Tips to Spot Error in the English Questions- Articles Part-I

Useful tips to spot errors in the English Questions in Articles were given here. This will be more helpful to attend the English Awareness Part in the Banking and all other competitive exams.

1. Before words beginning with vowel sounds ( a, e, i, o, u and called vowels, others are consonants) an apple, an egg, an owl.

2. Before words beginning with slient ‘h’. an hour, an honourable man, an heir, an honest man.

3. F, H, L, M, N, R, S, X are letters that are not vowels but begin with vowel sound e.g. ‘M’ has the sound of ‘em’. So, ‘an’ is used before abbreviations beginning with vowels or these letters.

      E.g: A university, a unique article, a euphemism, a unit, a European language.( all these begin with consonant sound of ‘yu’)

4.  with units and rate (per):

Eg: He earns rupees five hundred a month.

     Rice sells ten rupees a kilo.

      Give me a meter length of the cloth.

5 . In exclamatory expressions before singular countable nouns:

Eg: What a pretty girl!

       How sunny a day!

6. When two subjects or articles are thought of as a single unit.

 Eg: He was ready with a cup and saucer.

        A cigarette is made of a paper and tobacco.

7. With a person’s name to indicate that the person is perhaps unknown to the person addressed:

Eg: A Mr. Roy is at the door.

8. With certain expressions of quantity:

Eg: A lot of, a dozen, a great deal of, a couple.

9. With a special meal (to celebrate something or in someone’s honour)

Eg: I called friends to a lunch to celebrate my success, A dinner was arranged to welcome the principal.

10. To make a common noun of a proper noun.

Eg: This man is ‘a second Newton’.

       This phrase means ‘a philosopher as great as Newton  ‘).

       ‘A Daniel came to judgement, (The pharse means ‘ a wise man’).