Identifying sentence errors practice questions

IDENTIFYING SENTENCE ERRORS PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Exercise 1.
Why do students make mistakes? Choose the correct term in the box below for the following descriptions.

A) False friend B) Interlanguage C) L1 interference D) Overgeneralisation E) Fossilisation F) Developmental error
Exercise 3. For questions 1-6, match the teachers' comments about errors with the type of mistake listed A, B or C. Mark the correct letter (A, B or C) on your answer sheet. You need to use some options more than once.
Type of Error: A) slip B) L1 interference C) error
Teacher’s comments

1	We haven’t covered the past simple yet so when I asked about their weekend my students said things like ‘I go to the park’, ‘I am very busy with my friends’.
2	I’m trying to get my learners to see the difference between the subjunctive in English and in their own language so that they will use it accurately in English.
3	My students were really tired by the end of the afternoon so I didn’t do very much correction. I knew that they would know how to say the sentences correctly; they were just tired.
4	We’ve been doing a lot of practice saying /θ/ and /ð/. My learners keep saying /z/, I think it’s because they don’t have those sounds in their own language so they just use the sound they do have.
5	While doing an individual drill teaching ‘going to’, one of the students said ‘I going to buy some fruit’. I repeated ‘I going’ with rising intonation and he said I’m going’.

Exercise 4. Look at these examples of student errors. Decide what the error is in each sentence, and discuss why you think the error is being made. You should use the terms in the box.

false friend, L1 interference, interlanguage, overgeneralisation

1. She li:vz in London in a small flat.
2. He throwed the ball over the fence.
3. I have seen that film yesterday.
4. She told me a fantastic history about her last holiday.
5. Where do you come from? I'm coming from Sweden.
6. You should better can to go now.
Exercise 5. Each of the following sentences contains an error (Articles) which has been underlined. Write out the correct answer.

1. 
   She has a small eyes and a pointed nose.
   
2. 
   Jane is rather a outstanding woman
   
3. 
   We need to take an action to solve the problem of pollution.
   
4. 
   If you read, you get a knowledge.
   
5. 
   The woman describe her daughter as jewel.
   
6. 
   He was given a rewards for his honesty.
   
7. 
   It becomes dry when exposed to sun.
   
8. 
   The tracks were made by strange creature.
   
9. 
   Father went to bank yesterday.
   
10. 
    Michael Jackson is famous singer.
    

Exercise 6. The following are all errors commonly made by students. Look at the sentences/questions and correct them. Then discuss possible reasons that these errors are frequently made by students.
1. I have a good news for you.
2. He has not yet gone to the bed.
3. He came by the 4:30 o'clock train.
4. I have a strong headache.
5. Tell me why did you go there?
6. Does he needs a ticket for the bus?
Exercise 7. Read the text below. Look carefully at each sentence. Some of the sentences are correct but some have a word which should not be there.
All of a sudden, before two years ago, my aunt was rushed to hospital needing emergency surgery. She was fine but not very well enough to go on the two-week holiday she had booked months ahead. She asked for me if I wanted to go in her place. I jumped at the opportunity as I had never been to abroad before. Getting time off work was being easily arranged but doing last minute shopping was harder. There it seemed to be no shop that stocked swimming suits in mid-January! Finally, I got everything ready. As well as being a little nervous of flying, I was worried
whether I would find a company. Everyone reassured me that I would meet lots of people and make friends in no any time at all. It felt like ages waiting for the plane to take off next morning. My holiday turned out that to be wonderful. Why? Because of I met lots of interesting people, and also because I had the chance to relax.
Exercise 8. Read through the passages and find 10 mistakes in each box.
Hi Lisa,
Here I am in London. Its the capital of Britain. It's a huge place - ten millions people live here. England is really cool. Cambridge is amazingly. Its got the best night life in the world. The english are so funny. Many people go to the mountains for their holydays. There's great skiing in Cornwall. But did you now? Fishing is there favourite outdoor sport! Britain is the smallest island in europe. The Channel Bridge go from England to Spain.
See u soon. Dan.
Exercise 9. In some lines there's a spelling error or a punctuation error. Write the correctly spelt word or correct the punctuation. Some lines are correct.