Choose the most appropriate article to fill in the blank:
The village panchayat spent nearly ______ lakh rupees on a new water tank.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → a
Complete sentence: The village panchayat spent nearly a lakh rupees on a new water tank. “A lakh rupees” means one lakh rupees, and “lakh” begins with a consonant sound.
| Option | When to use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) an | “An” also means “one”, but it goes before a vowel sound | The farmer sold an acre of land. |
| (2) No article | plural or uncountable nouns used in a general sense; “lakh” cannot stand alone as a number and needs “a” or a number word such as “one” or “two” before it | Lakhs of pilgrims come to the Kumbh. |
| (3) the | one particular amount that both people already know; here the amount is given for the first time | Did you return the hundred rupees I lent you? |
| (4) a (answer) | before number words such as hundred, thousand and lakh, “a” means “one” | Our school library has nearly a hundred new books. |