Editing Made Easy !
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For class 9 and 10: There will be five questions under ‘Section – B
Vocabulary and Grammar’ numbered 13 to 17 in paper-I of English subject.
Many children worry about this area. If one concentrates on this area, it will
become easy. What to do to make it easier? Let’s discuss in detail.
When reading a passage that has
errors, try to analyze the sentences by reading it. It looks lengthy but by
practicing, it will be completed in no time.
Analyze whether there …
1.
is any excess word (He entered into
the classroom.)
2.
is any word missing
3.
is any disagreement
a)
within the verb phrase:
1.
Perfective: have/has + past participle (en/ed)
(Eg. have written/has kicked)
2.
Progressive: be/am/is/are/was/were + present
participle (ing) (Eg. is running)
b)
between subject and verb etc.:
1.
PNG: (Person, Number and Gender):
He is … not He are …
She runs … not She run …
He is the king…. not She is the king ….
4.
is any wrong use of tense (present, past and
future; sometimes modals)
5.
is any wrong word order (SVO ect.)
6.
is any irrelevant use of words
7.
is any wrong use of possessive case
“The children’s bags are heavy.”… not “The childrens’s bags are heavy.’’
8.
is any affixes (prefix and suffix) error
etc.
Note: Don’t concentrate on each sentence of the passage.
Just read the entire passage once. Then go on checking the numbered sentences
one by one.
Let’s analyze the
questions from March 2015 question paper:
(Questions 13-17) Read the passage given below. Five
sentences in the passage are numbered 13 to 17 at the beginning. Each of these
sentences has an error. Correct and rewrite them in the answer booklet.
The
next day he went with his wife to the capital. (13) The king were pleased to
see him and ordered the potter to lead the army into battle the next day. The
enemy were not far from the gates of the city. (14) A splendid house have been
prepared for the potter and his wife. (15) The horse would carry him into
battle was ready in the stable.
That
night the potter could not sleep. (16) He was nervous and worried so he did not
know to ride a horse. ‘If I fall off, everybody would laugh at me’, he thought.
(17) “I will got up early tomorrow and practice riding the horse.”
Analysis:
Step1: Before going to analyze let’s read the entire passage
first.
Step2: Now start analyzing the sentences numbered one by
one. Let’s start with the 13th.
Step3: Read the sentence again and again, keeping the eight
elements of analysis in mind.
(13) The king were pleased to see him and ordered the potter
to lead the army into battle the next day.
1.
Is there any excess word (no)
2.
Is there any word missing (no)
3.
Is there any disagreement between the subject and
the verb (Yes. The king is the subject of the sentence and singular noun. The
king agrees only with ‘was’ in the past tense. But ‘were’ is used. Hence it is
the error.)
Now you have to modify ‘were’ with ‘was’ then
your answer is correct.
(13) The king was pleased to see him and
ordered the potter to lead the army into battle the next day.
After this question there
is a statement …
The enemy were
not far from the gates of the city.
It appears to be wrong in
agreement. In such cases collective noun can be used as singular or plural
sometimes. It depends on the perception of the writer. But remember it is not
numbered. So don’t go after it.
So, our quest for the error ends here in this
question. Let’s move to the next question.
(14) A splendid house have been prepared for the potter and
his wife.
1. Now, let’s start with checking ‘excess words and missing
words’ …… No excess or missing word.
2. Then go for subject and verb agreement.
Did you find anything?
Yes. There is disagreement between the subject and the verb
i.e., ‘have’. Now let’s think of the possible agreeable
verb with ‘A splendid house.’ There are two choices 1) has (if present tense)
and 2) had (if past tense). You know pretty well that stories are told in past
tense generally. So, we have to go with ‘had’. Then our answer is ...
(14) A splendid house had been prepared
for the potter and his wife.
So, our quest for the error ends here in this
question. Let’s move to the next question.
(15) The horse would carry him into battle was ready in the
stable.
1. Now, let’s start with checking ‘excess words and missing
words’ …… Yes. It seems something is missed. What might be that? To get some
idea it is better to read it as many times as possible. As reading it many
times we could understand that there are two verbs in the sentence. Hence there
might be a possibility of being two clauses. Let’s divide the sentence into two
clauses. The horse would carry him into the battle. The horse was ready in the
stable. These are the two clauses in the statement. Hence it is to combine
those two sentences using relative clause. There are two kinds of relative
clauses; ‘Defining Relative Clause (DRC) and Non-Defining
Relative Clause (NDRC).’ Here the clause is defining the horse
because there might be many horses. As it is DRC we don’t separate the
clauses with commas. So the sentence might be like this …
(15) The horse which would carry him
into battle was ready in the stable. (or)
(15) The horse that would carry him
into battle was ready in the stable.
So, our quest for the error ends here in this
question. Let’s move to the next question.
(16) He was nervous and worried so he did not know to ride a
horse.
1. Now, let’s start with checking ‘excess words and missing
words’ …… Yes. It seems something is missed. By following the same process
above we could find that there is something missed before ‘to ride.’ And you
know is it ‘how.’ Hence you answer might be ….
(16) He was nervous and worried so he did not know how
to ride a horse.
So, our quest for the error ends here in this
question. Let’s move to the next question.
(17) “I will got up early tomorrow and practice riding the
horse.”
1.
Is there
any excess word (no)
2.
Is there
any word missing (no)
3.
Is there any disagreement between the subject
and the verb (Yes. The sentence is in simple future tense. ‘Shall or will or
modals’ agrees with the base form of the verb only.)
Now you have to modify ‘got’ with ‘get’ then
your answer is correct.
(17) “I will get up early tomorrow and
practice riding the horse.”
Note: There may be
one or more correct answers for an erred sentence. Hence try to discuss with
your friends and then with teachers after editing a passage.
Excercise1: Now
try to solve this passage that is from June-2015 questions paper:
Bayaji’s
new house had caught fire from all sides. It had suddenly flared up. (13) The
womenfolk in the front verandah screamed confusion. The guests stood up swiftly
and began to pull out the women like a herd of cattle.
Bayaji
was frantic. He ran around crying, ‘My house, my storeyed house! It’s on fire.
(14) “My enemy was taken revenge on me.” He entered the roaring flames, crying
‘My house, my house.’ He climbed up, pulled the pictures of Buddha and
Babasaheb from the walls and hurled them down. (15) As he was about to come
down, the stairs crumbled down in flames. (16) People pulled up water from a
nearby well to put up the dreadful fire but it could not be easily contained. “Bayaji
jump down, quick, jump,” people shouted. Women and children were crying and
screaming. (17) Now that the staircase collapse, no one could go up. Scorched
in flames, Bayaji ran around like atrapped c reature, howling all the time, ‘my
house, my house.’
Excercise2: Now
try to solve this passage that is from March-2016 questions paper:
After spending a leisurely Sunday
at home, the very thought of returning to work on Monday, is tiring. (13) Lethargy
creep in, if the holiday continues over an extended period. (14) That is how I
felt, when I was preparing to return to my work of place, after spending six
months at home. (15) The fact that I was to leave behind, my newly-wedded wife,
and go to a far-off place did not help either. (16) Obvious, I did not want to
go. (17) However, I finally do decide to go.
Excercise3: Now
try to solve this passage that is from June-2016 questions paper:
Savitri had nearly 300 films to
her credit. (13) Her career was 30 year nearly long. She was equally admired by
Telugu and Tamil film lovers. (14) She was also acted in a few Kannada and
Hindi films. She had a lion's share of films when she was at the zenith of her
career.
Savitri was a humane artiste. (15) She was generous to the people
which were in need. (16) Once, she donated all the jewellery she was worn to
the Prime Minister's fund. (17) Her rise as a star like a meteor. (to read the entire article download it)
