Question

Which one of the following is an error of \textit{grammatical competence?}

• A. Colourful white flags waved the wind.
• B. The snake walked down the stairs.
• C. I gave them a piece of my mind.
• D. The purple sollies were gordly lombing.

Hint:

Remember: - Grammatical competence errors = violations of grammar rules (syntax, agreement, word order). - Semantic errors = grammatically correct but nonsensical in meaning.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding grammatical competence
Grammatical competence refers to the ability to form sentences that follow the grammatical rules of a language (syntax, morphology, agreement, etc.). Errors in grammatical competence involve breaking these rules, not just using odd or meaningless words. Step 2: Analyzing the options
- (A) \emph{Colourful white flags waved the wind.}
Here, the verb \emph{waved} is used incorrectly. In English, it is the wind that waves the flags, not the other way around. This violates subject-verb-object agreement and natural grammatical rules. Thus, this is an error of grammatical competence.
- (B) \emph{The snake walked down the stairs.}
This is grammatically correct, though semantically odd (snakes don't walk). This is a semantic anomaly, not a grammatical error.
- (C) \emph{I gave them a piece of my mind.}
This is a standard idiomatic expression and grammatically correct. No error here.
- (D) \emph{The purple sollies were gordly lombing.}
This sentence uses nonsense words (\emph{sollies}, \emph{gordly}, \emph{lombing}) but the grammar is intact: adjective + noun + auxiliary verb + adverb + verb. The grammar works, so this is not a grammatical error but a lexical/semantic one.
Step 3: Conclusion
Only option (A) demonstrates a violation of grammatical competence. The others are semantically strange or nonsensical but still grammatically valid. \[ \boxed{\text{Correct Answer: (A)}} \]