CSS Sentence Correction Practice Set 1 – 10 Original Sentences with Corrections & Rules

How to Use

• Time: 20 minutes total. Correct five sentences in 12 minutes, then check all ten against the answers (8 minutes).
• Rule for this exercise: each sentence below contains exactly ONE error. Find it, correct only that error, and do not rewrite the whole sentence. Minimal correction is the discipline — the same discipline the exam rewards.
• Cover the answers. Write each correction out in full before checking. After checking, copy any rule you missed into a personal error log: original sentence, rule, correction.
• Do not claim any FPSC mark split in the published post. This set is practice only.

Practice Sentences — Correct Each One

1. The list of recommended books are on the desk.
2. The librarian divided the worksheets between Ali and I.
3. Walking through the library, the old manuscript caught my attention.
4. She is working at the library since 2019.
5. He could not find no trace of the missing file in the archive.
6. The course teaches students to read carefully, to write clearly, and thinking critically.
7. She is a honest reader who checks every reference.
8. He insisted to check the references before submitting the essay.
9. Neither the students nor the teacher were present at the morning briefing.
10. There are less chairs in the reading room than last term.

Answers — Correction + Rule (one error per sentence)

1. Subject–verb agreement (head noun, not the nearest noun).

• Incorrect: The list of recommended books are on the desk.
• Correct: The list of recommended books is on the desk.
• Why: The subject is the singular head noun list, not the plural books inside the prepositional phrase. The verb agrees with list.

2. Pronoun case after a preposition.

• Incorrect: The librarian divided the worksheets between Ali and I.
• Correct: The librarian divided the worksheets between Ali and me.
• Why: Between is a preposition, and a pronoun after a preposition takes the object form (me), not the subject form (I).

3. Dangling modifier.

• Incorrect: Walking through the library, the old manuscript caught my attention.
• Correct: Walking through the library, I noticed the old manuscript.
• Why: The opening phrase Walking through the library must describe the subject of the main clause. A manuscript cannot walk, so the subject must be the person doing the walking.

4. Tense with since for an action continuing to the present.

• Incorrect: She is working at the library since 2019.
• Correct: She has been working at the library since 2019.
• Why: Since 2019 marks a point in the past continuing to the present, so the present perfect continuous is required — not the present continuous.

5. Double negative.

• Incorrect: He could not find no trace of the missing file in the archive.
• Correct: He could find no trace of the missing file in the archive.
• Why: Two negatives (not + no) cancel each other. Remove one: keep no and drop not for the minimal correction.

6. Parallel structure.

• Incorrect: The course teaches students to read carefully, to write clearly, and thinking critically.
• Correct: The course teaches students to read carefully, to write clearly, and to think critically.
• Why: Items in a list must share the same form. The first two use to + verb, so the third must too.

7. Article before a silent h.

• Incorrect: She is a honest reader who checks every reference.
• Correct: She is an honest reader who checks every reference.
• Why: Honest is pronounced with a silent h, so it begins with a vowel sound and takes an, not a.

8. Preposition + gerund after insist.

• Incorrect: He insisted to check the references before submitting the essay.
• Correct: He insisted on checking the references before submitting the essay.
• Why: Insist takes on followed by a gerund (checking), not an infinitive (to check).

9. Agreement with neither … nor (nearest subject).

• Incorrect: Neither the students nor the teacher were present at the morning briefing.
• Correct: Neither the students nor the teacher was present at the morning briefing.
• Why: With neither … nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject — here the singular teacher — so the verb is singular.

10. Fewer for countable nouns.

• Incorrect: There are less chairs in the reading room than last term.
• Correct: There are fewer chairs in the reading room than last term.
• Why: Fewer is used with countable nouns (chairs); less is for uncountable quantities.

Error Log — Copy This Pattern

Common Traps in This Set

• Trap 1 (Item 1): the plural noun nearest the verb (books) tempts you to use are. Always find the head noun (list) first.
• Trap 2 (Item 3): the incorrect sentence sounds natural until you ask who is walking. Ask that question for every opening -ing phrase.
• Trap 3 (Item 9): the plural noun comes first (students), but the verb follows the nearer singular subject (teacher). Proximity, not first-noun, decides.
• Trap 4 (Item 5): fixing a double negative by changing no to any (could not find any trace) is also grammatical, but the minimal correction — dropping not — changes less.

Timed Drill (10 minutes, after the main exercise)

1. Without looking at the answers, re-correct items 1, 3, 6, and 9 from memory.
2. For each, state the rule in one short phrase (for example: “head noun”, “dangling modifier”, “parallel”, “nearest subject”).
3. Any rule you cannot name is the one to drill next: write two new sentences of your own that test that rule, then correct them.

Closing

This is an original practice set written for csspastpapers.pk. It is not an FPSC question, and this site is not affiliated with FPSC. Practise the method — find the single error, correct only that error, name the rule — then write your next set of corrections under timed conditions.

Related / Read also

• English Precis and Composition CSS Past Papers
• CSS Syllabus
• CSS Precis Practice Set 1
• English Essay model answers