They told us that they were strangers there, and that they didn't know ... name.

[Penuel]

Please help me to choose the right article in the last sentence before the word "name":

There were some people sitting under the trees in the square, and we asked them what the village was called. They told us that they were strangers there, and that they didn't know .... name.

Thanks!

[Harry_Ph]

[Penuel]

Thanks, actually I thought the same, but in the answers key they put A. I've got this exercise from Grammar Spectrum 3 for Intermediate students. And that made me confused. Shall I consider their answer as a typing mistake?
Thanks.

[Cerberus™]

Yes, "a" sounds wrong. "The" doesn't sound quite right either: I'd expect "its" here. It should definitely be "its".

[Harry_Ph]

Hi, Cerberus! Can't we consider the article "the" in the given sentence? I chose the "the" article because I was considering the sentence "They told us that they were strangers there and that they didn't know the name (of the village)."
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The more we learn, the less we seem to know.

[Solo]

I'm with Cerberus. Definitely 'its'.

[Harry_Ph]

The best choice is obviously "its." But there were only two choices given in the exercise, i.e., "a" and "the," so I chose the lesser evil "the."
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The more we learn, the less we seem to know.

[Cerberus™]

In understand your situation, in which case "the" is better than "a" - a lesser evil as you say. You would only say "the name" if "the name of the village" has expressly been mentioned earlier.

[Harry_Ph]

Thanks for your feedback, Cerberus.
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The more we learn, the less we seem to know.