Learning a new language means learning not only its vocabulary and grammar but also all its peculiarities and complexities. 

Even simple grammar items like articles and prepositions confuse many of us, even though who studied in English medium schools.

Today, we'll look at how small changes can make a big difference when it comes to accuracy. 

Manoj Chhaya, a 25 year old English lecturer from Gujarat, shows how pesky articles can be with this list:

~It's a NIIT [Get Quote] initiative.
~My brother is a MBA student.
~He is a honest man.

~This is an university.
~Postment must wear an uniform.
~This is an unique opportunity.
 

The errors are not so apparent. They may look correct to those who learned articles by the 'vowel letters' rule. This rule explains that articles are decided by the first letter of a word. Only if it is one of the five vowels (a, e, i, o u), the word takes the article 'an'.  However, what is decisive is not the letter but the sound. 

In 'a NIIT initiative', the sound of the letter 'N' is -- en -- and so the correct sentence is 'an NIIT initiative'. On the other hand, in 'an university', the sound of the letter 'U' is -- yoo -- and so the correct sentence is 'a university'.

~It's an NIIT initiative.
~My brother is an MBA student.
~He is an honest man.

~This is a university.
~Postment must wear a uniform.
~This is a unique opportunity.


Shitanshu S., 28 from Mumbai, pointed out a common mistake while using 'since' and 'for'. 

~ I have been living in Mumbai since last 10 years.
~ I have been waiting for you since 2 hours.

"Since" is used with a specific event(e.g. a particular time, particular date or event).
"For" is used with a period of time (e.g. no. of hours, days, weeks, years). Therefore, it should be:

~ I have been living in Mumbai for the last 10 years.
~ I have been waiting for you for the last 2 hours.