In this task, you need to count the occurrences of the given word in the given sentence.

Sentence: 'a white cat sitting on a bed next to a night stand'. Count the occurrences of the word 'a' in the given sentence.
3

Sentence: 'a group of people in a field flying kites'. Count the occurrences of the word 'a' in the given sentence.
2

Sentence: 'the birds are eagerly waiting for their food to arrive'. Count the occurrences of the word 'are' in the given sentence.

1