+ 91 33 4008 5544
As a serious aspirant of CDS exams, you know that English is a very integral part of the written test in the selection round. In this post, we are looking at one particular part of this English paper: the error correction question. This is MCQ section where you will have to find out the error in sentences given in the question. You have to find the answer among the choices given. While there is no denying that practice alone can make you score well in this segment, here are some tips and tricks that you can try out.
Firstly, try to understand two aspects of the given sentence: the grammatical structure and the content of the sentence. Usually, the errors in grammar are found among the verb and the subject, the voice, the prepositions, the participles and the conjunctions. These are the usual suspects, so to speak! When you find that there is no apparent error in these areas, you should turn your attention to the content of the sentence. At times, the meaning of a sentence is twisted and that is the error that you have to identify. So, read the sentence properly again and again.
Secondly, come to an answer before going through to the choices offered to you. More often than not, any serious candidate will be able to arrive at the right answer without looking at the available answer choices. In fact, looking at the answers before coming to an answer on your own may confuse you. Also, it is important that you check out the answers in a haphazard manner. This is a purely psychological reason: when you get a right answer in (a), the other few answers also tend to be (a) in your mind, especially when you don’t know for sure.
Thirdly, start eliminating the wrong answers one by one. If you have no idea about the right answer, cross out the wrong ones and you will come to a lesser number of choices. Then you have to take a call. It is easier to choose between two answers than 4. A very good idea is to read back the sentence after fitting in the answer of your choice. If it sounds right, you may probably have the right choice.
The best tip, however, is to practice more and more.
