Question

Alexander Pope said that ________ Honest man is __________ noblest work of God. Fill in the blanks with suitable articles.
A. the, the
B. an, a
C. an, an
D. an, the

Answer 1

Hint: Articles can be used as a type of adjective; they are used before nouns or pronouns. There are a total of three articles in English: a, an, and the. These three articles are of two types definite and indefinite.

Complete answer:
When the name of a noun is unknown, the indefinite article (a, an) is used before it. In certain cases, a noun does not require the use of an article. Indefinite articles, like all articles, are invariable. For pronunciation purposes, you use one or the other, depending on the first letter of the word after the post.

The term "the" is a definite article. It comes before a noun to indicate that it refers to something unique. For example- Will the prime minister address the rally? Indefinite article is also used before a proper noun. When the next word begins with a consonant, or when words beginning with u or eu sound like you, use a. When the next word begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or a mute h, use an.

When the listener or reader is unsure which singular noun we are referring to, we use the indefinite article, a/an. For example- People of the White lake town are searching for a 13-year-old boy.
Between the article and the noun, an adjective can also be used:
For example- An ugly doll.
In the above sentence an is used before an adjective.
Alexander Pope's given sentence is a broad generalization.

The word 'the' is used to refer to anyone unique or definitive. We can't use 'the' because 'honest man' is a generic term that refers to a group of honest men. Therefore, the sentence cannot be “Alexander Pope said that the Honest man is the noblest work of God”.

Before the superlative degree of an adjective, we still use 'the'. Therefore, the sentence cannot be “Alexander Pope said that an Honest man is the noblest work of God”. We have to use the before ‘noblest’.

The following sentence “Alexander Pope said that an Honest man is the noblest work of God” is the most appropriate sentence because, indefinite article ‘an’ is used before ‘Honest’ (The word starts with a vowel) and definite article ‘the’ is used before ‘noblest’.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note:
- A noun may not necessarily start with an article
- ‘The’ is a definite noun and is therefore used before a superlative adjective.
- A superlative adjective expresses a quality's severe or highest level. A superlative adjective is used to define the exceptional nature of one item among many.