Read each of the following sentences to find out whether there is/are an error…
2023
Read each of the following sentences to find out whether there is/are an error or errors in any underlined part(s). If no underlined part contains an error, select ‘None of the above’.
What kinds of car do you want?
Answer: A. What kinds — CONCEPTA category phrase should keep its singular or plural framing coherent. ‘What kind of + singular count noun’ asks for one category, while ‘what kinds of…
- A.
What kinds
- B.
of car do
- C.
you want?
- D.
More than one of the above
- E.
None of the above
Attempted by 5 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
CONCEPT
A category phrase should keep its singular or plural framing coherent. ‘What kind of + singular count noun’ asks for one category, while ‘what kinds of + plural count noun’ asks about several categories.
APPLICATION
The noun ‘car’ is singular, so the sentence retains a singular category frame.
In that frame, the plural word ‘kinds’ changes to the singular ‘kind’.
The corrected sentence is: ‘What kind of car do you want?’
The auxiliary ‘do’ agrees with the subject ‘you’, and the main verb remains in its base form ‘want’.
CONTRAST
‘What kinds’ introduces a plural category frame, whereas the retained noun ‘car’ is singular.
‘of car do’ contains the preposition ‘of’, the singular count noun ‘car’, and the auxiliary ‘do’ used with ‘you’.
‘you want?’ contains the subject pronoun and the base-form main verb required after ‘do’.
‘More than one of the above’ denotes multiple faulty segments, but the one-segment repair changes only ‘kinds’.
‘None of the above’ denotes a sentence needing no change, while this sentence needs the singular category word ‘kind’.
CROSS-CHECK
The parallel plural construction would be ‘What kinds of cars do you want?’ Because the given noun is singular, ‘What kind of car do you want?’ is the coherent one-segment repair.
RESULT
Therefore, the error-bearing segment is ‘What kinds’, which should read ‘What kind’.