Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:
Little did the committee knew (1)/ about the hidden liabilities (2)/ when it approved the merger (3)/ late last quarter. (4)/
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. (1).
Error concept: Error related to the use of helping verbs and main verbs (Inversion).
What is wrong: The verb knew is incorrectly used after the auxiliary verb did.
Grammatical concept: In sentences starting with negative or restrictive adverbs like Little, we use inversion (Helping Verb + Subject + Main Verb). When the auxiliary verb did is used, the main verb must always be in its base form (V1).
Incorrectness of the concept in context: Here, did is the past auxiliary, but knew is the past tense form (V2) of the verb. Using two past tense forms together is grammatically incorrect.
How to correct: The past tense verb knew should be replaced with its base form know because it follows the auxiliary did.
Correct phrase/ correction: Little did the committee know.
Final sentence: Little did the committee know about the hidden liabilities when it approved the merger late last quarter.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.