Important Tips for Spotting Errors in English Language

Important Tips for Spotting Errors in English – Usage of Articles:

Dear Aspirants, Here we are going to discuss about the Important Tips for spotting errors in English and Usage of Articles. Candidates those who are preparing for upcoming IBPS PO/Clerk 2017 and all other competitive exams can use this.

A	AN	THE
‘A’ can be used before consonants and before ‘u’ (yu) and ‘o’ (wo)	‘AN’ can be used before five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and consonant sound like (f, h, l, m, n, r, s& x)	‘THE’ can be used before individual nouns or already known nouns.

Usage of article ‘A’

THE PLACE OF USAGE	THE USAGE OF ‘A’
A Consonant sound	He is a student.
Singular nouns	He is a teacher
Numbers	I have a car.
Type of noun is or to be	She wants to become a doctor.
Vowels with consonant sound	It is a (not AN) useful thing.
A noun of particular type	Each one should have adictionary.
One of several	He is a member of the committee.
Quantity	I have a lot of money.
A proper noun(when compared)	He is a Tendulkar in our team.
Some drinks	Can you give me a cup of coffee?
Cost , frequency, speed	It is a costly bangle.
Substances, products	Good day is a tasty biscuit.
Noun formed from a verb	shall we have a race this evening?
Feeling	It is a relief to know that Ramesh is alive.
Particular day, season	They came here on a Sunday evening.
They first of the two nouns	We purchased a cup and saucer.
Vague sense	A Ravi phoned you yesterday.
An individual representing	A cow is a useful animal.

Usage of article ‘AN’

‘AN’ is used before vowels . ( a , e, i, o, u)

EXAMPLES

1.   One day an artificial old statue came to my village.

2.   I am reading an interesting story.

3.   What an ugly face that cat has.

4.   He is an engineer.

5.   I bought an orange.

‘AN ’  IS USED BEFORE A NOUN BEGINNING WITH A MUTE ‘H’.

1.   He is an honest man.

2.   I waited for an hour.

‘AN‘ IS USED BEFORE CONSONANT SOUNDS SUCH AS “F, H, L, M, N, R, S, AND X”

F –I have an F.D.account at SBI.

H – It is an H.M.T watch.

L –I am an L.I.Cagent.

M –He is an M.B.A gratuate

N –You get an N.O.C certificate.

R –He is an RSS activist.

S –You sent an SMS.

X –He took an x-ray.

 

Usage of article “THE”

Place of usage	Usage of ‘the’
A particular noun	You meet the man.
A noun already mentioned	The boy you sent is smart.
Well known books	He bought the Bhagavad Geetha
Unique nouns	The sun sets in the west.
Newspaper and magazines	Do you read the Hindu.
Musical instruments	He knows to play the violin.
Superlatives	I saw the darkest cloud yesterday.
The ordinals ( first, second,…)	He was the first man to arrive.
Proper nouns	The john that I know he is a doctor.
Natural resources, rivers,seas,bays,etc..,	The Cauvery is the water source of Tamilnadu.
Common nouns in the sense of abstract nouns.	He played the fool.
As an adverb	The more the merrier.
Some countries, provinces	The Irish republic.
Peoples, families	The Indians, the Sharmas.
Singular as a representative of class	The rose is a beautiful flower.
Adjectives used as nouns	Hercules the novels of H.G. Walls.
Famous public buildings	The red fort is in Delhi.
A noun to give the force of a superlative	Today is he hottest day of the month.

OMISSION OF ARTICLES

• Not used before school, college, church, hospital etc..,

Eg: Nancy goes to church every Sunday.

• Not used before predicative nouns denoting a unique position.

Eg: He was elected Chairman of the Board.

• In certain phrases consisting of transitive verb followed by its object.

Eg: He wants to work hard.

• In certain phrases consisting of prepositions followed by its object.

Eg: She is at home.

• Names of people.

Eg: This is Neena. ( not , This is a/an/the neena)

• Names of states/ cities/ towns.

Eg: I live in Tamilnadu. (not , This is a/an/the Tamilnadu)

• Names of days / months/ festivals.

Eg: She comes on Sunday. (not , This is a/an/the Sunday)

• Names of continents/ countries.

Eg: He lives in America. (not , This is a/an/the America)

• Names of languages.

Eg: We are learning English. (not , This is a/an/the English).

• Names of subject of study.

Eg: He is a student of law. (not , This is a/an/the law).