Understanding the Sentence Structure
In the sentence "Swimming is ________ excellent sport," we need to fill the blank with the correct word to make the sentence grammatically correct and coherent. The options provided are: a) no article, b) a, c) and, d) the.
Analyzing the Options
- No Article: This option would read as "Swimming is excellent sport," which is grammatically incorrect. We typically use articles when referring to countable nouns like "sport."
- a: The sentence "Swimming is a excellent sport" contains a grammatical error. The article "a" should be used before words that start with a consonant sound, while "excellent" starts with a vowel sound, hence it should be "an."
- and: The sentence "Swimming is and excellent sport" is incorrect because "and" does not fit logically or grammatically in this context.
- the: The correct sentence "Swimming is the excellent sport" implies that swimming is being referred to as a specific sport among others, making it grammatically correct.
Conclusion
The best choice that fits logically and grammatically is option "C" - "and." However, upon reviewing the options, it seems there may have been a misunderstanding. The correct phrase should be "Swimming is an excellent sport," but since that option is not provided, the closest contextual fit would seem to be "the," indicating it is one of the excellent sports.
Thus, the ideal completion for clarity and grammatical correctness would be "an," highlighting that swimming is one among various excellent sports.