Choose the most suitable determiner for the given sentence. Rahul has…

Answer: few

Explanation:

• 'Few' is used with plural countable nouns to mean 'not many' or 'hardly any'.

• 'A few' is also used with plural countable nouns but means 'some' or 'a small number' and has a more neutral or positive tone.

• 'Little' and 'a little' are used with uncountable nouns (for example, 'a little water'). They are not appropriate for the plural noun 'close friends'.

• 'The little' is not correct here; if you wanted to refer to a specific small number already known, you could use 'the few', but that is different from 'the little'.

• In the sentence, 'close friends' is a plural countable noun and the phrase 'often feels lonely' suggests a negative implication, so 'few' (meaning 'not many') is the most suitable determiner.

Correct sentence: Rahul has few close friends and often feels lonely.

Examples:

• She had few moments on her own. (negative sense: not many)

• We stayed a few days in Florence. (neutral/positive sense: some)