SSC MTS 2024 PYQ — Question 70

SSC MTS - 14/10/2024 - (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) • English • Q70

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.

Alaska in the USA / is the colder / of all the states.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C

Explanation

The correct answer is option 3 i.e. is the colder.

Error concept: The error is in the use of the comparative degree 'colder' instead of the superlative degree.

What is wrong:
The sentence is comparing Alaska with all the states, so it requires the superlative form ('coldest'), not the comparative form ('colder').

Grammatical concept:

  • Comparative degree (colder, bigger, better) is used when comparing two things.

  • Superlative degree (coldest, biggest, best) is used when comparing more than two things.

Incorrectness of the concept in context:
Here, Alaska is being compared with all the states (more than two). So, 'colder' is wrong.

How to correct:
Replace colder with coldest.

Correct phrase/ correction:
is the coldest

Final sentence:
Alaska in the USA is the coldest of all the states.

Hence, the chosen option is correct.