Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:
The policy aims to neither penalise first-time offenders (1)/ nor those who may have disobeyed norms (2)/ due to systemic ambiguity (3)/ rather than deliberate intent. (4)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. (1).
Error is related to / concept
Incorrect placement of “neither…nor”.
What is wrong
The phrase “aims to neither penalise…” incorrectly splits the infinitive “to penalise” by placing “neither” in the middle.
Grammatical concept
Standard structure requires “neither…nor” to come before parallel elements, not breaking an infinitive unnaturally.
Incorrectness of the concept in context
“aims to neither penalise” is grammatically awkward; the correct form should be “aims neither to penalise … nor to …”.
How to correct + extra concept
We should use “neither” in the place of “to neither” and shift it before the infinitive for grammatical parallelism.
Correct phrase / correction
The policy aims neither to penalise first-time offenders nor to penalise those who may have disobeyed norms…
Final sentence
The policy aims neither to penalise first-time offenders nor those who may have disobeyed norms…
Hence, the chosen option is correct.