Our greatest glory is (a) / not in never falling but in (b) / raising every time we fall. (c)
- (a)(a)
- (b)(b)
- (c)(c)
- (d)No error
Correct — C, (c). The third segment reads 'raising every time we fall', but 'raise' is a transitive verb that must have an object, and the verb for getting up again is the intransitive 'rise'. Corrected, the sentence runs 'Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.'
- (a)(a) — 'Our greatest glory is' pairs a singular subject with a singular verb and needs no change.
- (b)(b) — 'Not in never falling but in' is a correctly balanced pair, with the same preposition 'in' placed before each gerund.
- (d)No error — One segment does need correcting, since 'raising' must become 'rising', so no error cannot be the answer.
A spotting-errors item on the confusable verbs rise and raise, where 'rise' takes no object while 'raise' always needs one.
The test is whether the verb has something to act on. Nobody is raising an object here, since the subject is simply getting up again, so the intransitive 'rise' is required and the gerund after the preposition 'in' must be 'rising'. The gerund 'falling' in the previous segment is the pattern the third segment has to match.
- 'Rise' is intransitive and its forms are rise, rose and risen.
- 'Raise' is transitive and its forms are raise, raised and raised.
- Accepting 'raising' because it is common in careless speech.
- Marking no error because the sentence otherwise reads smoothly.
Asked as a spotting-errors item — name the lettered segment that contains the mistake, or mark no error.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which part contains the error? 'The sun raises (a) / in the east (b) / every morning. (c)'
- (a)(a)
- (b)(b)
- (c)(c)
- (d)No error
Answer(a) — 'raises' should be 'rises', because the sun takes no object.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which part contains the error? 'She laid (a) / on the sofa (b) / for an hour. (c)'
- (a)(a)
- (b)(b)
- (c)(c)
- (d)No error
Answer(a) — 'laid' should be 'lay', the past tense of the intransitive verb 'lie'.