Fill in the blanks with suitable Articles.
January is ______ first month of ______ year.
Choose the appropriate option:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The, The
The definite article with ordinals and with a particular thing:
- The is used before ordinal numbers (first, second, last), because only one thing can hold that place: the first month.
- The is also used for a particular thing that both speaker and listener know: the calendar year in which January comes: the year.
- Complete sentence: January is the first month of the year.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: a, an — Incorrect. An ordinal takes the, not "a". And "an" is used only before a vowel sound, while "year" begins with a consonant sound.
Option 2: The, an — Incorrect. The first blank is right, but "an year" is wrong: "year" begins with the consonant sound /y/.
Option 3: A, The — Incorrect. "a first month" is wrong. An ordinal needs "the".