SSC Selection Post 2025 PYQ — Question 72

Correct Answer

a advice (2)

Explanation

The question asks you to identify the segment of the sentence that contains a grammatical error. The mistake here is combining an indefinite article with an uncountable noun in part 2.

In English grammar, nouns are divided into countable and uncountable items. The word advice is strictly an uncountable (mass) noun.

Because you cannot count advice, you can never use the singular indefinite articles "a" or "an" directly before it. Similarly, you cannot make it plural by adding an "s" (saying advices is incorrect).

Let's look at how to correct the phrasing:

Incorrect: The teacher gave a advice...

Correct: The teacher gave some advice...

Correct: The teacher gave a piece of advice...

Correct: The teacher gave advice...

Let's quickly verify that the remaining parts are accurate:

Part 1 ("The teacher gave") correctly sets up the simple past tense structure.

Part 3 ("which was really") correctly uses a relative clause to describe the noun.

Part 4 ("helpful") correctly completes the thought with an adjective modifying the advice.

Because part 2 violates the fundamental rule of uncountable nouns by attaching a singular article to "advice," Option 2 is the correct answer.

Key Points

To avoid missing marks on error detection questions, look out for other common uncountable nouns that examiners frequently try to pair with "a" or "an."

Never say "a furniture"—instead say some furniture or a piece of furniture.

Never say "an information"—instead say some information or a piece of information.

Never say "a luggage"—instead say some luggage or a piece of luggage.

Never say "a work"—instead say some work or a piece of work.