Identify the part of the sentence that contains a grammatical error: Little knowledge of playing volleyball (1) / that she possessed proved to be (2) / helpful at the time of the inaugural match. (3) / No error (4).

Introduction / Context:
This is an error-spotting question from English grammar. The sentence is divided into four numbered parts, and you must identify which part contains a grammatical or usage error. The sentence talks about a girl's limited knowledge of playing volleyball and how that knowledge still proved helpful during an inaugural match.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Part (1): “Little knowledge of playing volleyball”.
• Part (2): “that she possessed proved to be”.
• Part (3): “helpful at the time of the inaugural match.”
• Part (4): “No error”.
• We assume standard formal English grammar is being tested.

Concept / Approach:
The main concept here is the use of the determiner “little” versus “the little”. “Little knowledge” suggests almost no knowledge. “The little knowledge” refers to the small amount of knowledge that she did possess and which was actually useful. Because the sentence says that this knowledge “proved to be helpful”, it must be the specific small amount she had, so the correct phrase should be “The little knowledge of playing volleyball”.

Step-by-Step Solution:
First, read the whole sentence for meaning: the small amount of knowledge she had helped during the match.Check Part (1): “Little knowledge of playing volleyball” – missing the article “the”.Check Part (2): “that she possessed proved to be” – grammatically correct and matches the singular subject “knowledge”.Check Part (3): “helpful at the time of the inaugural match.” – this is grammatically correct and meaningful.Therefore, the error lies in Part (1) because it should say “The little knowledge of playing volleyball”.

Verification / Alternative check:
Replace Part (1) with the corrected version and read the full sentence: “The little knowledge of playing volleyball that she possessed proved to be helpful at the time of the inaugural match.” This version is grammatically sound and clearly expresses that the small amount of knowledge she did have turned out to be useful.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Part (2) correctly uses the relative clause “that she possessed” and the verb “proved” for the singular subject “knowledge”. Part (3) uses correct prepositions and word order. Since those parts read naturally, they do not contain errors, so options “2” and “3” are incorrect choices. “No error (4)” is also wrong because an error clearly exists in Part (1).

Common Pitfalls:
Learners often overlook small determiners like “a”, “an”, and “the” in error-spotting questions. Another mistake is not linking grammar with meaning; here, the meaning clearly suggests that a certain small amount of knowledge was useful, which requires “the little”, not just “little”.

Final Answer:
The part of the sentence that contains the error is 1.