Question

Mother Teresa was ______ European but she devoted her life to social work as ______ Indian.
Choose the correct articles to fill in the blanks.
A) an, an
B) a, an
C) a, a
D) the, the

Answer 1

Hint: "The School Boy," a pastoral poem, explores the drawbacks of conventional schooling. Going to school on a summer day, it argues, "takes away all joy." This child is more worried about leaving his school than about learning from his teacher in this poem.

Complete answer:
According to the given question, we need to find the correct article for the blank spaces.
First of all, Let’s understand the meaning of the articles. These are the small words used prior to the noun phrases. They are further classified into two groups- definite articles (the) and indefinite articles (a/ an). These words are used to specify identifiable things that are known both to the speaker and writer.

1) The: It is used before singular, plural, and uncountable nouns and to describe information about a particular person, thing, etc. Most of the time, ‘the’ is used with superlatives as there is only one specific individual or group. It is not used with possessives and demonstratives. Furthermore, not with proper nouns but there are some exceptions to it.

2) A / An: An is used with singular countable nouns. It is used when we talk about one person or thing. They are not used when there is any negative expression. Generally, they are not used with adjectives alone, there must be nouns. Commonly, used with a noun which is used for description.

Difference between A and An: The choice between a and a depends upon pronunciation, not spelling. We use ‘an’ before a vowel sound, even if it was written as a consonant. On the flip side of a coin, we use ‘a’ before a consonant sound, even if it is written as a vowel. Hence, before a vowel sound “a” changes into “an”. The vowel sounds are- a, e, i, o, u.

As per the given question, we have to fill the article before two nouns named European and Indian. They both are countable nouns. Hence, “a/an” will be used. European sound as Yu-ro-pean. It is written as a vowel but pronounced as a consonant. So, “a” is the right answer prior to European. Indian is a word written and pronounced as vowels only. Hence, “an” is a suitable choice.

Mother Teresa was a European but she devoted her life to social work as an Indian. Option (B) is correct.

Note: There are some exceptions in the articles. If we talk about some fixed common expression with the place, time, and movement. Here, countable nouns are treated as uncountable nouns, without articles. In simple words, there is no use of articles. For example- to/at/in/from school, to/at sea.