English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Avoid the A’s
The police suspected ~a foul play~ in the transaction (nonstandard).
The police suspect foul play in the transaction (standard).
Foul play is an uncountable noun and should not attract article “a”.
Avoid that young man; he’s a riffraff (nonstandard).
Avoid that young man; he’s a member of the riffraff (standard). The word is a collective noun and if you refer to a group of people as riffraff, you disapprove of them because you think they are not respectable.
The document was prepared in ~a haste~ so it had several errors (nonstandard).
The document was prepared in haste so it had several errors (standard).
Note that “haste” is an uncountable noun and should not attract “a”. It should not be mistaken for “hurry” which can attract the indefinite article:
The document was prepared in a hurry so it had several errors (standard).
GAB
