Which SQL condition best returns rows where the name column starts with the letters ANT?

• A. WHERE name LIKE 'ANT%','WHERE name LIKE '%ANT%'
• B. WHERE LEFT(name, 3) = 'ANT'
• C. WHERE name LIKE 'A%NT%'
• D. WHERE name LIKE 'ANT%'

Answer: (A)

Pattern matching with LIKE uses the % wildcard to denote any trailing characters. To find names that start with ANT, place ANT at the beginning of the pattern: WHERE name LIKE 'ANT%'. This matches any value that begins with ANT, followed by anything or nothing at all.

Other patterns don’t fit the requirement: '%ANT%' would match ANT anywhere in the string, not just at the start; 'A%NT%' requires the string to start with A and contain NT later, which isn’t specifically starting with ANT; and using a function like LEFT(name, 3) = 'ANT' can work but relies on a function rather than a simple pattern, which is less direct for this use case. The first option shown is not valid SQL syntax for combining conditions without AND/OR, so the simplest and correct approach is the pattern with ANT%.