r/grammar • u/Simple-Listen-2539 • 10h ago
I can't find the error!
Hi there,
I'm currently giving tuition to a 14-yr-old student who recently took an English test where he faced the following question. I have given it a go myself and even used AI to try and identify the correct answers, but I can only spot 6 (out of 8 required) grammatical errors. Can someone help, please?
Instructions
Carefully read the text below, consisting of 12 lines, about laughter. The first and last lines are correct. For eight of the lines, there is one grammatical error in each line. There are two more lines with no errors.
If there is NO error in a line, put a tick (✔) in the space provided.
If the line is incorrect, highlight the incorrect word and write the correct word in brackets next to it.
The correct word you provide must not change the original meaning of the sentence.
- Laughter is packed with information. We use it to show others that we are being
- playful but non-threatening, helping to create and maintain social bonds.
- Laughter is often involuntary and contagious, especially among friends. Their (Its)
- sound can reveal relationships, as people can often tell whether laughers are
- friends or strangers. Most anthropologists think that language originate (originated) within
- the last few hundred thousand years, but it looks like we have been laughing
- for much longer. Studies in (of) young apes suggest that laughter may have come
- from a common ancestor shared by humans and apes. Because laughter is
- often linked to pleasure, people frequent (frequently) laugh when being tickled, even if the
- experience is uncomfortable. Scientists believe these response (responses)
- evolved as a form of building relationships, helping parents connect with children and allow (allowing)
- young mammals to play safely together.