Question

Fill in the blank with an appropriate article:

________ Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.

a. The
b. A
c. An
d. No article

Answer 1

Hint: Proper nouns have one rule as to which article goes before them. That rule is strictly followed.

Complete answer:
Proper nouns are names used for an individual person, place, or organisation, spelled with an initial capital letter like Taj Mahal or Sarah.
In the above sentence, Mount Everest is a proper noun.

There are certain rules to be followed with using proper nouns. In general, do not use an article with a proper noun unless the noun contains a prepositional phrase. It would be grammatically incorrect to put any sort of article before a proper noun.

Articles serve the purpose of indicating a noun, i.e. making it look more specific. However, proper nouns are already very distinct (they are the most distinct form of noun), and so, don’t need an article.

Now, let’s look at the given options:
> The - This is an article, and therefore cannot go before a proper noun. So, this is an incorrect option.
> A - This is an article, and therefore, cannot be used before a proper noun. So, this is an incorrect option.
> An - This is also an article, and therefore, cannot be used before a proper noun. So, this is also an incorrect option.
> No article - This is the correct option as it says that no article should be written before the proper noun ‘Mount Everest’.

So the correct answer is option D - No article

Note: Use the trial and error method and find the option that fits best into the given blank. Try to give each option an equal chance.