Question

Fill in the blank with the most suitable option:
I asked if ________ wanted an ice-cream, but ______ did, so I just bought one for myself.
a) anyone/no one
b) no one/somebody
c) anybody/somebody
d) no body/no one

Answer 1

Hint: The word ‘anybody/anyone’ is used to refer to both an open, unlimited set of things or people and specific things or people. The word ‘no one/nobody’ is used to mean no person; not a single person. The word ‘somebody’ is used to refer to an unspecified person.

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 nouns, 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 first blank is right after ‘if’. This can be followed by any pronoun. So, we should look at the context. There is no specific person the subject is addressing, so it should be a negative part, i.e. with the prefix ‘any’. The second blank is just before the subject says that they bought one for themselves, which means not a single person wanted it. So, this means that the pronoun should have the prefix ‘no’.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s go through the given options:

a) anyone / no one - This choice has both the blanks correct. They fit into the context of the sentence perfectly. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
b) no one / somebody - This choice has both blanks wrong. They do not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) anybody / somebody - The second blank in this choice is incorrect. It does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) no body / no one - The first blank in this choice is incorrect. It does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Try to understand the meaning of the given sentence. Then, try to find the correct word. Try to use retain the meaning of the given sentence and choose the most appropriate option accordingly.