Question

In the following sentence, identify the part which has an error. If there is no error choose option D. Whenever a person lost anything the poor folk around are suspected
A. whenever a person lost anything
B. the poor folk around
C. are suspected
D. no error

Answer 1

Hint: In sentences that state the frequent occurrence of something, the verb that explains the occurrence must be in simple present. However, a conditional verb is used when there is a hypothetical situation and it can have past, present or future tenses in it.

Complete step by step answer:
Option a – whenever a person lost anything.
The purpose of using simple present verbs is to explain the events that occur on a regular basis. Hence this option has an error because the statement uses the term ‘whenever’ which indicates the frequency of its occurrence. The corrected phrase should be – “Whenever someone loses anything”
Option b – the poor folk around
It may seem like there is some error in this phrase because of the casual mix of the words ‘poor folk’ but it is not, because it simply states the group of people that are suspected whenever a person loses something.
Option c – are suspected
The word ‘folk’ is a collective noun which is a group of people, whereas folks are the people that form that group. This option does not have an error because according to the British language, folk is a plural term and can be followed by ‘are’.
Option d – As there is an error, this option is invalid.

Thus, the correct option is A.

Note:
A clear understanding of usage of nouns in various situations is important to answer questions like these. In this person, the present form of the verb is supposed to be used in the first part of the sentence.