Understanding article:

1.His experiment failed last week. However, he has made up his mind to try _______ time next week.

a. the second

b. a second

c. second

As per his teacher, the correct option is "a second". Can you explain why?

whereas for the below sentence

The soccer team came out __________ in the match.

the correct answer is "second".

Can you explain us the reason?

1. 'A second' time is the correct option. 'A' is an indefinite article, it does not denote a definite time when he will try the experiment. It also implies the singular form: 'one' more time. In case the sentence was : '_____ second time he tried the experiment, he succeeded', the correct article would have been 'the'. It denotes a definite second time when he succeeded.

2. Here, 'second' replaces the phrase 'in second place'. Articles are omitted in some phrases consisting of a preposition followed by its object.