The given sentence is divided into four segments. Select the option that has the segment with an adverbial usage error.
Oliver told Mia, "Seldom than walking, she prefers to take the city bus."
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. "Seldom than walking,"
Error concept: Wrong adverbial construction.
What is wrong: The phrase “Seldom than” is incorrect. The adverb “seldom” (meaning rarely) cannot be followed by “than”.
Grammatical concept: Comparisons use “rather than” or “more… than”, while “seldom” is used without comparison (e.g., She seldom walks).
Incorrectness of the concept in context: Using “seldom than” makes the sentence ungrammatical and confusing.
How to correct: Replace “Seldom than walking” with “Rather than walking”.
Correct phrase/ correction: Rather than walking
Final sentence: Oliver told Mia, "Rather than walking, she prefers to take the city bus."
Hence, the chosen option is correct.