Read the given sentence from a self-help book. Identify the error and supply the correction in the given format : To identifying your goal is the biggest step in your success story. [Table with columns: Error | Correction, both cells blank for student to fill]
Read the given sentence from a self-help book. Identify the error and supply the correction in the given format : To identifying your goal is the biggest step in your success story. [Table with columns: Error | Correction, both cells blank for student to fill]
Official answer
Error: "To identifying" | Correction: "Identifying"
Marking scheme
- 1.0.5 mark: correctly identifying the erroneous segment as 'To identifying'.
- 2.0.5 mark: supplying the correct replacement 'Identifying' (or, if reported as a two-word phrase, 'Identifying your goal').
- 3.Full 1 mark awarded only when both the Error and Correction columns are filled correctly; partial credit only per school-specific rubric, not standard CBSE marking.
Hint
A sentence subject that is a verb-form must be either a plain gerund ('Identifying...') or a to-infinitive ('To identify...') — never both together.
Quick oral answer
The error is mixing an infinitive marker with a gerund — 'To identifying' should simply be 'Identifying', since a sentence subject formed from a verb must be either a gerund or a to-infinitive, not both.
Common mistakes
- 1.Correcting only to 'To identify' but leaving 'identifying' unchanged, still producing a hybrid error.
- 2.Misidentifying the error as being in 'biggest step' or 'success story' instead of the opening phrase.
- 3.Writing the correction as a full rewritten sentence instead of filling only the Error/Correction table cells as instructed.
Analysis and explanation
Tests the gerund-vs-infinitive rule when a verb form opens a sentence as its subject.
Concept
- A verb used as the subject of a sentence must be EITHER a pure gerund ("Identifying...") OR a to-infinitive ("To identify...") — never a hybrid of the two.
- The sentence wrongly writes "To identifying", mixing the infinitive marker "to" with the "-ing" form.
Key points
- Minimal fix: drop the stray "to" and keep the gerund → "Identifying your goal is the biggest step in your success story."
- Alternative valid fix: "To identify your goal is the biggest step..."
Common mistakes
- Deleting "to" but forgetting the "-ing" must remain intact.
- Looking for the error elsewhere in the sentence (e.g., "biggest", "success story") instead of the opening phrase.
Interesting facts
CBSE editing/omission tasks in the Grammar section typically draw sentences from real-world genres (newspaper clippings, reviews, self-help excerpts) rather than invented textbook sentences, to test applied grammar.
The gerund-vs-infinitive-as-subject confusion is one of the most frequently recurring error types across CBSE Class 10 English papers from 2020 onward.
In formal English usage guides, both the gerund and to-infinitive forms are grammatically acceptable as sentence subjects, but mixing the two markers together is always incorrect.
Question details
Q13 of 72 questions
- Board
- CBSE
- Class
- Class 10
- Subject
- English (Language & Literature)
- Year
- 2026
- Section
- Section B
- Marks
- 1
- Type
- Short Answer
- Chapter
- Grammar: Editing and Error Correction (CBSE Class 10 English Language & Literature)
- Topic
- Error Correction — Gerund vs Infinitive as Subject
- Bloom's level
- apply
- Syllabus topic
- Unit: Grammar and Creative Writing Skills — Omission/Editing (Determiners, Verb Forms, Non-finites)
- Author
- CBSE
- Reviewed by
- Padhantu Academic Team
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Frequently asked questions
Why can't we say 'To identifying'?
Because 'to' is the marker for an infinitive (to + base verb, e.g. 'to identify'), while '-ing' marks a gerund. Combining them ('to identifying') mixes two different grammatical structures, which is not permitted in standard English.
Is 'To identify your goal is the biggest step' also correct?
Yes, that is an equally valid correction using the to-infinitive as the subject. However, since only one word needed to change from the original, examiners generally expect the minimal gerund correction 'Identifying'.