Fill in the blank with the suitable determiner from the following words.
I was leaving for the United States for further studies. I went to Ram for some advice but he _________ gave any.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Hardly
Complete sentence: I was leaving for the United States for further studies. I went to Ram for some advice but he hardly gave any. "He hardly gave any" means he gave almost no advice. "Any" is used in negative sentences, and "hardly" gives the sentence that near-negative sense, which also fits the contrast after "but".
| Option | Meaning and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Few | Few is a determiner used before plural countable nouns (few books). It cannot stand before the verb "gave". | Few students passed the difficult test. |
| (2) More | a greater amount. "He more gave any" is ungrammatical and does not express "almost not". | We need more time to finish the project. |
| (3) Hardly (answer) | Hardly means almost not. "Hardly" modifies the verb ("hardly gave" = almost did not give). | She was so tired that she could hardly keep her eyes open. |
| (4) Little | Little is a determiner for uncountable nouns (little water). It cannot modify the verb here. | There is little milk left in the bottle. |