Question

Fill with a suitable article:
I like living in this house but it’s a pity that _______ garden is so small.
(a)a
(b)an
(c)the
(d)no article

Answer 1

Hint: Read the sentence and decipher what it wants to convey. See whether the word after the article starts with a vowel or a consonant. You can also use the hit and trial method to see which of the options fit the context of the entence,

Complete answer: Indefinite articles are only used for an object or a person when the person doesn’t know which noun we are referring to out of many nouns. It is used for expressing the random nature of an object. ‘The’ is used as a definite article for a thing or 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, we know the exact garden that the sentence is referring to, as it is attached to a specific house. So, in this case, the usage of a definite article would be grammatically correct.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options:
(a)a - The word ‘a’ is an indefinite article and is used when the noun starts with a consonant. However, we need a definite article for the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)an - The word ‘an’ is an indefinite article. It is used when the noun starts with a vowel. However, we need a definite article for the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(c)the - The word ‘the’ is used as a definite article. It fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(d)no article - We already know that this is an incorrect option as we have found the correct option from the above-given choices.

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.