NDA (II) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 1 of 146

Correct — C, 'a honest man.' English picks 'a' or 'an' by the sound a word begins with, not by its first letter. The 'h' of 'honest' is silent, so the word opens on a vowel sound and takes 'an' — 'He appears to be an honest man.'

• (a)He appears — Error-free — 'appears' is a linking verb here and carries the singular form that 'He' requires.
• (b)to be — Error-free — 'appear' is regularly followed by 'to be' plus a noun phrase, as in 'He appears to be a doctor'.
• (d)No error — The article in segment (c) is the wrong one, so the sentence does carry a mistake.

The choice between 'a' and 'an' is settled by pronunciation. A word that begins with a vowel sound takes 'an' even when its spelling starts with a consonant letter.

The silent-'h' words are the small set that catches candidates out — honest, hour, heir, honour and the words built on them all take 'an'. The reverse trap is a word that begins with a vowel letter but a consonant sound, which is why English says 'a university', 'a European visitor' and 'a one-rupee coin'.

• 'An' goes before a vowel sound: an hour, an heir, an honourable man.
• 'A' goes before a consonant sound even when the spelling opens with a vowel: a university, a useful book, a one-way street.
• The 'h' of 'hotel' and 'historic' is sounded in present-day usage, so 'a hotel' and 'a historic day' are the standard forms.

• Choosing the article from the letter 'h' instead of from the sound.
• Reading past 'a honest' because the phrase slips by unnoticed in speech.

Asked as an error-spotting item — name the segment that carries the mistake, or mark 'No error'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which segment carries the error — (a) She waited / (b) for a hour / (c) at the bus stop. / (d) No error

  • (a)She waited
  • (b)for a hour
  • (c)at the bus stop.
  • (d)No error

  Answer(b) for a hour — 'hour' opens on a vowel sound, so it needs 'an hour'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the article that fits — She is ______ university student.

  • (a)an
  • (b)a
  • (c)the
  • (d)no article

  Answer(b) a — 'university' begins with a 'yoo' sound, which counts as a consonant sound.