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English practice

Sentence Improvement Questions with Answers

Sentence improvement questions underline part of a sentence and ask which option replaces it best, with the first option usually 'No improvement'. SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS use them in the English section, and bank prelims such as IBPS and SBI test the same skill under error correction. The mistakes come from agreement, tense, comparison, parallelism and word choice. Tip: decide what is wrong with the underlined part before you read the options.

Rules to remember

  • If the underlined part is already correct, choose 'No improvement'; this is a valid answer in a good share of questions.
  • The verb must agree with its subject: 'He does not like', not 'He do not like'.
  • Compare like with like: 'The population of India is larger than that of China', not 'larger than China'.
  • Items in a list must have the same form (parallelism): 'swimming, cycling and reading'.
  • Keep tenses consistent within a sentence unless the time really changes.
  • Avoid double comparatives and superlatives: 'more better' and 'most best' are wrong.
  • Remove repeated meaning: 'return back' and 'reverse back' are redundant.
  • A modifier must sit next to the word it describes; otherwise the sentence says something unintended.

Worked examples

Q1. Replace the part in brackets with the best option. He [do not like] spicy food. (a) No improvement (b) does not like (c) did not liked (d) not liking

  1. The subject 'he' is singular, so the verb must be 'does'.
  2. 'Does not like' is the correct present-tense negative.
  3. (c) and (d) have errors of their own.

Answer: (b) does not like

Q2. Replace the part in brackets with the best option. The population of India is [larger than China]. (a) No improvement (b) larger than that of China (c) more larger than China (d) larger from China

  1. The sentence compares a population with a country, which are not alike.
  2. The phrase must read 'larger than that of China', where 'that' stands for the population.
  3. (c) uses a double comparative and (d) uses the wrong preposition.

Answer: (b) larger than that of China

Q3. Replace the part in brackets with the best option. She enjoys [to swim, cycling and reading] in her free time. (a) No improvement (b) swimming, cycling and reading (c) to swim, to cycle and reading (d) swim, cycle and reading

  1. After 'enjoys' the verb takes the -ing form.
  2. Items in a list must have the same form, so all three must be -ing words.
  3. Only (b) does this.

Answer: (b) swimming, cycling and reading

Shortcuts that save time

  • Spot the error type yourself first, then scan the options for the one that fixes only that error and keeps the rest of the sentence unchanged.
  • Do not pick 'No improvement' by default and do not reject it by default: check the underlined part against each rule once.
  • If two options both look correct, choose the shorter one that keeps the original meaning; skip if still doubtful, since a wrong answer costs marks.

Where this appears

SSC CGL Tier-1English Comprehension section
SSC CHSL Tier-1English Language section
SSC MTSEnglish Language and Comprehension section
IBPS/SBI PO PrelimsEnglish Language section
IBPS/SBI Clerk PrelimsEnglish Language section

Sentence Improvement

Practice Set
Attempted: 0Correct: 0Incorrect: 0
1 of 25
Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. She wants to become __an__ university professor someday.

English · stress-free practice · answers reveal instantly

Sentence Improvement questions with answers

10 sample questions from this topic with the correct option and the solution.

  1. Q1. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. The Ganga is __longest river__ in India.

    1. an honest
    2. the longest river
    3. longest river
    4. a

    Answer: (B) the longest river

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "the longest river".

  2. Q2. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. This is __a honest__ and sincere worker.

    1. an honest
    2. He is a
    3. a honest
    4. a

    Answer: (A) an honest

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "an honest".

  3. Q3. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. This is __a honest__ and sincere worker.

    1. The sun
    2. an honest
    3. a honest
    4. a

    Answer: (B) an honest

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "an honest".

  4. Q4. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. The Ganga is __longest river__ in India.

    1. The sun
    2. a
    3. longest river
    4. the longest river

    Answer: (D) the longest river

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "the longest river".

  5. Q5. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. __Sun__ rises in the east every morning.

    1. The sun
    2. the longest river
    3. an honest
    4. Sun

    Answer: (A) The sun

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "The sun".

  6. Q6. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. __He is an__ European who has lived here for many years.

    1. He is an
    2. He is the
    3. He are a
    4. He is a

    Answer: (D) He is a

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "He is a".

  7. Q7. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. He gave me __an__ one-rupee coin yesterday.

    1. an honest
    2. a
    3. an
    4. the

    Answer: (B) a

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "a".

  8. Q8. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. He gave me __an__ one-rupee coin yesterday.

    1. an
    2. the
    3. one
    4. a

    Answer: (D) a

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "a".

  9. Q9. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. __He is an__ European who has lived here for many years.

    1. He is the
    2. He is an
    3. He is a
    4. He is one

    Answer: (C) He is a

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "He is a".

  10. Q10. Improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select the underlined part itself. He gave me __an__ one-rupee coin yesterday.

    1. an
    2. the
    3. one
    4. a

    Answer: (D) a

    Solution
    The underlined part should be replaced with "a".