Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I'll be there in half ____ hour.
(a)No article
(b)An
(c)A
(d)The

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and decipher what it means. Now go through the options and use the hit and trial method to see which of them fits the context of the sentence. Make sure that the sentence being formed is grammatically correct.

Complete answer: Articles are used before nouns or noun equivalents. The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader. The indefinite article (a, an) is used before a noun that is general or when its identity is not known. Now let us analyze the given options: Option(a) ‘No article’ is wrong. ‘No article’ is used when a plural countable noun is generic or nonspecific. ‘No article’ is used when a noncount noun is generic or nonspecific. Therefore, Option A is wrong.
Option(b) ‘An’ is the correct answer. Well, the trick lies in the pronunciation. A word that begins with a vowel sound is preceded by ‘an’.
Here, the hour is pronounced as our, where O is a vowel sound. So, it would be grammatically correct to use an hour. Therefore Option B is right.
Option(c) ‘A’ is wrong. You use ‘a’ before words that begin with consonants e.g., b, c, d. You use ‘an’ before words that begin with the five vowels – a, e, I, o, u.
However, the way you pronounce it and not the spelling, shows you which one you must use. As the sentence indicates, the hour is pronounced as our, therefore it is correct to use ‘an’ instead of ‘a’. Hence Option C is wrong.
Option(d) ‘The’ Is incorrect. ‘The’ definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. ‘The’ signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. ‘The’ can also be used with noncount nouns, or the article can be omitted entirely. Therefore, option b is the right answer.

Note: when the first letter of a word is a vowel but is pronounced with a consonant sound we use a and when the first letter is a consonant but is silent, and the word begins with a vowel sound then use an. This holds true with acronyms and initialisms, too: an LCD display, a UK-based company, an HR department, a URL.