Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate words.
It’s __________ pity that my birthday comes only once ____________ year.
A) A/no article
B) The/a
C) A/a
D) An/the
E) No article/a

Answer 1

Hint: An article is a word that comes before nouns and an article are the words that describe the noun as specific or unspecific. There are two articles a/an and the. For example: After the long day, the cup of coffee was good.

Complete answer:
There are two types of articles: (1) Indefinite article – A/An – indefinite article is used when is known in general or when the identity of noun is not known.
(I) Indefinite article A is used before a singular noun beginning with a consonant sound. For example: She is a mathematics teacher.
(II) Indefinite article AN is used before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound. For example: An apple; an elephant.
(2) Definite article – The - definite article is before a singular or plural noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known. For example: The oranges were very juicy and delicious.

Let us look into the given options:
Option A) A/no article – is an incorrect answer because in first blank ‘a’ is the correct article to be used but in the second blank article has to be and as per the option ‘no article’ is mentioned. Though, this will make the sentence grammatically incorrect. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Option B) The/a – is an incorrect answer because ‘the’ is used before the singular or plural noun. Thus, the first blank is incorrect if we use ‘the’ in the blank and second blank ‘a’ is correct as it is explained above that ‘a’ is used before singular nouns beginning with a consonant sound. Thus, to make the sentence correct both the blanks should be filled correctly. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Option C) A/a – is the correct answer because Indefinite article A is used before a singular noun beginning with a consonant sound. Thus, this option makes the sentence grammatically correct and therefore, this is the correct answer as both the blanks will take article ‘a’.

Option D) An/the – is an incorrect answer because article ‘an’ is wrong if we use it in the first blank because article ‘an’ is used before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound and ‘pity’ does not have a vowel sound. So, the first blank is incorrect. Article ‘the’ is incorrect the second blank as article ‘the’ is used when the noun is known and here noun is not known. Thus, using this option in the blanks will make the sentence grammatically incorrect. Therefore, this is an incorrect answer.
Option E) No article/a – is an incorrect answer because first blank needs to have an article and second blank ‘a’ is correctly used. But to give the correct answer both the blanks have to be filled with the correct option. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: Rules of articles plays an important role in framing a sentence using articles:
Rule1: When specific identity is unknown – A/an (count nouns); no article (non-count nouns).
Rule 2: When specific identity is known – The (count nouns); The (non-count nouns).
Rule 3: All the things or things in general – No article (count nouns); no article (non-count nouns).