‘Julius Caesar’ is an anachronism; it is
A
B
something misplaced in time as no clocks existed in Caesar’s time. No error.
C
D
E
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: C explains in a redundant manner what B states. The sentence becomes too
wordy.
Q4. Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living
A
were established to promote international amity and friendship. No error.
B
C
D
E
Correct Answer: D
Explanation: D is redundant as ‘amity’ means friendship.
Q5. Being diligent, it took Rembrandt weeks of assiduous labor before he was satisfied
A
B
C
with his portrait of his son. No error.
D
E
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: A is redundant as B explains again that he was diligent.
Q6. Although critics bemoaned the serious flaws in the author’s novels, each year his
A
B
latest book topped the best-seller list. No error.
C
D
E
Correct Answer: E
Explanation: There are no errors.