UPSC EPFO EO/AO 2023 · Question 9

Question 9 of the UPSC EPFO EO/AO Recruitment Test 2023 (General Ability Test) (2 July 2023). Try it first, then open the answer and explanation.

1. EO/AO 2023 · Q9 · General English · Grammar & Usage

   Find the part of the sentence that contains an error. If there is no error, choose "No error". Jitender was the smartest of the two children in the room.

   1. Jitender was the smartest
   2. of the two
   3. children in the room.
   4. No error
   Show answer

   Answer: (1) Jitender was the smartest

   The error is in part (1). When two persons or things are compared, the comparative degree is used, not the superlative: "Jitender was the smarter of the two children in the room." The superlative "smartest" is used for three or more, as in "the smartest of all the children". Note that "the" stays before the comparative in the pattern "the + comparative + of the two" (the taller of the two, the better of the two). Parts (2) and (3) are correct as they stand.

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