Sentence Correction, Error Detection, and Fill in the Blanks
subject-verb agreement, tense errors, articles, since vs for, double comparative, pronoun agreement, parallel structure, either-or neither-nor
Sentence Correction, Error Detection, and Fill in the Blanks
Grammar-based questions in verbal ability for placements test your command of English grammar rules. Sentence correction, error detection, and fill-in-the-blanks together form a significant portion of the verbal section in placement aptitude tests conducted by TCS, Infosys, HCL, and other major recruiters. The same 8 to 10 rules recur across all companies, making this section highly predictable and very improvable.
Subject-Verb Agreement
A singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. The words each, every, either, neither, anyone, everyone, and nobody always take singular verbs regardless of what follows them. For neither-nor and either-or constructions, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it in the sentence. Collective nouns like team, committee, and jury take singular verbs in standard usage.
Most Tested Grammar Rules
For tense: do not mix past and present tense in the same clause without logical reason. For articles: use a before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds — it depends on pronunciation, not spelling (an hour, a university). For time reference: since is used with a specific point in time while for is used with a duration. Double comparatives (more smarter) and double superlatives (most tallest) are always grammatically wrong. The number of takes singular; a number of takes plural.
Solved Example
Find the error: Each of the students have submitted their assignment on time. The subject is Each, which is singular. The verb must be has, not have. Corrected: Each of the students has submitted their assignment on time. The phrase of the students is a prepositional modifier and does not change the number of the subject.
Interview Tips
Grammar questions in placement verbal sections are highly predictable. Getting four rules right — subject-verb agreement, since versus for, double comparative, and article usage — will correctly answer the majority of grammar questions in any placement aptitude test. Practice 10 error detection questions daily for two weeks before your placement exam.