A limitation of a new linguistic study one that is notable because i

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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A limitation of a new linguistic study—one that is notable because it included almost two-thirds of the world’s languages and used lists containing diverse words—is the relatively  fewer number of meanings that were  included in the analysis.

A) fewer number of meanings that were

B) small number of meanings that was

C) lesser number of meanings that were

D) smaller number of meanings that was

E) small number of meanings that were

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

THE PROMPT  
 
• Strip and shorten this sentence. You don't need any of the material between the em dashes. It's there to distract.
The sentence, stripped:
 A limitation of a new linguistic study . . . is the relatively  fewer number of meanings that were  included in the analysis.

Relatively  fewer   than  what ?  Than the number of meanings that were in some previous study?

Start getting suspicious about meaning here.
Comparison phrases such as "fewer than" require an object of comparison. 
Do not fall into the trap of thinking that because option A contains a botched comparison, you need to find the answer that cleans up a  comparison .

THE OPTIONS  
 
• fewer   than   what?
Do not use  fewer  without  than . (I would stop here and not wrestle with the word  number .)

• "number" in this context means "uncountable quantity"
→ do not use  fewer  with an uncountable noun 
 Wrong : The number of convictions was fewer in County A than in County B.
 Correct : The number of convictions was smaller in County A than in County B.
ELIMINATE A
 
• subject/verb disagreement
→ The word  that  refers to  meanings.  
The word meanings is plural and requires the plural verb were.
The plural  meanings , referred to by  that , does not agree with the singular verb  was .

→ All relative clauses (that-, which-, and who-clauses) contain a subject and a verb. 
The subject is the relative pronoun. 
A verb must follow.
(They are called relative  clauses  rather than relative  phrases  because clauses contain a subject and a verb.)

In this case the subject of the relative clause is  that .
Whether  that  is plural or singular depends on the antecedent of  that . 
In this case, the antecedent,  meanings , is plural, so the word  that  is also plural.
ELIMINATE B
 
→  Lesser  is an adjective that means "of inferior quality or quantity." or "of less significance or status." 
We do not use  lesser  for comparative general quantities or qualities. 
Native speakers should flinch at this sentence.

Between solitary confinement and COVID-19, the prison warden decided that solitary confinement was the lesser of two evils. 
 A lesser man than he would have given up; he persisted. 
ELIMINATE C
 
•  smaller  number of meanings  than  what?
→ the comparative word  smaller  must be paired with  than. 
 Than  does not appear later in the sentence.

• subject/verb disagreement - identical to that in option B
→ The word  that  refers to  meanings.  
The word meanings is plural and requires the plural verb were.
The plural  meanings , referred to by  that , does not agree with the singular verb  was .
ELIMINATE D
 
• By POE, option E must be correct
• I see no errors.
→  small  correctly modifies  number 
→  small  is not a comparative word that requires  than . ( Smaller  is the comparative form.)
→ the plural subject  that  = meanings agrees with the plural verb  were

The answer is E.

COMMENTS

I am glad to see a few people whom I have not seen in awhile.

A few of these answers are very good.

This question is hard; taking a stab at an answer is brave.
Everyone gets kudos.

Most of the correct answers are quite good.

Keep up the hard work, everyone.

HoneyLemon · Answer

Is it  E  ? 
A limitation of a new linguistic study—one that is notable because it included almost two-thirds of the world’s languages and used lists containing diverse words—is the relatively  fewer number of meanings that were  included in the analysis.

A) fewer number of meanings that were
 -- We need fewer than .. than missing in the comparative form
 
B) small number of meanings that was
 -- that refers to meanings .. plural . so were will be correct in stead of was .

C) lesser number of meanings that were
 -- We need lesser than .. than missing in the comparative form. Less is incorrect as well since a limitation is countable in this context.

D) smaller number of meanings that was
 -- We need smaller than .. than missing in the comparative form
Also .. that refers to meanings .. plural . so were will be correct in stead of was . 
 
E) small number of meanings that were
 -- Correct

AkashM · Answer

Eliminate B and D because we need the plural form 'were'. 
Eliminate C because 'lesser' cannot be used with something countable. 
Eliminate E because A has a better construction.

A is the right answer.

sumitkrocks · Answer

Number of meanings is somethings that can be counted, so fewer is appropriate here

A is the right answer IMO

praveen27sinha · Answer

A limitation of a new linguistic study—one that is notable because it included almost two-thirds of the world’s languages and used lists containing diverse words—is the relatively fewer number of meanings that were included in the analysis.

A) fewer number of meanings that were  Correct

B) small number of meanings that was  Number of meanings is countable so fewer is better also was is wrong for plural meanings

C) lesser number of meanings that were  Use of lesser is wrong for countable noun

D) smaller number of meanings that was :  Smaller is incorrect for countable noun also use of singular verb is wrong

E) small number of meanings that were :- Use of small is wrong for countable noun

ramlala · Answer

A limitation of a new linguistic study—one that is notable because it included almost two-thirds of the world’s languages and used lists containing diverse words—is the relatively  fewer number of meanings that were  included in the analysis.

I think there is confusion between  fewer  and  small  in earlier discussion.
We have a hint with these two words..." the  relatively __________  number "
Both hints about singular adjective. so  small  wins here.

and there is no confusion about second difference i.e.  meanings....were

A)  fewer  number of meanings that were

B) small number of meanings that  was

C)  lesser  number of meanings that  were

D)  smaller  number of meanings that  was

E)  small  number of meanings that  were

IMO E

Let's wait for OE.

RajatJ79 · Answer

A limitation of a new linguistic study—one that is notable because it included almost two-thirds of the world’s languages and used lists containing diverse words—is the relatively  fewer number of meanings that were  included in the analysis.

Pre-thinking :  Quantity words  used with a noun - lesser v/s small used with 'number of meanings'
 'fewer' is sued when the noun is countable . In the above case,  'number of meanings' is not countable, hence usage of 'fewer' is incorrect . Usage of fewer would have been correct it was  'fewer meanings' . However, in the above case,  'small number of meanings'  is correct.

A)  fewer  number of meanings that were

B) small number of meanings that  was 
 SVA - meanings is plural, hence it requires plural verb 'were'

C)  lesser  number of meanings that were
 Usage of lesser requires 'than' i.e. lesser than is usage. Since 'than' is missing, drop option.

D) smaller number of meanings that  was

E)   small number of meanings   that were

IMO answer should be option E.

DinoPen · Answer

A limitation of a new linguistic study—one that is notable because it included almost two-thirds of the world’s languages and used lists containing diverse words—is the relatively  fewer number of meanings that were  included in the analysis.

A) fewer number of meanings that were 
'fewer' is used to compare two things. There is no comparison here. Out.

B) small number of meanings that was 
Subject verb agreement issue here. 'was' needs to be 'were' since 'was' incorrectly refers to meanings.

C) lesser number of meanings that were 
Same reasoning as A.

D) smaller number of meanings that was 
Subject verb agreement issue here. 'was' needs to be 'were' since 'was' incorrectly refers to meanings.

E) small number of meanings that were 
Correct use of 'small' and correct SV agreement.

beeblebrox · Answer

It was a tough choice between options (C) and (E)

C) lesser number of meanings that
Less is used while modifying numbers.

E) small number of meanings that were

I think the correct answer is Option (C).

keyuwang · Answer

Numbers cannot be fewer or less. It can only be small or big.

Sumi1010 · Answer

The actual sentence: 
A limitation of a new linguistic study—one that is notable because it included almost two-thirds of the world’s languages and used lists containing diverse words—is the relatively fewer number of meanings that were included in the analysis.

can easily be reduced to

A limitation  of a new linguistic study  is   the  relatively fewer  number of meanings  that were included in the analysis.
 (Note that we can drop off the modifier noun-phrase between the hyphens).

Thus,  what is the limitation of the new linguistic study ?  
--  the  fewer  number  of XXX 
(where XXX=  meanings that were included  in the analysis)

Now, we need to note that 
1. For S-V agreement-
- A number  - is singular. 
-  The number of X  - Is Plural 
However, Here "The (fewer) number " is not the subject. 
WERE is correct in the modifier phrase "meanings  that were included "

2. In the usage of linking verbs ( e.g. Is,are,was,were etc - that says the state and not the action), the number-agreement is very important. 
If we say
  X is Y.   
--X = Y
 A limitation of X is the number of Y.  
-- A limitation = the number of Y. 
Thus, "the number of meanings" must be singular. 
Here, the fewer number is not correct.

Now, the choices are -
A) fewer number of meanings that were
 We can't say one number, two number etc. "the fewer number" is incorrect. 
B) small number of  meanings that was 
 WERE is correct in the modifier phrase "meanings  that were included " 
C) lesser number of meanings that were
"the lesser" is required for comparison. 
D) smaller number of  meanings that was 
 WERE is correct in the modifier phrase "meanings  that were included " 
E) small number of meanings that were
 Correct.

IMO  E

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

Kamtab · Answer

I feel the pronoun "that" lets itself to some ambiguity.

Is there a ruling on whether the relative pronoun "that" can only refer to the noun immediately before it?
E.g. A box of {candies} that were made of sugar -> correct
or {A box of candies} that was stolen -> also correct?

It is possible that "that" refers to "the number of meanings" which would be singular, and option B is just as likely to be correct.

"The number of meanings" that was included was small.

rgumber · Answer

Is it not B because we refer to "the" small number not "a" small number? Help please!  GMATNinja

VerbalBot · Answer

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A limitation of a new linguistic study one that is notable because i

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

A limitation of a new linguistic study one that is notable because i

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