Choose the correct article from the following options for the sentence below:
_______ woman is as strong as _____ man.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → A, a
"A / An" in a general statement:
- A is used before a singular countable noun that begins with a consonant sound, and an before a vowel sound.
- A singular noun with a / an can stand for any one member of a class, and so for the class in general.
- This sentence: it states a general truth about any woman and any man, not about two particular people, so "A woman is as strong as a man."
- Complete sentence: A woman is as strong as a man.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: The, a — Incorrect. "The woman" points to one particular woman, while "a man" is general. The two halves of the comparison do not match.
Option 3: The, the — Incorrect. With nouns for people, the normally points to a particular woman and man already known to the listener. Nothing in the sentence tells us which ones. It is a general comparison of any woman with any man, which takes "a".
Option 4: An, a — Incorrect. "Woman" begins with a consonant sound (w), so it takes "a", not "an".