STP-PAD: Subject-verb, Tense, Pronoun, Preposition, Article, Double-negative. Check these 6 in order — they cover 90% of error spotting questions.
Error Spotting Tricks
SBI POIBPS POSSC CGLRRB NTPC
Items to Memorize
- Subject-Verb Agreement (singular/plural mismatch)
- Tense Consistency (past/present/future mixing)
- Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
- Preposition Errors (on/in/at, since/for)
- Article Errors (a/an/the misuse)
- Parallelism (mixed structures in lists)
- Dangling/Misplaced Modifiers
- Double Negatives
- Redundancy (already repeated, revert back)
- Comparatives/Superlatives (more better, most fastest)
Mnemonic Tricks
How It Maps
| Cue | Maps To |
|---|---|
| S (Subject-Verb) | Does the verb match the subject in number? 'The team are' → 'The team is' |
| T (Tense) | Is the tense consistent throughout? Don't mix past and present in one sentence |
| P (Pronoun) | Does the pronoun match its antecedent? 'Everyone should bring their' → 'his/her' |
| P (Preposition) | Is the right preposition used? 'Since 3 years' → 'For 3 years' |
| A (Article) | Is a/an/the correct? 'He is honest man' → 'an honest man' |
| D (Double-neg) | Are there hidden double negatives? 'hardly no' → 'hardly any' |
Why It Sticks
Banking exams repeat the same 6 grammar patterns. STP-PAD ensures you check them all systematically instead of relying on 'what sounds right'.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between 'since' and 'for'?
'Since' is used with a point in time (since 2020, since Monday). 'For' is used with a duration (for 3 years, for 5 hours).
How to handle 'No error' options?
Only choose 'No error' after checking all 6 STP-PAD rules. Approximately 15-20% of questions genuinely have no error.