Select the appropriate determiner -Article to fill in the blanks in the sentence given below:-
As _______ literary genre drama contains _______ number of literary elements.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → a, a
The indefinite article "a":
- A is used before a singular countable noun mentioned as one of a kind or class.
- A number of is a fixed phrase meaning several, many. The number of means the total count and does not fit here.
- This sentence: drama is one literary genre among several, so "As a literary genre". It contains many elements, so "a number of literary elements".
Complete sentence: As a literary genre drama contains a number of literary elements.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: the, the — Incorrect. "As the literary genre" would make drama the only genre, and "the number of" means the total count, which needs a figure ("the number of elements is five").
Option 2: a, the — Incorrect. The first blank is right, but "the number of literary elements" gives no sense after "contains".
Option 4: the, a — Incorrect. The second blank is right, but "the literary genre" wrongly treats drama as the only genre.