Question

Fill in the blank with the correct option:

________ clothes she had were all torn.
a) Few
b) A Few c) Any d) The few

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and decipher what it wants to convey. Now go through the given options and recall what they signify. Choose the one which best fits the context of the given sentence.

Complete answer: Determiners are the words that give us more information about a noun and try to express what a noun is referred to. There are majorly four types of determiners: Articles, Possessives, Demonstratives and Quantifiers.
In the above question, we’ve to complete the sentence with a suitable determiner.
Quantifiers are the determiners that answer the questions: “how much?” and “how many?”. Now, let us analyze the given options:
Option (a) “Few”, is used to refer to a countable noun. It mostly signifies a negative attitude that implies almost none, but in the question, we’re talking about the clothes she already had, means there is a particularity about it. Hence, this option is incorrect.
Option (b) “A few”, is used when we talk about the quantity that is unspecific as “a” article is used. But here the clothes are specified, as she already had it. So, this option too becomes invalid.
Option (c) “any”, can be a determiner, an adverb or a pronoun, that is majorly used instead of “some” in interrogative sentences or negative sentences. For example: Do you have any pencils?. Hence, this option is incorrect.
Option (d) “the few”, is a determiner with the definite article “the” that signifies the specific amount. In the question we are talking about the clothes she had, that means it is already specified. Therefore, Option D) “the few” is correct.

Note: Quantifiers which are used with countable nouns are; a bit (of), a great deal of, a large amount of, a large quantity of, etc. The ones used with uncountable nouns are; a number (of), several, a large number of, a great number of, a majority of, etc Whereas some quantifiers which are used with both of them are; all, enough, more/most, less/least, no/none etc.