CAT 2025 Lesson : Grammar Rules - Spelling and Punctuation

Identify the incorrect sentence from the following.

(1) That was the best piece of advice I have ever received.
(2) The coach was worried that John's personal life would affect his performance on the pitch.
(3) Her brown handbag was a perfect complement to her all white outfit.
(4) Alex Ferguson has paid Mancini a rare complement ahead of the derby against Manchester City.

Solution

Options (1), (2) and (3) are grammatically correct. Option (4) is incorrect because complement (meaning a suitable supplement or pair) is incorrectly used here instead of compliment (meaning a praising or flattering remark).

Hence, option (4) is the answer.

Similarly, the first sentence would have been incorrect if advise had been used instead of advice. “Advice” is a noun (I need your advice), whereas “advise” is a verb meaning to give advice (I need you to advise me).

Answer: (4) Alex Ferguson has paid Mancini a rare complement ahead of the derby against Manchester City.

In the question below there are sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar (including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency).
[CAT 2008]

A. In 1849, a poor Bavarian imigrant named Levi Strauss
B. landed in San Francisco, California,
C. at the invitation of his brother-in-law David Stern
D. owner of dry goods business.
E. This dry goods business would later became known as Levi Strauss & Company.

(1) B only          (2) B and C          (3) A and B          (4) A only          (5) A, B and D         

Solution

Statement A is incorrect, because immigrant is misspelled.

Statement B is correct.
Statement C is incorrect, because there should be a comma before and after David Stern.

Statement D is also incorrect, because there should be an article each, before owner and before dry goods business. The correct usage is the owner of a dry goods business.

Statement E is incorrect, because of a tense error. The sentence is in future perfect tense, and therefore, the correct usage is this ... business would later become known as or this ... business later became known as.

Answer: (1) B only

Identify the correct sentence from the given options :
[IIFT 2019]

(1) When fishing you can always tell when you lose a fish because the line feels loose.
(2) When fishing you can always tell when you loose a fish because the line feels lose.
(3) When fishing you can always tell when you loose a fish because the line feels loose.
(4) When fishing you can always tell when you lose a fish because the line feels lose.

Solution

To lose means to be deprived of something, to not have something any more (e.g. I lost my purse in the crowded bus). It is a verb. Loose is an adjective meaning not held tightly.

Therefore, we would lose fish and the line would be loose. Hence, option (1) is the correct choice.

Answer: (1) When fishing you can always tell when you lose a fish because the line feels loose.

A few sentences are given continuously below. Identify the best sequence of punctuations among the given options. (The rule of capitalisation at the beginning of sentences has been ignored in the passage given below). The arrows in the option indicate text that would be within the punctuations.

Its easy to be cynical about Chinas moon shot after years of effort and billions dollars in expense, Beijing has managed to boldly go well where America already went 50 years ago. China sent a probe, not an actual person. And yes it was both creepy and shameless that in hailing the moon landing, Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project, ripped off the famous Neil Armstrong quote, declaring It’s a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation.

(1) ' --> . --> , --> , --> , --> — --> , --> ' --> “ --> ”
(2) , --> ' --> . --> , --> , --> — --> , --> : --> “ --> ”
(3) ' --> ' --> . --> , --> , --> , --> , --> : --> “ --> ”
(4) ' --> ' --> ; --> . --> , --> : --> , --> — --> “ --> ”

Solution

In this question, we need to identify the places where punctuation marks are missing. This type of question has occurred in the XAT exam earlier. In the first word, we need an apostrophe ('), as the correct word is It's. Note the sentence requires “It is”, as the author is stating that it is easy to be cynical. Its is used as a possessive case (e.g., the cat is eating its food).

Similarly, we need another apostrophe after China, to make the word China's. This helps us to eliminate options (1) and (2) – as neither option has two apostrophes in the beginning.

Its easy to be cynical about Chinas moon shot and After years of effort and billions dollars in expense, Beijing has managed to boldly go well where America already went 50 years ago are both complete sentences. So, we need a full-stop (.) after shot. Alternatively, we can have a semi-colon (;) after shot.

As option (3) has a full-stop and option (4) has a semicolon, let us continue. Note that the use of well in this sentence is standing out. Well must have commas before and after it, as separators. This is because Beijing has managed to boldly go where America already went 50 years ago is logically continuous.

As only option (3) has two commas, this is the correct choice. Let us evaluate the remaining punctuation marks to ensure that we are correct. The next comma will come after yes, as a separator. The comma after that has to follow Project, so that the phrase the chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project is separated by commas.

The quotes (“ ”) encapsulate Weiren's quote (It’s a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation), and the colon comes just before the quote (declaring:). No other punctuation marks are required, and therefore, we can select this as the correct choice.

Answer:(3) ' --> ' --> . --> , --> , --> , --> , --> : --> “ --> ”