Question

Instructions (94-98): Each of the questions below consists of statements having four phrases (a), (b), (c) and (d). One of the phrases is grammatically incorrect. Identify the incorrect phrase.

(a) It is always
(b) been hard to change
(c) the Indian car buyer's perception
(d) When it comes to designs

• A. a
• B. b
• C. c
• D. d

Hint:

Look at how phrase (a) connects with the word "been" in phrase (b), and ask which auxiliary verb actually pairs with a past participle.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

For these jumbled-phrase questions, a fast method is to first rearrange the four phrases into a natural sentence order, then check tense consistency across the joined sentence rather than judging each phrase in isolation.

Rearranged, the phrases read: (d) "When it comes to designs", (a) "It is always", (b) "been hard to change", (c) "the Indian car buyer's perception", giving: "When it comes to designs, it is always been hard to change the Indian car buyer's perception."

Now test the verb chain "is always been". English forms the present perfect with has/have + past participle ("has been"), and the present continuous with is/am/are + present participle ("is being"). "Is ... been" matches neither pattern, it wrongly mixes a present simple auxiliary with a past participle. The verb chain that actually fits the sentence's meaning, an ongoing difficulty that started in the past and continues today, is the present perfect "has always been", not "is always been".

Since phrases (b), (c) and (d) all slot correctly into the corrected sentence without any change, the fault must lie in phrase (a), where "is" needs to become "has".

The correct answer is option 1, phrase (a).