Error Spotting Questions for SBI PO

Subject-Verb Agreement

The verb must match the subject in number (singular or plural). In SBI PO, the subject is often hidden behind long phrases or collective nouns, making it easy to pick the wrong verb. Remember: the verb agrees with the SUBJECT, not the nearest noun.

• Collective nouns (team, committee, government) take a singular verb in Indian English context.
• Either/Neither + singular noun = singular verb. Either/Neither + plural noun = verb matches the nearer noun (proximity rule).
• Words like each, every, everyone, nobody, anyone always take a singular verb.
• Phrases like along with, as well as, together with do NOT make the subject plural — the main subject controls the verb.
• Indefinite pronouns: none can take singular or plural depending on context — SBI PO loves this trap.
• Inverted sentences: There is/There are — check the actual subject that follows, not 'there'.

Tense Errors

Tense consistency is a major testing area. A sentence must maintain logical tense flow. SBI PO often mixes past perfect with simple past incorrectly, or uses present continuous where simple present is needed.

• Past perfect (had + V3) is used for the earlier of two past events. If both events are in simple past with 'before' or 'after', past perfect is still preferred but not mandatory.
• Simple present is used for universal truths, habits, and newspaper headlines — not continuous.
• Would is used for past habits; used to is also acceptable but they cannot be mixed incorrectly.
• Since requires perfect tenses (has/have/had been); ago requires simple past.
• Watch for: 'He is working here since 2010' — wrong. Should be 'He has been working here since 2010'.

Articles (A, An, The)

Article errors are subtle and very common in SBI PO. The key rule: 'a/an' for first mention or non-specific reference; 'the' for specific or second mention. 'An' is used before vowel sounds, not just vowel letters.

• An honest man (H is silent, so vowel sound), a university (U sounds like 'you', so consonant sound).
• No article before plural uncountable nouns used in general sense: 'Gold is precious', not 'The gold is precious'.
• Superlatives and ordinals always need 'the': the best, the first.
• Names of rivers, oceans, mountain ranges take 'the' (the Ganges, the Alps); individual peaks and countries generally do not (Mount Everest, India).
• The + adjective = plural noun concept: 'The rich are getting richer' is correct.

Preposition Errors

Prepositions are idiomatic — they do not always follow logic. SBI PO tests fixed preposition pairs (phrasal verbs and prepositional phrases) regularly. The only way to master these is repeated exposure to common pairs.

• Differ from (comparison), differ with (disagree with a person).
• Agree with a person, agree to a proposal, agree on a point.
• Angry with a person, angry at/about a thing or situation.
• Married to (not with): 'She is married to him'.
• Afraid of, capable of, suspicious of — of is the most commonly tested preposition.
• Watch: 'discuss about' is always wrong — discuss already implies 'about'.

Pronoun Errors

Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number and gender. SBI PO tests pronoun case (who vs whom) and reflexive pronouns as well.

• Who = subject (doing the action), whom = object (receiving the action). Trick: replace with he/him — if 'him' fits, use 'whom'.
• Reflexive pronouns (himself, myself) cannot be used as subjects: 'Himself went to the market' is wrong.
• Each/Everyone/Nobody: follow with singular pronouns (his or her, not their — in formal grammar).
• Ambiguous pronoun reference: if a pronoun can refer to two nouns, it is an error.
• Between you and me (not I) — 'between' is a preposition, so use objective case.

Modifiers and Parallel Structure

Dangling or misplaced modifiers and broken parallel structure are increasingly tested in SBI PO as the exam gets harder. These require reading the full sentence meaning, not just checking word by word.

• Parallel structure: items in a list or joined by and/or/but must be in the same grammatical form. 'She likes reading, to write, and dance' is wrong.
• Dangling modifier: the introductory phrase must logically describe the subject of the main clause. 'Walking down the road, the trees looked beautiful' is wrong — trees cannot walk.
• Comparative parallelism: 'She is as intelligent if not more intelligent than her brother' needs 'as intelligent as, if not more intelligent than'.
• Double comparatives are wrong: 'more faster', 'most tallest' are errors.

Conjunctions and Connectors

Wrong use of conjunctions changes the logical relationship between clauses. SBI PO particularly tests paired conjunctions and cause-effect connectors.

• Paired conjunctions must be used as pairs: not only...but also, either...or, neither...nor, both...and.
• Although/Though cannot be paired with but: 'Although he tried, but he failed' is wrong. Remove 'but'.
• Because and so cannot both appear in the same clause: 'Because he was late, so he missed' is wrong. Use one.
• Unless means 'if not' — never write 'unless...not'. 'Unless you do not work hard' is redundant.

• Rushing to check only the underlined parts and ignoring the full sentence meaning — many errors only show up when you read the complete sentence logically.
• Choosing 'No error' too quickly when the sentence sounds fine — SBI PO plants very natural-sounding errors, especially in subject-verb agreement with intervening phrases.
• Confusing 'less' and 'fewer': fewer is for countable nouns, less for uncountable. 'Less students' is a classic error that aspirants miss.
• Missing double negatives: 'I cannot hardly believe it' has two negatives making it a positive, which is incorrect usage.
• Ignoring the error in the first part of the sentence — most aspirants focus on the later parts assuming the beginning is always correct.

• PASTA rule for Subject-Verb Agreement traps: Phrases, Along with, Similarly, Together with, As well as — all these do NOT change the subject number.
• WHO-HIM trick: replace who/whom with he/him in the clause. If 'him' fits, use 'whom'. 'I called whom? I called him' — correct.
• AAOA for prepositions: Angry At/About things, Angry with Others/persons (people). AAOA keeps angry prepositions straight.
• Although-BUT rule: think of them as rivals — they cannot appear in the same sentence. Similarly, Because and So are rivals too.

• SBI PO 2023 and 2024 papers moved toward sentences with no underlined parts — you must read each part (A/B/C/D/E) and identify the error yourself. Practice this format specifically.
• Around 30-40% of error spotting questions in SBI PO involve subject-verb agreement and tense — prioritize these two categories above all others for maximum return.
• In the exam, first check for the most common errors in order: subject-verb, tense, then articles, then prepositions. This mental checklist saves time.
• SBI PO sometimes gives a sentence where 'No error' is the answer about 15-20% of the time — do not mark No error just because you cannot spot one; genuinely verify all parts.
• Speed benchmark: you should finish the entire Error Spotting set (5 questions) in under 3 minutes, leaving more time for Reading Comprehension which carries higher marks in SBI PO.