Error spotting in idiomatic expression: He courted arrest in order to protest against corruption among the government servants. Identify which part of the original sentence was wrong and how it should be corrected.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: The passive form was courted arrest is incorrect.

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This question tests knowledge of idiomatic verbal expressions in English, especially the expression to court arrest. The sentence describes a person deliberately getting himself arrested in order to protest against corruption. The problem lies in the use of the passive form with this particular idiom. Understanding which verbs naturally take passive forms and which remain active is an important part of mastering English usage.


Given Data / Assumptions:
- Original sentence: He was courted arrest in order to protest against corruption among the government servants.
- The structure attempts to use court arrest to show deliberate acceptance of arrest for a cause.
- We assume the sentence is intended to describe civil disobedience or similar protest action.


Concept / Approach:
The idiom is to court arrest, which means to deliberately invite arrest or risk being arrested. It is used in the active voice, with the person as the subject and arrest as the object. We say He courted arrest, not He was courted arrest. The passive structure is ungrammatical and clashes with the meaning of the idiom. On the other hand, the purpose clause in order to protest against corruption among the government servants is grammatically correct and clearly expresses motive.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Focus on the initial part He was courted arrest. Here, was is the auxiliary for the passive voice and courted arrest is treated as a past participle phrase. Step 2: Recall the idiomatic form to court arrest, which is normally used as a simple active verb phrase with the structure subject plus verb plus object. Step 3: Recognise that making it passive would require arrest to become the subject, for example Arrest was courted by him, which sounds very unnatural and is not the form used in practice. Step 4: Therefore, the correct opening should be He courted arrest. Step 5: Examine the rest of the sentence in order to protest against corruption among the government servants. This part correctly expresses the purpose and the object of protest. Step 6: We conclude that the only error lies in the use of the passive was courted arrest.


Verification / Alternative check:
A corrected version of the full sentence is: He courted arrest in order to protest against corruption among the government servants. This form is often seen in news reports and editorials about activists. Another check is to replace the idiom with a simpler verb: He got himself arrested in order to protest against corruption. This has exactly the same meaning and clearly shows that the original intent was active, not passive. This confirms our identification of the error.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
- The phrase in order to protest against is incorrect: This expression is fully standard; in order to clearly marks purpose, and protest against is the correct verb plus preposition combination.

- The phrase among the government servants is incorrect: Among correctly shows that corruption exists within the group of government servants, so there is no grammatical or usage error here.
- There is no error anywhere in the sentence: This option would accept a non standard passive form and ignore the idiomatic rule for court arrest, so it is wrong.
- Both the protest phrase and the servants phrase are wrong: As both of these segments are grammatically sound, this option is also incorrect.


Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes try to change every action verb into the passive without checking whether the result is idiomatic. Some fixed expressions resist passive transformation because their typical usage is strongly active. Remember that to court arrest, to court disaster, and similar expressions like to court trouble are normally kept in the active voice. When in doubt, consult examples from reliable sources and observe how these idioms are actually used.


Final Answer:
Correct option: The passive form was courted arrest is incorrect.

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