Question

Fill in the blank with the most suitable determiners.
Rajat bought _____ cheese, but he didn’t buy _____ bread.
a. few, any
b. some, any
c. some, some
d. the, the

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence, it has two parts. Point out which of them is said in a positive/negative sense. Then go through the options and understand what they mean. Categorize which of them is used to signify a positive/negative sentence. Choose the answer accordingly.

Complete answer: Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place, or thing. In English, there is a particular group of indefinite pronouns formed with a quantifier or distributive preceded by any, some, every and no. We can correctly infer the following:
-The prefix ‘every’ refers to all of the noun, all parts.
-The prefix ‘some’ is used to refer to a part but in a positive sense.
-The prefix ‘any’ is also used to refer to a part but in a negative sense.
-The prefix ‘no’ is used to refer to no part of the noun.

In the given sentence, the person wants to say that the subject bought cheese, but no bread. So, we need to refer to cheese in a positive way. He didn’t buy bread, so we need to refer to bread in a negative way.
Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s go through the given options:
a. few, any - This option does not clarify the meaning of the sentence any further. This does not fit. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b. some, any - This option clarifies the meaning of the given sentence and it fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
c. some, some - This option does not clarify the meaning of the sentence any further. This does not fit. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d. the, the - This option does not clarify the meaning of the sentence any further. This does not fit. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
Therefore, option b is correct.

Note: The key to understanding which indefinite article is required, lies in the number of objects. Some determiners refer to a number of things, some refer to the absence of things.