COMMON ERRORS IN THE USAGE OF NOUNS
ARTICLES ARE AMONG A GROUP OF USEFUL WORDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND MOST OTHER LANGUAGES, WHICH ARE KNOWN AS DETERMINERS. There are two articles in English, the DEFINITE ARTICLE (the) and the INDEFINITE ARTICLE (a, or an). They are used before nouns. The major problem that people usually have with this aspect of English language is deciding when to use them and when not to use them and this leads to many common errors, such as the following; A or An wrongly. A general rule that is to be followed when dealing with uncountable nouns, as well asnot having any plural in s, is that it must not be preceded by the article a or an. Let us see some examples of such nouns;
Attention: Wrong: Abdullah needs a medical attention.
Correct: Abdullah needs medical attention.
Wrong: Pay an attention to the him-lest he falls from the chair!
Correct: Pay attention to the child lest he falls from the chair!
Concern: Wrong: The rate of armed robbery gives a concern.
Correct: The rate of armed robbery gives concern Concern cannot be preceded by a when it means anxiety. It may be preceded by a when it means business venture: His timber company has at last become a going concern.
Credit Wrong: A credit should be given to him for his outspokenness before the committee.
Correct: Credit should be given to him for his outspokenness before the committee.
Wrong: He was given a credit for the successful completion of the project.
Correct: He was given credit for the successful completion of the project. In these examples credit means something like praise, and is uncountable. It is countable when it means (I) source of honour; (ii) grade obtained in academic work. A great writer is a credit to his country. It was a great credit to him that he was able to bring.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited