Question

Identify the incorrect sentence(s).
A. The letter was posted to the address.
B. Your stand is beyond all reason.
C. How do you deal with it? A friend who doesn’t listen to a reason?
D. My wife runs profitable business in this suburb.

Select the relevant answer using the codes given below.

Answer 1

Hint:In the given sentences, look for the usage of articles, whether there has been a proper usage of the articles ‘a, an, and the’. The sentences that are incorrect have an absurd structuring owing to the absence of articles or incorrect usage of punctuation.

Complete answer:
The incomplete sentences among above stated statements can be recognized in the following way-
a) The option is incorrect because there has been a proper usage of the article as well as the punctuation marks. In this sentence, article ‘the’ has been used to specify a particular letter which was supposed to be posted and as regards the nature of the sentence then it’s a simple statement so it ends with a full stop.

b) The option is partially correct as besides (D), the sentence (C) is also incorrect. In (D) the article ‘a’ is missing before the noun ‘profitable business’ which makes it incorrect because the person is referring to a single business not plurality of businesses. Hence, the proper syntax should’ve been ‘My wife runs a profitable business in this suburb’.

c) This option is partially correct and partially incorrect as the sentence (B) is correct while the sentence (C) is wrong. In (B) the (first) person has expressed an opinion about another (second) person that his/her stand is beyond all ‘reason’; here the term reason doesn’t imply a specific cause or logic, it is used in a general sense and likewise it is clear that when we talk about general concepts like truth, lies, life, etc. we do not use articles before them unless we’re referring to a particular instance.

d) It is the correct option as both (C) and (D) are incorrect. The reason why (D) is wrong has been stated earlier and we shall now describe why (C) isn’t correct. The reasons are two; firstly, there has been an absurd use of full stop (.) in the middle of the sentence while the statement was continued after it (deal with. friend) and secondly, the word friend should have been preceded by the article ‘a’ as the question implies with someone (specific) in a singular sense (friend).

 Hence, the correct answers are Option ‘d’.

Note:Thus, all the specified reasons help us to satisfactorily conclude that the correct answer is option (d) as it excludes the use of articles. Articles help to make the noun phrases they appear before more specific and modified. Like adjectives, they help to clarify the meaning of the noun in a sentence. There are three articles in the English language-
‘A’ which is used before singular words which begin with a consonant’s sound.
Example- A book was found lying in the hallway.

‘An’ which is used before words beginning with a vowel’s sound.
Example- An article published in the journal today provoked the extremists.

 ‘The’ which specifies a certain thing.
Example- The Hindu is considered the best newspaper by the UPSC aspirants.