Question

Fill in the blank with an appropriate article:
Those are _____ nice shoes. Where did you get them?
a. a
b. an
c. the
d. no article

Answer 1

Hint: Articles are used to define a noun. There are two types of articles - definite and indefinite. The definite article, the, is used to indicate something specific. Indefinite articles, a and an are used to indicate something unspecific.

Complete answer:
From the hint given to us, we understand the meaning of articles. Articles are always placed before a noun or at the beginning of a noun phrase. For example, the student was inspired by his teacher. Articles are not used before plural nouns.
Let us now analyse the given options one by one.
a. ‘A’ is an indefinite article used before a word beginning with a consonant. For example, Sara is a bright student. We observe that it does not fit the given context of the sentence. Hence, we can say that option ‘a’ is not the correct answer.
b. ‘An’ is an indefinite article used before a word beginning with a vowel. For example, Sara is an intelligent student. We observe that it does not fit the given context of the sentence. Hence, we can say that option ‘b’ is not the correct answer.
c. ‘The’ is a definite article. For example, I could not visit my friend in the hospital. We observe that it does not fit the given context of the sentence. Hence, we can say that option ‘c’ is not the correct answer.
d. The sentence does not require an article as it uses the plural noun, ‘shoes’. Hence, option ‘d’ is the correct answer.
Thus, the correct answer is option ‘d’ - no article.

Note: It is to be noted that ‘a’ and ‘an’ indicate singularity of the noun. ‘The’ can be used for plural nouns only if the plural noun is specific. For example, the apples were sour. Such questions require you to be familiar with articles to be able to identify the correct answer.