Question

Identify the part of sentence that contains a mistake in grammar, idiom or syntax :

[A] She was as pretty, [B] if not prettier than [C] any other girl who had come [D] to participate in the meeting.

• A. A
• B. B
• C. C
• D. D
• E. No Error

Answer 1

The correct option is A A

The error is one of parallel structure. Here we have two different structures: (1) "as pretty"; and (2) "prettier." In the sentence, they are not grammatically parallel to each other, though they are logically parallel since both are structures used to make comparisons. The first structure ("as pretty") needs to be followed by "as" (which is missing from the sentence), whereas the second structure needs to be followed by "than" (which ispresent in the sentence). As a result, we get the ungrammatical construction "as pretty ... than."
For the sentence to be grammatically correct, it should be:

She was as pretty as, if not prettier than, any other girl who had come to participate in the meeting.

Notice that we have added the word "as" after "pretty" and we have addedcommasbefore and after "if not prettier than." Now, the two comparative structures are grammatically parallel to each other. That is, "as pretty as" is now parallel, both grammatically and logically, to "prettier than."

Hence, correct answer is A).