SSC Selection Post 2025 PYQ — Question 69

Correct Answer

and a orange (3)

Explanation

The error is located in part 3 of the sentence due to an incorrect choice of articles.

In English grammar, indefinite articles (a and an) are chosen based on the spoken sound of the letter that follows them:

Use a before words that begin with a consonant sound.

Use an before words that begin with a vowel sound (A, E, I, O, U).

The word orange starts with the vowel letter "O" and produces a distinct vowel sound. Therefore, it is grammatically incorrect to use the article "a" before it. The article must be changed to "an" to make it correct. The properly structured phrase should read: "and an orange".

The other parts of the sentence are perfectly correct:

Part 1 uses the correct past tense "bought" and correctly pairs "an" with the vowel-sounding word "apple".

Part 2 correctly pairs "a" with the consonant-sounding word "banana".

Part 4 correctly completes the thought with a standard prepositional phrase indicating the location.

Therefore, Option 3 is the correct choice containing the error.

Key Points

Always look at the pronunciation sound rather than just the written letter when deciding between articles.

Use an for words that start with a vowel sound, even if the first letter is a consonant, such as "an hour" (because the 'h' is silent).

Use a for words that start with a consonant sound, even if the first letter is a vowel, such as "a university" (because it starts with a 'yu' sound).