Fill in the Blanks

'Hour' starts with a vowel sound /aʊ/ because the 'h' is silent. Always use 'an' before words beginning with vowel sounds, regardless of spelling.

The sun is a unique celestial body - there is only one sun in our solar system. Unique things take the definite article 'the'.

The sentence refers to a specific, particular school known to both speaker and listener. Specific nouns take 'the' - compare with 'A school will shortly close' (any school).

'A year ago' is a fixed time expression using the indefinite article 'a'. It means 'one year' without specifying which year.

'Difficult' begins with the consonant sound /d/, so use 'a'. The sentence treats Sanskrit as one of many languages, not the only one.

'European' begins with the consonant sound /j/ (like 'you-r-oh-pee-an'), not a vowel sound. Articles depend on pronunciation, not spelling.

The Yamuna is a specific, unique river. Proper names of rivers take the definite article 'the'.

The sentence describes the Ganga as one of many sacred rivers, not the only sacred river. When something represents a category, use 'a'.

'King of the forest' is a unique title - there is only one king in a forest. Unique, one-of-a-kind roles take the definite article 'the'.

'Fool' is a singular countable noun in a general statement. Use 'a' for singular, non-specific people or things.

Use 'a' before consonant sounds. 'Holy' starts with 'h' (a consonant sound), so 'a holy river' is correct. The word 'The' in 'The Ganga' is part of the river's proper name, not the article filling the blank.

Country names that include political entities like 'United', 'Republic', 'Kingdom', or 'States' take 'the'. USA stands for 'United States of America' - a plural political union, so 'the USA' is correct.

'Special' starts with consonant sound 's', so use 'a'. The sentence makes a general statement about rice being a special crop in China, not referring to one specific crop.

'Angry' starts with vowel sound 'æ', so use 'an'. 'An angry look' is the correct phrase. Even though 'angry' is spelled with 'a', we focus on the sound, not the letter.

In exclamations starting with 'What', use 'a/an' before singular countable nouns. 'Lovely' starts with consonant sound 'l', so 'What a lovely scene!' follows the correct exclamatory structure.