Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate words.
My father has gone into _____ hospital for ____ operation.
a) no article / no article
b) no article / an
c) the / no article
d) a / an

Answer 1

Hint: Indefinite articles are usually used before a noun that is general or when its identity is not known and definite articles are used for specific things/objects, however not before a proper noun.

Complete answer:
 Indefinite articles are only used for an object/person when one doesn’t know which noun one is referring to out of multiple nouns. It is used for conveying the random nature of an object through a sentence.
‘The’ is used as a definite article for a thing/person when the reader knows exactly which noun one is referring to. It refers to the specific nature of the subject.
In the given sentence, the word ‘hospital’ and the word ‘operation’ need articles before them. However, the word ‘hospital’ does not take an article when the person is going to the hospital to get treated. The second word ‘operation’ is a general noun, so it will take an indefinite article.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) no article / no article - This suggests that both blanks do not need an article. However, this is not what is required for the given question. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) no article / an - This suggests that the first blank needs no article and the second blank is to be filled with ‘an’. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
c) the / no article - This suggests that the first blank needs ‘the’ and the second blank is to be filled with no article. However, this is not what is required for the given question. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) a / an - This suggests that the first blank needs ‘a’ and the second blank is to be filled with ‘an’. However, this is not what is required for the given question. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Choose the option which is used in a specific sense. To choose the correct definite article, pronounce the word after it. Even if it is a vowel sound, there will be only one correct option. That will be the correct answer for the given sentence.