In the following question, one part of the sentence may have a grammatical error. Read the sentence carefully and choose the part that contains an error. If the sentence is free from error, choose "No error". The doctor says that / the patient will recover / in few days / No error

Introduction:
This error spotting question focuses on the correct use of articles with quantifiers in English. The sentence describes recovery happening after a short period of time. Grammatically, the phrase used for a small number of days must be complete. Your task is to identify which part of the sentence is incorrect or incomplete.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The sentence is divided into three parts and a "No error" option.
- Full sentence: "The doctor says that the patient will recover in few days."
- We know that quantifiers like "few" and "a few" have different meanings in English.
- We assume the doctor wants to give a reassuring time frame of some days, not emphasise almost none.

Concept / Approach:
In English, "few" without an article suggests almost none, with a negative sense. "A few" means some, a small number, with a more positive meaning. When doctors say that someone will recover "in a few days", they mean within some days, which is encouraging. Therefore, the correct phrase in this context should be "in a few days", not "in few days". The rest of the sentence is grammatically sound.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Read part A: "The doctor says that". This is grammatically correct and introduces reported speech.Step 2: Read part B: "the patient will recover". This forms a correct future tense clause.Step 3: Read part C: "in few days". This sounds incomplete because we normally say "in a few days" in such contexts.Step 4: Replace "few" with "a few" and read: "The doctor says that the patient will recover in a few days." This now sounds natural and correct.Step 5: Conclude that the error lies in part C, which is missing the article "a" before "few".

Verification / Alternative check:
Try similar sentences to confirm the pattern: "He will arrive in a few minutes" versus "He will arrive in few minutes". The second version sounds wrong to a native speaker. You can also contrast "few friends" (almost no friends) with "a few friends" (some friends). Doctors normally intend to reassure, so they say "a few days" rather than "few days". This confirms that part C contains the error.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, "The doctor says that", correctly introduces what the doctor states and uses the present simple correctly. Option B, "the patient will recover", is a standard future tense construction and has no error. Option D, "No error", is incorrect because we have clearly identified a missing article in part C. Therefore only option C, "in few days", is wrong and needs to be corrected to "in a few days".

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners ignore small function words such as articles and prepositions, but competitive exams often focus exactly on these details. Another pitfall is to think that "few" and "a few" mean the same thing. In reality, the presence or absence of "a" completely changes the tone and meaning. To build accuracy, pay close attention to these small but important words when reading and writing English sentences.

Final Answer:
The part containing the error is in few days, which should be "in a few days".