Articles and Common Errors - I

  

Articles and Common Errors - I

Dear readers, in the previous post we discussed some of the common errors associated with phrasal verbs that English as non-native speakers encounter in their daily conversation. This present post highlights the common errors that people tend to commit when they deal with articles.

In English, articles are categorised into two parts – Definite article and Indefinite article. The Definite article is ‘the’, and the Indefinite articles are ‘a’ and ‘an’. This post focuses on the errors associated with Indefinite articles.

1.   Please give me book.                                (Incorrect)

Please give me a book.                             (Correct)

Here the speaker is asking for any book and not a particular book.

 

2.   A. Raja is a MP.                                        (Incorrect)

A.   Raja is an MP.                                     (Correct)

If ‘a’ is followed by a word that begins with a vowel sound, ‘an’ should be used instead of ‘a’. Do not go by the vowel letters alone, but consider the vowel sounds.

 

3.   I want to do my PG at an university.      (Incorrect)

 I want to do my PG at a university.       (Correct)

Here the word ‘university’ begins with a consonant sound, and therefore ‘a’ is the appropriate article.

 

4.   We have laptop.                                       (Incorrect)

We have a laptop.                                    (Correct)

When we talk about countable nouns ‘a/an’ should be used.

 

5.   Thangaraj is teacher.                              (Incorrect)

Thangaraj is a teacher.                           (Correct)

He is Indian.                                            (Incorrect)

He is an Indian.                                       (Correct)

To denote one’s profession ‘a/an’ should be used. The indefinite articles are also used for indicating a membership in a group.

 

Using of articles in both spoken and written versions is important for every speaker of English. Learning the correct usage of the articles makes the speakers communicate in English with good accuracy. Let us discuss the errors associated with the usage of the definite articles in the next post.

 

Author:

Dr. K. Nandhakumar

Assistant Professor of English

Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science (Autonomous)

Coimbatore- 641 020

 

Reference:

Saumya Sharma. (2017). Common Errors in Everyday English.