Question

The following sentence has been split into four segments. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error. They were / interested / on / learning new languages.

• A. learning new languages
• B. interested
• C. They were
• D. on

Answer 1

Answer:

D. on

The error is in the choice of the preposition. In English, certain adjectives are followed by specific prepositions. This is known as a Fixed Preposition. The Rule: The adjective "interested" is always followed by the preposition "in", not "on". The Correction: The sentence should be: "They were interested in learning new languages." Pattern: Interested + in + [Gerund/Noun].