Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable article from the options given.
My father always reads ‘__________ Times of India’.
A. the
B. a
C. an
D. no article

Answer 1

Hint:
‘The’ is used as a definite article for a thing or person when the reader knows which one we are exactly referring to. It states the specific nature of the subject. The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular.

Complete answer:
Option A: This option is correct as ‘The’ is used with a word having a specific nature. The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader. Hence ‘The Times of India’ implies a particular newspaper. Thus, option A is correct.
Option B: This option is incorrect as ‘A’ is used with a word having a consonant sound. But ‘A Times of India ‘ means a single issue of Times of India which makes no sense in the content of the given question.
Option C: This option ‘An Times of India’ is incorrect as An is used with a word having a vowel sound. Further, it makes no sense.
Option D: This option is incorrect as the blank requires an article in order to give meaning to the sentence. And since, we need an article ‘the’ for a specific noun and no article is used when a plural countable noun is generic or non-specific.

Note:
‘An/ A’ is used as an indefinite article for a thing or person when the reader doesn’t know which one we are referring to out of many nouns. It states the random nature of the subject. The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader.