The following sentence has been split into four segments. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error.
His artwork is / more intricate / than any artist / in the gallery.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. than any artist.
Error concept: Wrong comparison structure.
What is wrong: The sentence says “His artwork is more intricate than any artist”, which wrongly compares artwork with artist (a person).
Grammatical concept:
-
When making comparisons, the same type of things must be compared (artwork with artwork, artist with artist).
-
Here, artwork should be compared with the artwork of other artists, not the artists themselves.
Incorrectness of the concept in context: Comparing artwork with artist is illogical and grammatically incorrect.
How to correct: Change “than any artist” to “than that of any artist” (to mean 'than the artwork of any artist').
Correct phrase/ correction: than that of any artist
Final sentence: His artwork is more intricate than that of any artist in the gallery.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.