Common Errors and Error Detection

Error Detection কী?

Error detection হলো sentence-এর grammar, usage, structure, meaning ও standard expression পরীক্ষা করে ভুল অংশ শনাক্ত এবং সংশোধন করা। শুধু অস্বাভাবিক শোনাচ্ছে বলে কোনো অংশ ভুল নয়; rule, context এবং intended meaning দিয়ে সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে হয়।

একটি নির্ভরযোগ্য Checking Order

1. মূল subject ও finite verb খুঁজুন।
2. tense/time marker এবং verb form পরীক্ষা করুন।
3. noun countability, article ও determiner দেখুন।
4. pronoun reference ও case মিলান।
5. adjective/adverb এবং modifier position পরীক্ষা করুন।
6. preposition, conjunction ও parallel structure দেখুন।
7. clause boundary, punctuation এবং overall meaning যাচাই করুন।

Subject–Verb Agreement Errors

কাছের noun নয়, মূল subject অনুযায়ী verb।

• Incorrect: The quality of these books are good.
• Correct: The quality of these books is good.

• Incorrect: Each of the students have a card.
• Correct: Each of the students has a card.

• Incorrect: Rina, along with her friends, are coming.
• Correct: Rina, along with her friends, is coming.

A Number of / The Number of

• A number of students are absent.
• The number of students is increasing.

Either/Neither Structures

কাছের subject অনুযায়ী verb।

• Either the teacher or the students are responsible.
• Neither the students nor the teacher is absent.

Tense and Verb-form Errors

Auxiliary অনুযায়ী main verb form পরীক্ষা করুন।

• Incorrect: Did she went home?
• Correct: Did she go home?

• Incorrect: He has wrote a letter.
• Correct: He has written a letter.

• Incorrect: She is knowing the answer.
• Correct: She knows the answer.

• Incorrect: I have seen him yesterday.
• Correct: I saw him yesterday.

Since and For

• Incorrect: He has lived here since five years.
• Correct: He has lived here for five years.

Future Time Clauses

• Incorrect: I will call when I will arrive.
• Correct: I will call when I arrive.

Modal Errors

Modal-এর পরে base verb।

• Incorrect: He can sings/to sing.
• Correct: He can sing.

• Incorrect: You should have went.
• Correct: You should have gone.

• Incorrect intended meaning: You mustn't attend if you are busy.
• Correct: You needn't/don't have to attend if you are busy.

Mustn't = prohibition; needn't = no necessity।

Non-finite Verb Errors

Verb pattern এবং preposition খেয়াল করুন।

• Incorrect: She enjoys to read.
• Correct: She enjoys reading.

• Incorrect: He decided going home.
• Correct: He decided to go home.

• Incorrect: I look forward to meet you.
• Correct: I look forward to meeting you.

• Incorrect: The teacher made him to rewrite it.
• Correct: The teacher made him rewrite it.

Article Errors

A/an pronunciation-এর sound অনুযায়ী।

• Incorrect: an university
• Correct: a university

• Incorrect: a honest person
• Correct: an honest person

General plural/uncountable noun প্রায়ই zero article।

• Incorrect: The honesty is the best policy.
• Correct: Honesty is the best policy.

Specific unique reference-এ the:

• The sun rises in the east.

Determiner and Quantifier Errors

• Incorrect: many information
• Correct: much information / a lot of information

• Incorrect: a little friends
• Correct: a few friends

• Incorrect: less students
• Correct: fewer students

• Incorrect: every students are
• Correct: every student is

• Incorrect: the my book
• Correct: my book / the book

Countable and Uncountable Noun Errors

advice, information, furniture, luggage, equipment, scenery, homework, news সাধারণত uncountable/singular agreement।

• Incorrect: an advice
• Correct: a piece of advice

• Incorrect: many furnitures
• Correct: much furniture / many pieces of furniture

• Incorrect: The news are good.
• Correct: The news is good.

Number and Plural Errors

• child → children
• criterion → criteria
• phenomenon → phenomena
• analysis → analyses
• basis → bases

• Incorrect: two childs
• Correct: two children

Compound noun plural সাধারণত main element-এ:

• mothers-in-law
• passers-by

Pronoun Case Errors

Subject position-এ subject form; object/preposition-এর পরে object form।

• Incorrect: Me and Rina went there.
• Correct: Rina and I went there.

• Incorrect: Between you and I
• Correct: Between you and me

• Incorrect: The teacher praised Rina and I.
• Correct: The teacher praised Rina and me.

Reflexive Pronoun Errors

• Incorrect: Myself Rahul.
• Correct: I am Rahul.

• Incorrect: Rina and myself completed it.
• Correct: Rina and I completed it.

Reflexive form তখনই দরকার যখন subject ও object একই বা emphasis প্রয়োজন।

Pronoun Agreement and Reference

Pronoun-এর antecedent স্পষ্ট হতে হবে।

• Ambiguous: When Rina met Mina, she was upset.
• Clear: Rina was upset when she met Mina.

Modern standard usage-এ singular they গ্রহণযোগ্য:

• Every learner should bring their notebook.

Relative Pronoun Errors

• Incorrect: The boy which won is my friend.
• Correct: The boy who won is my friend.

• Incorrect: My father, that lives in Delhi, is a doctor.
• Correct: My father, who lives in Delhi, is a doctor.

• Incorrect: The man who I spoke was helpful.
• Correct: The man who I spoke to was helpful.

Adjective and Adverb Errors

• Incorrect: She sings beautiful.
• Correct: She sings beautifully.

• Incorrect: He is a carefully driver.
• Correct: He is a careful driver.

Linking verb-এর পরে subject complement adjective:

• Incorrect: The soup tastes well.
• Correct: The soup tastes good.

Confusing Adverb Pairs

• hard = diligently; hardly = almost not
• late = after expected time; lately = recently
• near = close; nearly = almost
• high = at a height; highly = greatly

• Incorrect intended meaning: He works hardly.
• Correct: He works hard.

Degree of Comparison Errors

• Incorrect: more taller
• Correct: taller

• Incorrect: most easiest
• Correct: easiest

• Incorrect: senior than
• Correct: senior to

• Incorrect: one of the best player
• Correct: one of the best players

দুইয়ের মধ্যে comparative; তিন বা বেশি হলে superlative।

Preposition Errors

Fixed combination বুঝে ব্যবহার করুন।

• good at
• interested in
• proud of
• depend on
• belong to
• prefer X to Y
• senior to

• Incorrect: discuss about the issue
• Correct: discuss the issue

• Incorrect: enter into the room
• Correct: enter the room

• Incorrect: married with
• Correct: married to

• Incorrect: reach at the station
• Correct: reach the station

Conjunction Errors

• Incorrect: Although he was tired, but he worked.
• Correct: Although he was tired, he worked.

• Incorrect: Because it rained, so we stayed home.
• Correct: Because it rained, we stayed home.

• Incorrect: Unless you do not study, you will fail.
• Correct: Unless you study, you will fail.

• No sooner…than
• Hardly/Scarcely…when

Parallelism Errors

সমমানের linked items একই grammatical form অনুসরণ করবে।

• Incorrect: She likes reading, to write and painting.
• Correct: She likes reading, writing and painting.

• Unclear parallel focus: He not only lost the key but also his wallet.
• Correct: He lost not only the key but also his wallet.

• Incorrect: The job requires accuracy, patience and to work hard.
• Correct: The job requires accuracy, patience and hard work.

Modifier Errors

Modifier যার সঙ্গে সম্পর্কিত তার কাছে থাকতে হবে।

• Misplaced: She almost answered every question correctly.
• If intended number: She answered almost every question correctly.

• Dangling: Walking down the road, the trees looked beautiful.
• Correct: Walking down the road, I found the trees beautiful.

Redundancy Errors

একই অর্থ অপ্রয়োজনীয়ভাবে পুনরাবৃত্তি এড়ান।

• return back → return
• repeat again → repeat
• revert back → revert
• free gift → gift (context-dependent)
• past history → history
• join together → join

সব apparent repetition ভুল নয়; intended emphasis ও established expression বিবেচনা করুন।

Word-choice Errors

Affect/Effect

• affect সাধারণত verb
• effect সাধারণত noun

Advice/Advise

• advice noun
• advise verb

Principal/Principle

• principal = head/main
• principle = rule

Stationary/Stationery

• stationary = not moving
• stationery = writing materials

Context অনুযায়ী শব্দ নির্বাচন করুন।

Comparison Errors

একই class-এর logically comparable items তুলনা করুন।

• Illogical: The climate of Kolkata is warmer than Delhi.
• Correct: The climate of Kolkata is warmer than that of Delhi.

• Incorrect: Rina's marks are higher than Mina.
• Correct: Rina's marks are higher than Mina's.

Sentence Fragment

Dependent clause বা incomplete phrase একা sentence নয়।

• Fragment: Because she was ill.
• Complete: She stayed home because she was ill.

• Fragment: The boy standing near the gate.
• Complete: The boy standing near the gate is my brother.

Run-on and Comma Splice

• Run-on: It was raining we stayed home.
• Correct: It was raining, so we stayed home.

• Comma splice: She studied hard, she passed.
• Correct: She studied hard, and she passed.
• Correct: She studied hard; therefore, she passed.

Indirect Question Errors

Indirect clause statement word order অনুসরণ করে।

• Incorrect: I wonder where does she live.
• Correct: I wonder where she lives.

• Incorrect: He asked why was I late.
• Correct: He asked why I was late.

Voice Errors

Passive = appropriate be + V3।

• Incorrect: The letter is wrote.
• Correct: The letter is written.

• Incorrect: The road is repairing.
• Correct: The road is being repaired.

Intransitive verb-এর passive নয়:

• Incorrect: A sound sleep was slept by him.
• Natural: He slept soundly.

Narration Errors

• Incorrect: He said me that he was busy.
• Correct: He told me that he was busy.

• Incorrect: She asked that I was ready.
• Correct: She asked if/whether I was ready.

• Incorrect: He suggested me to go.
• Correct: He suggested going.
• Correct: He suggested that I should go.

Punctuation and Capitalisation Errors

• Incorrect: i live in kolkata.
• Correct: I live in Kolkata.

• Incorrect plural: student's are ready.
• Correct: Students are ready.

• Incorrect: The dog wagged it's tail.
• Correct: The dog wagged its tail.

• Comma splice ও quotation punctuation আলাদা করে পরীক্ষা করুন।

Idiomatic Usage

Literal translation standard English expression নাও হতে পারে।

• Incorrect: give an exam, if meaning sit for an exam
• Better: take/sit an examination

• Incorrect: cope up with
• Correct: cope with

• Incorrect: order for tea
• Correct: order tea

Regional usage ও standard examination usage আলাদা হতে পারে।

Error বনাম Style Preference

সব variation ভুল নয়। British/American spelling, collective-noun agreement, Oxford comma, singular they ইত্যাদিতে একাধিক standard form থাকতে পারে।

Error বলার আগে দেখুন:

• meaning বদলেছে কি?
• grammar rule ভেঙেছে কি?
• accepted standard variation কি?
• formal/informal register-এর পার্থক্য কি?

Final Error-detection Checklist

• Subject–verb agreement
• Tense এবং auxiliary-driven verb form
• Countability ও determiner
• Pronoun case/reference
• Adjective/adverb function
• Fixed preposition ও connector pair
• Parallel items
• Modifier placement
• Clause completeness
• Punctuation, spelling ও intended meaning

A correction must preserve the intended meaning

Original practice: “Each of the two notices have a different date.” The grammatical subject is “Each”, so change “have” to “has”. Do not delete “of the two notices”: it identifies the relevant set. Now compare “The staff is helpful” and “The staff are discussing their individual duties.” Collective-noun agreement can depend on whether the group is viewed as one unit or as members, as well as usage variety. An error question must supply enough context to support its intended answer.

Keep a correction log with three entries: the original sentence, the smallest necessary change, and the reason. “It sounds better” is not a sufficient explanation. In a parallel-structure question, distinguish a grammatical mismatch from a change in focus. “He not only lost the key but also his wallet” may be ambiguous or poorly balanced for its intended meaning; moving “not only” clarifies the comparison, but do not call every possible reading ungrammatical.

Source and scope

British Council LearnEnglish: Present perfect — Further reading for the tense-and-time part of this lesson; this page does not validate every grammar example above.