Accuracy: Spelling, Punctuation and Sentence Correctness
What this section asks
Accuracy is assessed across every answer you write, and also appears as direct items - correcting a faulty sentence, supplying punctuation, choosing the right spelling. Small errors on short answers cost disproportionately because the marker sees them immediately.
Sentence correctness
- One subject, one finite verb per clause; check agreement, especially with "one of the", "each of", "neither of" (singular verb).
- Articles: a/an follows sound, not spelling - an hour, a university, an MP.
- Fixed prepositions: discuss (no "about"), married to, consists of, prefer to, listen to, capable of.
- Remove Indianisms: "return back", "one of my friend", "discuss about", "myself Rohan" (write "I am Rohan").
- Keep one tense across a paragraph unless the time actually changes.
Punctuation and spelling
- Apostrophe: singular + 's (father's help); plural ending in s takes s' (boys' hostel); its = possessive, it's = it is.
- Commas for listing and after an introductory phrase; never join two full sentences with only a comma - use a full stop or a conjunction.
- Question mark only after direct questions; indirect questions take a full stop.
- Spellings to drill: necessary, occurred, beginning, receive, separate, government, February, knowledge, privilege, advice (noun)/advise (verb), practice (noun)/practise (verb).
Worked example
Faulty sentence: "one of my friend gave me a very good advice."
Correction: "One of my friends gave me very good advice."
Reasoning: "one of" is followed by a plural noun, so friend → friends; "advice" is uncountable, so the article "a" must go; the first word of a sentence needs a capital letter. Three separate errors, three separate corrections.
Traps that cost marks
- Sprinkling commas wherever you would pause in speech.
- Writing "it's" for "its".
- Confusing "loose" and "lose".
- Leaving a fragment after "because" or "although".
- Misspelling words you have just copied from the passage.