In the following sentence, identify the part that contains a grammatical error: "The reason for my absence is due to ill health."

Introduction / Context:
This error spotting question focuses on redundancy and awkward expression in English. The sentence "The reason for my absence is due to ill health" contains an unnecessary combination of "reason" and "due to" together. Native speakers normally say "The reason for my absence is ill health" or "My absence is due to ill health", but not both patterns joined in one sentence. Recognising and removing such redundancy helps to produce clear, concise writing.

Given Data / Assumptions:
• Full sentence: "The reason for my absence is due to ill health." • Part A: "The reason for". • Part B: "my absence is". • Part C: "due to ill health". • The idea is to explain why the speaker was absent.

Concept / Approach:
The concept tested here is how to link a noun like "reason" correctly with its explanation. We either say "The reason for something is X" or "Something is due to X". When we combine "reason" with "due to", the sentence becomes clumsy and repetitive, because both "reason" and "due to" are expressing causation. Therefore, the approach is to identify which phrase causes redundancy and needs to be removed or altered for proper usage.

Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Identify the core idea: the speaker wants to say that ill health caused the absence. 2. Note that "The reason for my absence is ill health" already expresses this idea clearly. 3. Notice that the phrase "is due to" can also be used without the word "reason": "My absence is due to ill health." 4. Observe that the sentence combines both: "The reason for my absence is due to ill health." 5. Recognise that this combination is redundant and non standard in good English usage. 6. Conclude that part C, "due to ill health", is the segment that makes the structure faulty when used with "reason for".

Verification / Alternative check:
Rewrite the sentence in two correct versions: "The reason for my absence is ill health" and "My absence is due to ill health". Both are grammatical and convey exactly the same meaning. In both cases, only one structure introducing the cause is used. Returning to the original sentence, you can now see that including "due to" is unnecessary and creates an awkward overlap, confirming that part C is where the error occurs.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Part A, "The reason for", is a normal way to introduce an explanation. Part B, "my absence is", correctly links the subject "my absence" with the verb "is". Part D, "No error", cannot be correct because we have identified a stylistic and grammatical issue with the sentence. Only part C, "due to ill health", when added after "The reason for my absence is", turns the sentence into a redundant structure that needs correction.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners are tempted to use both "reason" and "due to" together in an attempt to sound formal, but this actually weakens their writing. Another pitfall is to overlook redundancy because the sentence seems meaningful at first glance. To avoid such mistakes, try to simplify sentences to their basic subject verb complement form and remove repeated expressions of the same idea. If two different phrases both express cause or reason, usually one of them can be safely removed.

Final Answer:
The error is in part C, "due to ill health", because the sentence should read "The reason for my absence is ill health" or "My absence is due to ill health".