The following sentence has been divided into parts. One of them may contain an error. Select the part that contains the error from the given options. If you don’t find any error, select ‘No error’ as your answer.
(a) I have bought/ (b) a house in Jalandhar./ (c) House is in a rural area/ (d) No error
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. House is in a rural area.
This sentence has a missing definite article before House, which refers back to a specific home already introduced in part (b)—“a house in Jalandhar.”
In English grammar, when you talk about something that has already been mentioned and is therefore known to the listener or reader, you need to use the definite article “the.” This helps clarify that you're speaking about that familiar, specific entity. According to standard grammar rules:
When a noun refers to something already mentioned, you must use “the” before it. For example:
“A young man got a nasty shock… The man used a heavy hammer…”
Similarly, a house in the first mention must be followed by “the house” when referred to again.
So part (c) should read:
The house is in a rural area.
Why the other parts are correct
(a) I have bought – Acceptable; present perfect works fine with “yesterday” in Indian English in conversational style, although some may argue for simple past. But here, no grammar error is flagged for the options.
(b) a house in Jalandhar. – Correct use of indefinite article “a” with the singular countable noun house.
(d) No error – Incorrect, since part (c) does contain an error.