Choose the most appropriate option to fill in the blank:
The lift in our building stopped working last week, so ______ families on the top floors had to climb the stairs with their shopping bags.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → several
Complete sentence: The lift in our building stopped working last week, so several families on the top floors had to climb the stairs with their shopping bags. Here the noun after the blank is “families”, a countable plural.
| Option | Meaning and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) a number | needs of before a plural noun: “a number of families” | A number of shops in the market stay shut on Tuesdays. |
| (2) many a | with a singular noun and a singular verb, but “families” is plural | Many a student has asked for an extra class before the exam. |
| (3) several (answer) | more than two, but not very many, with countable plural nouns (things we can count) | Several cows were resting on the road. |
| (4) a lot | also needs of before a noun: “a lot of families” | We saw a lot of kites in the sky on Makar Sankranti. |