The following sentence has been divided into parts. One of them may contain an error. Select the part that contains the error from the given options. If you don’t find any error, mark ‘No error’ as your answer.
The students were diligently / studying for their exams / for weeks before you arrived.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. The students were diligently.
Error concept: The error is in the placement of the adverb 'diligently'.
What is wrong: The phrase 'The students were diligently' is incomplete and grammatically incorrect because the adverb diligently should modify the verb studying, not just stand after 'were'.
Grammatical concept:
In English, adverbs like diligently, carefully, quickly are placed near the main verb they describe.
Incorrectness of the concept in context:
Here, 'were diligently' makes no sense because 'diligently' is not modifying any action. The correct form should connect it to studying.
How to correct:
Place the adverb before or after the main verb 'studying'.
Correct phrase/ correction:
The students were studying diligently.
Final sentence:
The students were studying diligently for their exams for weeks before you arrived.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.