Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate determiner.
Only __________ houses were not damaged by the earthquake.

• A. A little
• B. Much
• C. A few
• D. None of these

Answer 1

The correct option is C A few

The determiner, 'a little' means 'some' or 'a small amount'.The determiner 'much' means 'a large amount'. Both these determiners are used with uncountable nouns. In the given sentence, the noun, 'houses' is a countable noun in plural form. Hence, the determiners, 'a little' and 'much' are not appropriate to be used in the given sentence and options A and B are incorrect.

The determiner, 'a few' means, 'not a large number'. It is used with countable nouns. The noun, 'houses' is a countable noun in plural form. When used in the blank, the determiner means, 'Only some houses were not damaged by the earthquake'. In other words, 'Not many houses were damaged by the earthquake'. As this word meaningfully completes the sentence, it is an appropriate determiner which can be used in the blank and option C is correct.

Option D is incorrect as option C is the correct answer.