"Can you" or "as to" or "an information"

[Gerry T. Galacio]

I came across a DOST publication at http://www.sei.dost.gov.ph/images/downloads/jlssprimer2019.pdf titled "A Primer on the DOST-SEI Junior Level Science Scholarship Examination 2019." As you can see in the graphic below, one of the sample test items in the English section goes like this:

Which of the following underlined words make the sentence grammatically incorrect?

1. Can you give me an information as to when and where the conference will be held?

A - Can you
B - an information
C - as to
D - will be

As you can also see in the graphic below, the Answer Key gives the answer as "A," that is, the phrase "Can you" makes the sentence ungrammatical.



After reading the question and the Answer Key, I posted a discussion in LinkedIn's Grammar Geeks group on why "Can you" is listed as the correct answer. Several people commented that "A" is incorrect and that "B" is the correct answer; they said that the phrase "an information" makes the sentence ungrammatical. They also said that the Answer Key probably had a typo.

I then wondered if the DOST was thinking that "Can you" should be "Could you," but the Grammar Geeks members said that "Can you" and "Could you" are both correct, depending on the context.

I began thinking that, with a Standard Philippine English background, you might be able to provide a justification for the answer in the DOST's Answer Key.

But then, as I researched the matter a bit deeper, I found another DOST publication at http://www.sei.dost.gov.ph/images/downloads/jlssprimer.pdf titled "A Primer on the DOST-SEI Junior Level Science Scholarship Examination" which, I think, was published sometime in 2017 or 2018. Please notice in the graphic below, the same sample test item appeared in the English section. But notice that the answer given is "C" (as to).



What do you think is the phrase that makes the sentence grammatically incorrect - "Can you" or "as to"?

Or, do you agree with the Grammar Geeks members who said that the phrase "an information" makes the sentence ungrammatical?

[Joe Carillo]

I am positive that in both instances, the graphics have incorrectly underlined the words indicating the incorrect answer choice. In the first instance, (A) "Can you" was wrongly indicated as the grammatically incorrect answer. In the second instance, (C) "as to" was likewise indicated as the grammatically incorrect answer.

From both the grammar and sentence structure standpoints, the only undoubtedly incorrect answer in that sentence is (B) "an information." The word "information" in an uncountable noun and as such does not require the article "an" to precede it.

Definitely not an incorrect answer is (A) "Can you" because it's perfectly vaid to use it along wit its variant "Could You. And neither could (C) "as to" be an incorrect answer either because it correctly means "regarding" or "about.