Please revert back to (A) / me with your decision (B) / at the earliest (C) / possible convenience. (D)

• A. Please revert back to (Answer)
• B. me with your decision
• C. at the earliest
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY: 'Revert' already means 'to go back to a previous state', so adding 'back' is redundant. Correct: 'Please revert to me with your decision'. One of the most common redundancy errors in Indian professional and exam English.

The two companies decided (A) / to join together (B) / and form a single (C) / entity to reduce costs. (D)

• A. The two companies decided
• B. to join together (Answer)
• C. and form a single
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY: 'Join' already means 'to come together' or 'unite', so adding 'together' repeats the same idea. Correct: 'decided to join and form a single entity'. A high-frequency redundancy trap in error-spotting sections.

Each and every employee (A) / must submit the (B) / feedback form (C) / by Friday evening. (D)

• A. Each and every employee (Answer)
• B. must submit the
• C. feedback form
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY: 'Each' and 'every' both individually convey the same distributive meaning, so pairing them doubles up unnecessarily — though the phrase is extremely common in speech. Correct: 'Each employee must submit' or 'Every employee must submit'. Formal written English penalises this doubling.

The final outcome (A) / of the negotiations (B) / surprised even the (C) / most experienced diplomats. (D)

• A. The final outcome (Answer)
• B. of the negotiations
• C. surprised even the
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY: 'Outcome' already means the final result of a process, so 'final' is unnecessary. Correct: 'The outcome of the negotiations surprised...'. A subtle redundancy that sounds natural in speech but is penalised in formal writing sections.

The museum's new exhibit (A) / includes several rare (B) / artefacts from ancient (C) / past civilizations. (D)

• A. The museum's new exhibit
• B. includes several rare
• C. artefacts from ancient
• D. past civilizations (Answer)

REDUNDANCY: 'Ancient' already conveys 'belonging to the distant past', so adding 'past' before 'civilizations' repeats the same idea. Correct: 'artefacts from ancient civilizations' (remove 'past'). Layered redundancy placed at the very end of a sentence is a classic distraction technique.

Despite completely eliminating (A) / all traces of corruption, (B) / the new administration (C) / still faced public distrust. (D)

• A. Despite completely eliminating (Answer)
• B. all traces of corruption,
• C. the new administration
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY: 'Eliminate' already means 'to remove entirely' or 'get rid of completely', so pairing it with 'completely' is redundant. Correct: 'Despite eliminating all traces of corruption'. Redundant intensifiers before absolute verbs such as eliminate, destroy, and complete are a favourite advanced-level trap.

The two nations finally (A) / reached a mutual (B) / agreement acceptable (C) / to both parties. (D)

• A. The two nations finally
• B. reached a mutual (Answer)
• C. agreement acceptable
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY: An 'agreement' by definition already involves shared consent between parties, so the qualifier 'mutual' before it is considered redundant in strict formal usage. Correct: 'reached an agreement acceptable to both parties' (remove 'mutual'). A subtler, frequently debated redundancy pattern tested at the CGL/UPSC level.

The government's new housing scheme (A) / targets low-income families (B) / who currently lack access (C) / to affordable, safe housing. (D)

• A. The government's new housing scheme
• B. targets low-income families
• C. who currently lack access
• D. No error (Answer)

CLEAN SENTENCE: There is no redundancy or grammatical fault here — each modifier ('low-income', 'affordable, safe') adds distinct, non-overlapping information. No error — placed among heavily redundant sentences to test whether students force-find an error where none exists.

The committee's basic fundamental (A) / objective is to ensure (B) / transparency in (C) / the recruitment process. (D)

• A. The committee's basic fundamental (Answer)
• B. objective is to ensure
• C. transparency in
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY: 'Fundamental' already means 'forming a base or core; basic', so preceding it with 'basic' repeats the same idea. Correct: 'The committee's fundamental objective' (or 'basic objective'), never both together. A compact two-word redundancy that is easy to overlook when reading quickly.

The unexpected surprise announcement (A) / of the merger caught (B) / the entire industry (C) / completely off guard. (D)

• A. The unexpected surprise announcement (Answer)
• B. of the merger caught
• C. the entire industry
• D. No error

REDUNDANCY (Capstone): A 'surprise' is, by definition, something unexpected, so pairing 'unexpected' with 'surprise' is a textbook redundancy. Correct: 'The surprise announcement of the merger' (or 'The unexpected announcement'). This front-loaded redundancy tests whether fatigued students still catch errors in a sentence's opening words.