Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable article from the options given.
Mother Teresa worked for _______ poor. [Basic]

• A. a
• B. an
• C. the
• D. no article

Answer 1

The correct option is C the

Articles are the words 'a, an, the' that modify nouns. They define a noun, by indicating whether they are specific or non-specific.
Option C: When an adjective 'poor' refers to a group or class of people, then the adjective functions as a noun. In that case, we use the definite article 'the'.
In this sentence, 'poor' refers to a large group of people who are poor. Hence, we use 'the'. So option C is correct.
Option A: 'A' refers to a non-specific noun, it refers to a noun whose identity is not known. Also, it is generally used for singular nouns. For e.g. 'I saw a man in ragged clothes.' In this sentence, 'poor' refers to a plural group of people.
Option B: Similarly, 'an' refers to a non-specific noun. The only difference between 'a' and 'an' is that 'a' is used for nouns that begin with a consonant, ('a man', where 'm' is a consonant) and 'an' is used for nouns that begin with a vowel ('an apple', 'a' is a vowel).
Hence A and B are incorrect.
Option D is incorrect because the article 'the' is used here.