Error Spotting: Articles and Prepositions

What is the task?

You read a sentence in four parts. One part may have a wrong article or a wrong preposition.

Articles are a, an and the. Prepositions are small words like in, on, at, between and from.

Why are they tricky?

These words are short, so the eye skips them. Many follow fixed habits, not clear logic.

Learn the habits once and the errors become easy to spot.

Say each word aloud. The first sound decides, not the first letter.

Example: Spot the missing article

Take: He is honest man and a good teacher. Honest starts with a silent h, so it sounds like a vowel.

The fix is an honest man. The second part, a good teacher, is already right.

Why this works: you read the sentence aloud and listen to the first sound.

What is the rule?

Use a before a consonant sound. Use an before a vowel sound.

The sound matters, not the letter. Look at how the word is spoken.

Sources: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: a.

Which words fool people?

Hour starts with a silent h. So say an hour.

University starts with the sound /j/ like ‘you’. So say a university.

Sources: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: hour; Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: university.

Can you fix the article?

Wrong: She bought an university textbook.
Right: She bought a university textbook.

Wrong: He waited for a hour.
Right: He waited for an hour.

Why this works: University starts with a consonant sound, and hour starts with a vowel sound.

Which words are uncountable?

Information is uncountable. Say a piece of information, not an information.

Furniture is also uncountable. Say a piece of furniture, not a furniture.

Sources: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: information; Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: furniture.

What else goes wrong?

Uncountable words have no plural. So informations and furnitures are wrong.

Use some, much or a lot of with them. Say some furniture, a lot of information.

Can you fix the uncountable noun?

Wrong: He gave me an advice.
Right: He gave me a piece of advice.

Wrong: She bought new furnitures.
Right: She bought new furniture.

Why this works: Advice and furniture have no plural and take no a or an. Use a piece of when you need to count them.

When do we use the?

Use the when both speaker and listener know which thing is meant.

Use the for one-of-a-kind things: the sun, the moon, the Ganga.

When do we skip it?

Skip the before general plural or uncountable nouns: Books are useful. Honesty is important.

Skip the before most names of people, cities and countries.

Common mistakes with the

Wrong: The honesty is the best policy.
Right: Honesty is the best policy.

Wrong: She plays the cricket every day.
Right: She plays cricket every day.

Why this works: Skip the for general ideas and for games. Use the only for a particular thing.

How do they differ?

Between is for two points or people. Among is for a group of more than two.

Between: Q comes between P and R. Among: a house among the trees.

Sources: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: between; Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: among.

How do you use this in a question?

Count the people or things. Two means between. Three or more means among.

Share the sweets among the five children.

Example: Which word fits?

Take: The prize was shared ___ the four winners. Count the winners: four, so use among.

Now take: The match is ___ India and Australia. Count the sides: two, so use between.

Why this works: the count of people or things picks the word for you.

Which pairs matter most?

Different from is the form exams expect. The phone is different from the one I had.

Some forms like different to and different than also exist, but exams prefer from.

Sources: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: different.

What about despite?

Despite is followed directly by a noun. Despite the rain, we played.

Never write despite of. In spite of is the longer form with the same meaning.

Sources: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: despite.

Learn these as fixed pairs, without asking why.

How do you solve one?

Take: ‘He (A) is studying (B) at an university (C) in Delhi (D).’

First, find each article. An comes before university. Next, say the first sound of university. It sounds like ‘you’. That is a consonant sound, so part C should be a university.

What if you are unsure?

Say the sentence aloud in your head. A wrong preposition often sounds odd.

Then compare with the fixed pairs you have learned.

How do you build the habit?

Keep a small notebook of word pairs: different from, despite, a university.

Add two new pairs every day.

How do you review?

Cover the right half and recall it from memory.

Do the quiz below. Re-read the rule for every miss.