Error Spotting • Topic 3 of 4

Preposition & Conjunction Errors

Many words take a fixed preposition: good AT, married TO, afraid OF, depend ON, different FROM. Conjunctions come in pairs (not only … but also; neither … nor) that must be used together.

Fixed prepositions

WordPreposition
good / badat
marriedto
afraid / fond / capableof
depend / congratulate / insiston
different / sufferfrom
superior / senior / priorto

Correlative pairs (use both halves)

not only … but also · either … or · neither … nor · both … and

Don't mix the pair. "Neither he or…" is wrong — neither pairs with nor. And avoid double conjunctions: "Although … yet" is wrong in formal English.

✅ Solved examples

1. Find the error: "He is good in mathematics."
"in" is wrong — good AT mathematics.
2. Find the error: "She is married with a doctor."
"with" is wrong — married TO.
3. Find the error: "Neither he or his friend came."
"or" is wrong — neither … NOR.
4. Find the error: "This is different than that."
"than" is wrong — different FROM.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. Error: "I am afraid from dogs."
Fixed preposition.
—
—
"from" → of
2. Error: "We depend in our parents."
depend ___
—
—
"in" → on
3. Error: "Not only he sings but also dances." (placement)
Parallel structure.
—
—
"Not only he sings" → He not only sings
4. Error: "They congratulated me for my success."
congratulate ___
—
—
"for" → on
5. Error: "Either you or him is wrong."
Subject case.
—
—
"him" → he

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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