The first item’s distractors were the following:

a) did you wanted is a distractor, in here the tenses are wrong, according to the rule you cannot use the verb in past
along with the auxiliary verb in past .
b) have you want is also a distractor, in this case the tense is present perfect.
c) do you want is the right answer, it is in present simple.

The first item didn’t represent a major challenge; 94% of students had the right answer, only 6% answered letter b
and none of them took into account distractor a.

The second item’s distractors were the following:

a) Hardly have Lucy been: 5.71%
c) Lucy have hardly gone: 68.57 %
In both cases there was the use of present perfect, the mistake committed was the conjugation of the auxiliary verb.
However, the syntactic mistake is evident. Only a small part of the group answered it right.
No answer: 2. 85 %
b) Hardly had Lucy gone: 22. 85 %
The third item’s distractors were the following:
a) Never little girls should: 60%
b) Should never little girls: 28. 57%
Again, the distractors included syntactical errors. Only a small portion (4 Ss) had the right answer.
c) Never should little girls: 11.42 %

The fourth item’s distractors were the following:

a)No sooner mom saw: 68. 57%
c)Mom no soon saw: 20%

b) No sooner did mom see: 11.42 %

The fifth items distractors wre the following:

a) Not also had Lucy left: 6%

b) Lucy haven’t also left: 60%

the right answer

c) Not only had Lucy left: 34%

The following items were open questions; Ss were given ten sentences and asked to rewrite them as a question,
changing the word order and the form of the verb if necessary. The results were divided into seven different
cathegories; in which it can be identify if its a slip, a mistake or an error, the type of error according to Brown (false
analogy, misanalysys, incomplete rule application, exploiting redundancy, overlooking co-ocurrence restrictions,
hypercorrection, overgeneralization), and errors based on linguistic cathegory (omisision, additions, misformation,
misordering Burt and Kiparsky, 1972)

1. The right question. Ss had answered without any mistake, they had showed complete understanding of what
they were asked for; the sentence was syntactically correct and the verb tense was also correct.

2. Syntactically correct, wrong form of verb. Ss showed the ability to change the word order necessary but failed
in conjugating the verb correctly. It was taken as a slip, since the error analysed in this research was a syntactic one,
and the Ss would have been able to correct it, if they had had the chance to do so. Most of Ss conjugated the verb
adding third person s. According to Brow the source of this error is an interlingual negative interference and an
incomplete rule application, which happens when the learner doesn’t apply all the rules in a particular situation,
some sort of overgeneralization. In this case the error presented was a misformation, which is the use of a wrong
form of the morpheme for structure.

3. Syntactically incorrect, wrong form of the verb. Ss lacked the necessary knowledge to answer as expected.
They didn’t know the grammatical rule for inverted questions. It was taken as an error, since it was still clear what
Ss wanted to say. Overlooking co-occurrence restrictions were showed, meaning that the Ss didn’t know that certain
words go together with certain complements, as well as misordering, which is the incorrect placement of a
morpheme or group of morphemes in an utterance.
4. Omission. Ss omitted syntactic functions or auxiliary verbs. It was taken as an error, since it was still clear what
Ss wanted to say. False analogy is presented; the Ss incorrectly think that a new item behaves like another item they
already know. The presence of Omission is clear, there is absence of an item that must appear in a well-formed
utterance.

5. Addition. Ss added articles, auxiliary verbs or s in verbs when it wasn’t needed. It was taken as an error, since it
was still clear what Ss wanted to say. It was taken as a misanalysis, in which the learner has formed an unfounded
hypothesis in the L2 and is putting it in practice. Obviously there are Additions, which is the presence of an item
that must not appear in well-formed utterances.

6. Use of another auxiliary verb. Ss added wh questions, have, do/does. In most cases the sense of the question
changed dramatically, therefore it was taken as an attempt. It was taken as an overgeneralization, since the learner
uses one member of a set of forms also in situations when the other members must be use. In this case,
overgeneralized the use of some auxiliary verbs in questions.

7. Misunderstood. Ss didn’t follow the instructions; most of the answers were incomprehensible or completely out
of context. In most cases Ss had no idea of how to use the right form. It was taken as an attempt. It was taken as a
misanalysis, in which the learner has formed an unfounded hypothesis in the L2 and is putting it in practice.

8. No answer

The sixth item Laura knows how to serve her customers effectively and effectively showed the following results:

Right answer: 45.71 %

Syntactically correct, wrong form of verb: 8.57 %
Syntactically incorrect, wrong form of the verb: 0%
Omission: 2.85 %
Addition: 17.14 %
Another auxiliary verb: 14.28%
Misunderstood: 11.42 %

The seventh item Albert was accused of cheating showed the following results:

Right answer: 60%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 8.57%
Addition: 5.71%
Another auxiliar verb: 11.42%
Misunderstood: 14.28%

The eighth item You can understand why I’m upset showed the following results:

Right answer: 37.14%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 40%
Syntactically incorrect, wrong form of the verb: 2.85%
Another auxiliar verb: 2.85%%
Misunderstood: 17.14%
The ninth item Darlene chose the most expensive items on the menu showed the following results:

Right answer: 48.57%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 25.71%
Another auxiliar verb: 8.57%
Misunderstood: 17.14%

The tenth item All the managers were taught how to use the new software showed the following results:

Right answer: 31.42%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 17.14%
Syntactically incorrect, wrong form of the verb: 5.71%
Omission: 2.85%
Addition: 8.57%
Another auxiliar verb: 17.14%
Misunderstood: 14.28%
No answer: 2.85%
The eleventh item Basketball is Marcela’s favorite sport showed the following results:

Right answer: 57.14 %

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 2.85%
Addition: 5.71%
Another auxiliar verb: 14.28%
Misunderstood: 20%
The twelfth item The repairs to the car cost more than the car was worth showed the following results:

Right answer: 22.85%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 25.71%
Another auxiliar verb: 8.57%
Misunderstood: 34.28%
No answer: 8.57%

The thirteenth item Mycomputer was old and very slow showed the following results:

Right aswer: 51.42%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb:14.28%
Addition: 5.71%
Another auxiliar verb: 2.85%
Misunderstood: 25.71%
The fourteenth item She could play the piano when she was a child showed the following results:

Right answer: 40%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 5.71%
Syntactically incorrect, wrong form of the verb: 5.71%
Omission: 5.71%
Another auxiliar verb: 25.71%
Misunderstood: 17.14%

The fifteenth item Never have I heard such a strange story showed the following results:

Right answer: 62.85%

Syntactically correct, wrong form of the verb: 8.57%
Syntactically incorrect, wrong form of the verb: 5.71 %
Omission: 2.85%
Another auxiliar verb: 8.57 %
Misunderstood: 8.57%
No answer: 2.85%