Grammar & Usage — Spotting Errors and Sentence Improvement

English carries 200 of the 600 GAT marks — a third of Paper 2 — and grammar is the largest and most learnable slice of it. The examiner does not test grammar in the abstract: he tests a fixed set of about a dozen error patterns, recycled year after year in "spot the error" and "improve the sentence" formats. Once you can name those patterns, you stop reading sentences for meaning and start scanning them for the specific things that go wrong, which is both faster and far more accurate.

Subject–Verb Agreement — the Single Biggest Source of Errors

The rule is simple — a singular subject takes a singular verb — but the examiner buries the subject so that you agree the verb with the wrong word. Strike out everything between the subject and the verb and the answer usually becomes obvious.

The traps, with the correct form
PatternRuleCorrect example
Phrase between subject and verbIgnore the phrase; agree with the real subjectThe box of chocolates is on the table.
as well as / along with / besides / includingThese do not make a subject pluralThe captain, as well as the players, was late.
either…or / neither…nor / orVerb agrees with the nearer subjectNeither he nor his friends are coming.
Each / every / everyone / nobodyAlways singularEach of the boys has a book.
Collective nounsSingular when acting as one bodyThe committee has decided.
Amounts of time, money, distanceTreated as a single quantityTen kilometres is a long walk.
⚠️ "A number of" is plural; "the number of" is singular
A number of students are absent (a number of = many). The number of students is falling (the number = one figure). The same two-word difference flips the verb, and NDA has set this exact pair more than once. A parallel case: "one of the boys is", never "are" — the subject is one.

Tenses & Sequence of Tenses

  • since / for with a period of time demands the present perfect or present perfect continuous: "I have lived here since 2015", not "I live here since 2015".
  • A past main clause normally takes a past subordinate clause: "He said that he was ill." The exception is a universal truth: "He said that the sun rises in the east."
  • After if / when / until / as soon as / before referring to the future, use the present tense: "I will call you when he arrives", never "will arrive".
  • Two past actions: the earlier one takes the past perfect. "The train had left before I reached the station."
🧠 The bare infinitive after certain verbs
After make, let, see, hear, watch, feel and the modals, use the verb without "to": "He made me wait" (not to wait), "I saw him go". But in the passive, "to" returns: "I was made to wait". Also had better, would rather and rather than take the bare form: "You had better go now."

Articles, Prepositions & Common Confusions

Articles. "A" or "an" depends on sound, not spelling: a university (yoo-), an hour (silent h), a one-rupee coin (wun-), an MP (em-). "The" goes before rivers, seas, mountain ranges, newspapers, and superlatives — the Ganga, the Himalayas, the best — but not before single mountains (Mount Everest), continents, or names of languages and subjects.

Prepositions that NDA sets repeatedly
CorrectWrong
married to, angry with a personmarried with, angry on
superior / inferior tosuperior than
differ from (a thing), differ with (a person)differ than
consist of, comprise (no preposition)comprise of
die of a disease, die from a wounddie by illness
discuss / enter / reach — no prepositiondiscuss about, enter into the room
⚠️ Uncountables take no plural and no "a"
Information, furniture, luggage, advice, equipment, scenery, machinery, poetry, news are uncountable in English. Write "much information" and "a piece of advice", never "informations" or "an advice". Note also that news looks plural but takes a singular verb: "The news is good."

Sentence Improvement — a Method, Not a Guess

In these questions a part is underlined and you choose the better version, with "no improvement" as a real option — and it is sometimes the answer, so do not force a change. Work through four checks in order.

  1. Check agreement — does the verb match the real subject, and does the pronoun match its noun?
  2. Check the tense against the rest of the sentence and against any time marker (since, yesterday, by next year).
  3. Check the preposition and the article — the two smallest words carry most of the errors.
  4. Check for redundancy and misplaced modifiers, then pick the shortest option that is still complete.
🧠 Redundancy: the examiner's favourite invisible error
Each of these says the same thing twice, and the correction is simply to delete a word: *return back*, *repeat again*, *revert back*, *cousin brother*, *more superior*, *most unique*, *the* reason is because, *discuss about*, *ascend up*. If two options are grammatically fine, the shorter, non-redundant one is the intended answer.

Misplaced modifiers. A describing phrase attaches to whatever noun sits closest to it, so "Walking down the road, the temple came into view" wrongly says the temple was walking. Correct it by giving the phrase a subject that can perform it: "Walking down the road, I saw the temple." NDA sets one such sentence most years.

Key takeaways

  • Strike out the phrase between subject and verb before deciding agreement.
  • "As well as", "along with" and "including" never make a subject plural.
  • With either…or / neither…nor, the verb agrees with the NEARER subject.
  • "A number of" is plural; "the number of" is singular.
  • "Since / for" with a time period requires the present perfect, not the simple present.
  • A / an follows SOUND, not spelling: a university, an hour, an MP.
  • Discuss, enter, reach and comprise take NO preposition after them.
  • Information, furniture, advice and news are uncountable — no plural, no "a".

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

  1. Choose the correct sentence.

    1. The box of chocolates are on the table.
    2. The box of chocolates is on the table.
    3. The box of chocolate are on the table.
    4. The boxes of chocolates is on the table.
    Show answer

    Answer: B — The box of chocolates is on the table.

    The subject is "box", which is singular; "of chocolates" is only a prepositional phrase. Strike it out and the agreement is obvious: box … is.

  2. Fill in the blank: "Neither the captain nor the players ____ present."

    1. was
    2. were
    3. is
    4. has been
    Show answer

    Answer: B — were

    With neither…nor the verb agrees with the nearer subject, which is "players" — plural — so "were". Had the order been reversed (neither the players nor the captain), the answer would be "was".

  3. Choose the correct form: "He has been living here ____ 2015."

    1. for
    2. since
    3. from
    4. by
    Show answer

    Answer: B — since

    "Since" is used with a point in time (2015, Monday, morning); "for" is used with a length of time (five years, two hours). "From" needs a matching "to".

  4. Which sentence has NO error?

    1. He is superior than me in mathematics.
    2. She is married with a doctor.
    3. The committee comprises ten members.
    4. Let us discuss about the matter.
    Show answer

    Answer: C — The committee comprises ten members.

    "Comprise" takes no preposition, so "comprises ten members" is correct. The others need: superior to, married to, and discuss the matter (no "about").

  5. Choose the correct article: "He waited for ____ hour at ____ university gate."

    1. a / a
    2. an / a
    3. an / an
    4. a / an
    Show answer

    Answer: B — an / a

    Sound decides, not spelling. "Hour" begins with a silent h so the sound is a vowel → "an hour". "University" begins with a "yoo" sound, a consonant sound → "a university".

  6. Identify the error: "The number of applicants are increasing every year."

    1. The number of
    2. applicants
    3. are increasing
    4. No error
    Show answer

    Answer: C — are increasing

    "The number" is a single figure and therefore singular: it should be "is increasing". Contrast "A number of applicants are waiting", where "a number of" means "many".

  7. Improve the underlined part: "He made me to wait for an hour."

    1. to waiting
    2. wait
    3. waited
    4. No improvement
    Show answer

    Answer: B — wait

    After "make, let, see, hear, watch, feel" in the active voice, the bare infinitive is used: "He made me wait". Note that the passive restores the "to": "I was made to wait".

  8. Which sentence is free of redundancy?

    1. Please return back my book.
    2. He repeated the answer again.
    3. She reverted back to me yesterday.
    4. Please return my book.
    Show answer

    Answer: D — Please return my book.

    "Return" already contains the idea of "back", "repeat" already means "again", and "revert" already means "come back". Each of the other three says the same thing twice.