Select the most appropriate article to fill in the blank. If no article is…
2026
Select the most appropriate article to fill in the blank. If no article is needed, select ‘No article required’.
______ only book that I bought yesterday is about ancient history.
Answer: C. The — ConceptThe definite article is used when a noun phrase has a unique, contextually identifiable referent. A limiting word such as ‘only’ makes the noun phrase…
- A.
No article required
- B.
An
- C.
The
- D.
A
Attempted by 95 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
The definite article is used when a noun phrase has a unique, contextually identifiable referent. A limiting word such as ‘only’ makes the noun phrase unique, while ‘a/an’ presents one nonspecific member of a class.
Application
The head noun ‘book’ is a singular count noun.
The limiting word ‘only’ states that exactly one such book is in view.
A unique singular noun phrase takes the definite article, so the phrase is ‘the only book’.
Contrast
No article required leaves the singular count noun phrase without a determiner.
‘An’ is an indefinite article and also depends on a following vowel sound; it does not express the definiteness required by ‘only’.
‘A’ is an indefinite article and is used before a consonant sound; ‘only’ begins with a vowel sound and the phrase is definite.
Cross-check
Replace the phrase with the general pattern ‘the only + singular noun’: ‘the only answer’, ‘the only route’, and ‘the only book’. This confirms ‘The’.
Result
The completed sentence is: ‘The only book that I bought yesterday is about ancient history.’