Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here is a set of English Quiz for SBI Clerk 2018 Prelims examination based on error detection (new pattern). DIRECTIONS (Qs. 1-10): In each of these questions, a sentence has been divided into four parts and marked a. b, c and d. One of these parts contains a mistake in grammar Idiom or syntax. Identify the parts which do not have any error and mark it as the answer.  
  1. (a) The only persons in the theatre (b) on that stormy night (c) were the staff of the theatre (d) and me.
(1) ABC (2) ACD (3) BCD (4) ABD [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 1 Explanation: and I When a noun (or pronoun) is used as the Subject of a verb, it is said to be in the Nominative Case and when it is used as the Object of a verb, it is said to be in the Objective (or Accusative) case. In the sentence given, the staff and the person speaking form the subject of the verb ‘were’ and hence the Nominative Case of the First Person-Singular i.e. ‘I’ should be used instead of the Accusative Case i.e. ‘me’. Note- To find the Nominative Case put Who? or What? before the verb. To find the Accusative Case put whom? or What? Before the verb and its subject. For e.g.. Hari broke the window. (Object). The window was broken. (Subject) The Nominative generally comes before the verb and the Accusative after the verb. Hence they are distinguished by the order of words, or by the sense. [/su_spoiler]  
  1. (a) Sunita is more talkative than (b) anybody in the class because (c) he is not afraid of the teacher (d) who is his own brother.
(1) ABC (2) ABD (3) ACD (4) BCD [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 3 Explanation: than any other boy in the class. When a comparison is instituted by means of a Comparative followed by ‘than’, the thing compared must be always excluded from the class of things with which it is compared, by using ‘other’ or some such words. [/su_spoiler]    
  1. (a) There is only the banana (b) and one apple in the refrigerator (c) so let us go to the market (d) and buy some more fruits.
(1) ACD (2) ABC (3) ABD (4) BCD [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 4 Explanation: a banana The reference here is to one banana and not a particular one. [/su_spoiler]    
  1. (a) Like his brother who did not wear his helmet (b) and was injured in the accident (c) Rajan was always careful (d) and wore his helmet without fail.
(1) BCD (2) ACD (3) ABD (4) ABC [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 1 Explanation: Unlike his brother The adverb unlike is to be used here as logical reasoning suggests. [/su_spoiler]    
  1. (a) We were not worried about being late (b) since we knew that our other friends (c) would have been caught in a worse traffic jam (d) than us.
(1) ABD (2) ABC (3) ACD (4) BCD [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 2 Explanation: than we had been The past perfect tense ‘had been’ is used here to denote an action completed before a certain moment in the past. [/su_spoiler]    
  1. (a) The part of Madras that interested us the most (b) were the beach and the museum (c) which we recommend to all friends (d) who plan to visit that city.
(1) ACD (2) BCD (3) ABD (4) ABC [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 2 Explanation: The parts of Madras… A verb must agree with its subject in number and person. The plural ‘parts’ fits in with the verb ‘were’. Thus, if the subject is of the Singular Number, First Person, the verb must be of the Singular Number, First Person; as, I am here. I was there. I have a bat. I play cricket. [/su_spoiler]      
  1. (a) Although Greek and Latin were (b) of extreme important during their day (c) they had become dead languages (d) by the beginning of the fifteenth century.
(1) BCD (2) ACD (3) ABC (4) ABD [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 2 Explanation: of extreme importance... ‘Importance’ is a noun; ‘important’ is an adjective. [/su_spoiler]    
  1. (a) Amphibians are creatures which (b) live equally effortlessly (c) in water and land are found (d) in all the continents of the world.
(1) ACD (2) ABC (3) BCD (4) ABD [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 4 Explanation: and land and are found The cumulative conjunction ‘and’ is needed here to add one statement to another. [/su_spoiler]      
  1. (a) Near the pond was standing (b) a dog, a donkey and a cow (c) but when I threw a stone at them (d) it was only the dog that ran away.
(1) ABC (2) BCD (3) ABD (4) ACD [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 2 Explanation: were standing [/su_spoiler]      
  1. (a) Psychiatrists claim that the dream process (b) can offer insights into (c) how the brain has worked, though (d) it cannot be taken as the final evidence.
(1) BCD (2) ACD (3) ABD (4) ABC [su_spoiler title="Answer & Solutions" style="fancy" icon="arrow-circle-1"] Option: 3 Explanation: how the brain works. The simple present tense is needed as part (b) indicates. [/su_spoiler]