Parts of the following sentence have been given as options. Select the option that contains an error. In some countries, you are not able to drink until you are 21.
- (a)until you are 21.
- (b)able to drink
- (c)you are not
- (d)In some countries,
Answer
Why
Correct — B. Be able to states a capability — whether a person physically can do a thing. The sentence is about a drinking-age law, and a law grants or withholds permission, not capability.
A nineteen-year-old is perfectly able to drink. What the country withholds is the right to. So the segment has to read allowed to drink, or permitted to drink, and option (b) is the faulty one.
The other three segments stand as written: the opening adverbial, the negative form of be, and the until-clause with its present tense are all correct.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)until you are 21. — Until you are 21 is correct as it stands. Until takes a present tense for future time — you wait until you are 21, not until you will be 21 — and that is exactly what the sentence has.
- (c)you are not — You are not is a well-formed negative of be, agreeing with you. The verb and the negation are sound; the fault lies in the words that follow them.
- (d)In some countries, — In some countries is a plain adverbial phrase with correct agreement between some and the plural countries. It sets the scene and breaks no rule.
Concept
English keeps ability and permission in separate boxes, and the exam tests the seam between them.
Be able to expresses ability or capacity: she is able to swim a kilometre. It is also the stand-in for can in tenses where can has no form — will be able to, has been able to.
Be allowed to, be permitted to and may express permission: you are allowed to enter, visitors may not smoke.
The confusion comes from can, which covers both in everyday speech. Be able to does not, and a sentence about a rule needs the permission form.
This item is not decided by agreement, tense or a preposition, which is where a trained eye looks first. The grammar of the sentence is intact and the fault is in the meaning of the phrase chosen, so a fast scan of the four segments will pass straight over it.
Key facts
- Be able to expresses ability or capacity, not permission.
- Permission is expressed by be allowed to, be permitted to, or may.
- Can covers both ability and permission in ordinary speech, while be able to covers only ability.
- After the conjunction until, English uses a present tense to talk about future time.
Study next
Common traps
- Scanning the four segments for a grammar fault and passing over able to drink, which breaks no rule of agreement or tense
- Suspecting the until-clause because you are 21 looks as though it should be a future tense
This format chops the sentence into four labelled segments and asks which one carries the fault, which may be agreement, tense, a preposition or, as here, the wrong phrase for the meaning.
It is also asked at 19 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.4 and at 23 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.8, where the faulty segment is superior than him.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.