Question

Fill in the blank with an appropriate article:
________ ostrich is the world's largest bird.

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

Answer 1

Hint: The blank must be filled with an article that can be used to refer to a particular group of a specific topic.

Complete answer:
 In order to answer the given question, we need to understand the concept of articles.
Articles are words that are used before a noun, depending on whether it is definite or indefinite. They are three articles: a, an, and the. The article ‘a’ and ‘an’ are used to talk about someone or something whose identity is not known. The article ‘an’ is used if the noun starts with a vowel and the article ‘a’ is used if the word starts with a consonant. The article ‘the’ is used when we are talking about someone or something whose identity we clearly know. It is also used while referring to a specific group or topic even if the word that follows it may start with a vowel or consonant.
The given sentence refers to ostriches as a group and one of its most prominent features. The topic is very specific so the article used should be ‘the’. The word ‘ostrich’ starts with a vowel and hence, in most cases the blank will be filled with ‘an’. But, in this case, we are taking in the superlative form about the entire species of ostriches, and hence, the article used should be ‘the’.
Upon looking at the given options we can find that the only option has the correct option. Therefore, the correct option is option ‘C’, the.

Note: In order to solve such questions easily, learn about the various types of articles and the exceptions in relation to it in depth.