how to solve editing questions

INTRODUCTION

Editing is a process through which a given paragraph is scanned for grammatical errors, and correction is made accordingly. These questions test a students understanding and ability to use the language correctly.

GRAMMAR CONCEPTS REQUIRED

Before answering such questions, a student should be thorough with certain rules and concepts in grammar. Some of the important ones are indicated below:

1. A verb should agree with its subject in terms of number and person.

2. Tense consistency has to be maintained.

3. A pronoun must be consistent with its antecedent.

4. Conjunctions should be used correctly.

5. The rules for using articles have to be followed.

6. Prepositions should be used in a suitable manner.

7. Voice (active or passive) consistency must be maintained.

8. Determiners should be used appropriately.

9. The flow of sentences in terms of narration (direct/indirect speech) should be followed.

STEPS TO BE FOLLOWED

To answer questions based on editing, a student may follow the steps given below:

1. Read the entire paragraph in one go. Find the context or the main idea of the given paragraph or sentences.

2. Analyse the part of sentence given in one line. Study it in the context of what follows and/or what precedes it.

3. Identify which of the written words is erroneous. Consider subject-verb agreement or pronoun-antecedent consistency or use of article, preposition, voice, tenses etc.

4. Write the erroneous word in the blank given under the column Error and/or underline it in the passage, as per the requirement of the question.

5. Think of a word that can be used to replace the erroneous word appropriately. Write the answer in the corresponding blank given under the column Correction.

6. Repeat the steps from point 2 to 5 till all the blanks have been filled appropriately.

Note: It is not mandatory to edit the lines in a sequential order. You may choose to edit the easiest one first and then move on to the more difficult ones. This may, in fact, make the difficult ones easier to predict.