Q22
EnglishParts of Speech
Which is the correct sentence?
- a.An one-eyed person was seen roaming about the streets.
- b.A one-eyed person was seen roaming about the streets.
- c.The one eyed person was seen roaming about the streets.
- d.One-eyed person was seen roaming about the streets.
Answer: (B) A one-eyed person was seen roaming about the streets.
The choice between 'a' and 'an' depends on sound, not spelling. 'One' begins with the consonant sound /w/ ('wun'), so it takes 'a': a one-eyed person, a one-rupee note, a university, a European. Conversely, words beginning with a vowel sound take 'an': an hour, an honest man, an MLA, an heir. A singular countable noun cannot stand without an article, so (D) is wrong, and (C) drops the hyphen of the compound adjective and uses 'the' for a first mention.