Sneha2021 wrote:
Hi Experts,
VeritasKarishma GMATNinja(C) more than a million others had not any
(D) more than a million others had no
What's the difference between "had no" and "had not any" in D & E?
The usage in D sounds familiar but I am looking for a good reason to reject C
Thanks!
Unfortunately the issue with (C) is largely idiomatic. Consider some simple examples:
"Tim had any money in the piggy bank." - Not okay
"Tim had some money in the piggy bank." - Okay
"Tim had no money in the piggy bank." - Okay
"Tim did not have any money in the piggy bank." - Okay
Here are some similar examples that look a bit more like what we have in this question:
"The women had any support agreements." - Not okay... and (C) has the same incorrect structure (the only difference is the "not", which makes the verb negative).
"The women had some support agreements." - Okay
"The women had no support agreements." - Okay... and this is pretty much what we get in (D).
"The women did not have any support agreements." - Okay
Another problem with the "had not" in (C) is that it causes the reader to anticipate a past perfect verb. For example:
"Tim had not finished getting dressed when his Zoom meeting began."
"Had not" anticipates a participle ("finished") to complete the past perfect verb ("had finished").
So, the "had not any" in (C) is not idiomatic and, more importantly, it's confusing. That makes (D) a better choice.
Also, keep in mind that this question is OLD. Probably older than most people reading this thread. So don't lose too much sleep over it.
I hope that helps a bit!
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