Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate words.
Sofia is _______ capital of ______ Bulgaria.
(A) no article/no article
(B) the/the
(C) the/no article
(D) the/a
(E) no article/a

Answer 1

Hint: The above sentence will require a definite article in the first blank as it is telling specifically about capital, which is a unique thing. Before filling the second blank note that Bulgaria is the name of a place and an article may not be required.

Complete answer:
A: It is used before a singular noun and that noun should begin with a consonant sound while speaking. Example - An apple, An umbrella.
An: It is used before a singular noun and that noun should begin with a vowel sound while speaking. Example - A ball. A dog.
The: It is used while talking about a particular noun. Example - The Great Himalayas. The Shalimar palace.
In the above sentence we are talking about a definite place and this means that we should use a definite article. The only definite article is ‘The’. Now the question arises where to insert this ‘the’ as we have two blanks in the above sentence.
Cannot be the answer clearly.
Bulgaria is the name of a country and its capital is unique, that is, Sophia so we will use ‘the’ in the first blank. Sophia has been given a designation and that is capital. Also note that the capital of Bulgaria is unique. In the second blank we will not insert any article as Bulgaria is a proper noun. This option occurs in option (C).

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: Try to eliminate other available options before jumping to any conclusion. Fill the given options one by one in the given blanks and you may reach the conclusion automatically after that check whether your choice is right or not using the rules of grammar.