Grammar & Verbal Ability • Topic 3 of 6

Articles & Prepositions

Articles and prepositions are the small words the CTET loves to blank out, because they catch even confident readers. The article rule that the paper tests is sound, not spelling: use 'a' before a consonant SOUND and 'an' before a vowel SOUND -- so it is 'a university' and 'a one-rupee note' (they begin with a 'yoo' and 'wun' sound) but 'an hour', 'an honest man' and 'an MP' (silent h, and 'em' begins with a vowel sound). 'The' marks something specific, already mentioned, unique (the sun, the Ganga), or a superlative (the tallest). Prepositions are tested mainly as fixed usage and collocation -- the choice that sounds right to a fluent ear: good AT maths, afraid OF dogs, married TO, depend ON, different FROM, congratulate someone ON. Time and place prepositions follow a size ladder: 'at' for points (at 5 o'clock, at the door), 'on' for days and surfaces (on Monday, on the wall), 'in' for longer periods and enclosed spaces (in June, in Delhi, in the box). The CTET blank usually has exactly one collocation that a literate speaker would accept, so trust the standard partnership.

✅ Solved examples

1. Fill in the blank: 'He is ____ honest officer and ____ university topper.'
an honest, a university. 'honest' begins with a silent h (vowel sound) so it takes 'an'; 'university' begins with a 'yoo' (consonant) sound so it takes 'a'.
2. Fill in the blank: 'She is very good ____ mathematics.'
at. The fixed collocation is 'good at' (a subject/skill). 'good in' is non-standard here.
3. Fill in the blank: 'The meeting is ____ Monday ____ 10 o'clock.'
on Monday, at 10 o'clock. Days take 'on'; clock-time points take 'at'.
4. Identify the error: 'I have been waiting since two hours.'
'since' should be 'for'. 'since' is used with a point in time (since 2 p.m.); 'for' is used with a duration (for two hours).

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. Fill in the blank: 'It took us ____ hour to reach ____ railway station.'
"hour" begins with a silent h -> vowel sound.
"railway station" is a specific, known place.
an hour, the railway station
2. Fill in the blank: 'My answer is quite different ____ yours.'
Standard British/Indian usage.
The fixed partner of "different".
from
3. Fill in the blank: 'The book is ____ the table and the keys are ____ the drawer.'
A surface takes one preposition.
An enclosed space takes another.
on the table, in the drawer
4. Spot the error: 'She is married with a doctor.'
"married" takes a specific preposition.
You are married TO a person.
with should be to (married to a doctor)

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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