In this English error spotting question, read the sentence "Father was upset (1) / when he found that (2) / you are not there. (3) / No Error (4)" and identify which part of the sentence contains a tense or grammatical error.

Introduction / Context:
This question is from the English grammar topic of error spotting, specifically tense consistency. The sentence is divided into four parts: "Father was upset (1) / when he found that (2) / you are not there. (3) / No Error (4)". You must identify the part that has a grammatical or tense error. Exams often test whether you can keep verb tenses consistent when describing past events.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Part (1): "Father was upset"
• Part (2): "when he found that"
• Part (3): "you are not there."
• Part (4): "No Error"
• The intended meaning is that, at some point in the past, the father was upset when he discovered that you were absent.

Concept / Approach:
The key idea is sequence of tenses. When the main clause uses a past tense ("Father was upset") and the next clause ("when he found that") also uses a past tense, the clause that follows should usually maintain past tense if it refers to a situation at that same past time. Here, "you are not there" shifts to present tense, which breaks the tense consistency. It should be "you were not there". Therefore, the error is located in part (3), where "are" should be replaced by "were".

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Combine parts (1) and (2): "Father was upset when he found that ..." This clearly refers to a past event.Step 2: Examine part (3): "you are not there." The verb "are" is in present tense.Step 3: Notice the mismatch: a present tense clause is being used to describe a situation that existed when he found out in the past.Step 4: Apply the rule of tense consistency: if the main clause and time clause are in past tense, the subordinate clause describing the situation at that time should also use past tense.Step 5: Conclude that part (3) is incorrect and should read "you were not there."

Verification / Alternative check:
Rewrite the sentence with the corrected tense: "Father was upset when he found that you were not there." This version now has all verbs in the past tense, which clearly indicates that both his feeling and the discovery of your absence happened in the past. The sentence sounds natural and grammatically correct. Parts (1) and (2) are already in correct past tense forms, and there is no need to change them.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Part (1), "Father was upset", is fine because it uses a past tense form "was" to indicate a past feeling. Part (2), "when he found that", also correctly uses the past tense "found". Part (4), "No Error", cannot be correct because we have clearly identified an inconsistency. The only real problem is in part (3), where "are" should be changed to "were".

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes overlook tense shifts when the sentence sounds familiar. Another pitfall is to think that direct speech style (for example, "he found that you are not there") is acceptable in all contexts. In reported narrative, however, it is better to keep all parts of a description of a past event in the past tense unless there is a good reason to do otherwise. Always check each verb and ask whether it refers to the same time frame as the main clause.

Final Answer:
The error is in Part (3), because the verb should be "were" to give "you were not there", maintaining consistent past tense with "was upset" and "found".