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ParamjitDasGMAT,

Thanks for a detailed explanation. I am assuming since you talked about only "a number" and its different usages, "The number" is always considered singular.

Am I correct on the above?
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AndrewN,

Firstly, Can you explain this filler words concept again? I didn't get this part.
Secondly, the below part is not clear to me too.

Quote:
2) has grown/growing + have been—This is an interesting one. The former is a verb, while the latter, specifically growing, is an adjective. On its own, the part of speech does not mean much, but look at what happens when we reach the latter half of the sentence. This been appears out of nowhere, and it achieves little in the way of clarity that the earlier verb form in (A) lacked. If we use "N" as a substitute for number of women and "I" as a substitute for in state legislatures, look at the difference:
Show more

I understood that option A is concise and clear construction after you removed the unnecessary words.
But not getting the understanding of above two things.
Please explain again.

Thanks
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krndatta
AndrewN,

Firstly, Can you explain this filler words concept again? I didn't get this part.
Secondly, the below part is not clear to me too.

Quote:
2) has grown/growing + have been—This is an interesting one. The former is a verb, while the latter, specifically growing, is an adjective. On its own, the part of speech does not mean much, but look at what happens when we reach the latter half of the sentence. This been appears out of nowhere, and it achieves little in the way of clarity that the earlier verb form in (A) lacked. If we use "N" as a substitute for number of women and "I" as a substitute for in state legislatures, look at the difference:

I understood that option A is concise and clear construction after you removed the unnecessary words.
But not getting the understanding of above two things.
Please explain again.

Thanks
Show more
Hello again, krndatta. You do seem to have understood what I was driving at—to use your own words, concise and clear construction. Do not worry about labeling anything. The adjective growing and the verb been were not adding anything in the way of meaning in one answer choice that a more concise iteration lacked, and that was about all there was to it. Pardon the confusing explanation.

- Andrew
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just to understand the concept of pluralism

i] half of all PM2.5 air pollution-related deaths are from burning of fossil fuels

is a fraction considered plural or because of 'deaths' the verb is plural?


ii] -Are both correct below?

The number of deaths has increased because of burning of fossil fuels

v/s

The number of deaths are from burning of fossil fuels


iii] A number of deaths are occurring nowadays becasue of ...

is 'A number' always plural or it can be singular as well?
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himanshu0123
just to understand the concept of pluralism

i] half of all PM2.5 air pollution-related deaths are from burning of fossil fuels

is a fraction considered plural or because of 'deaths' the verb is plural?


ii] -Are both correct below?

The number of deaths has increased because of burning of fossil fuels

v/s

The number of deaths are from burning of fossil fuels


iii] A number of deaths are occurring nowadays becasue of ...

is 'A number' always plural or it can be singular as well?
Show more

Hello himanshu0123,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query,

i) The verb is plural because it refers to the plural noun "deaths".

ii) Only the first sentence is correct.

iii) "A number" of something is always plural.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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ExpertsGlobal5

is there an exception in which 'the number' is plural noun?

ExpertsGlobal5
himanshu0123
just to understand the concept of pluralism

i] half of all PM2.5 air pollution-related deaths are from burning of fossil fuels

is a fraction considered plural or because of 'deaths' the verb is plural?


ii] -Are both correct below?

The number of deaths has increased because of burning of fossil fuels

v/s

The number of deaths are from burning of fossil fuels


iii] A number of deaths are occurring nowadays becasue of ...

is 'A number' always plural or it can be singular as well?

Hello himanshu0123,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query,

i) The verb is plural because it refers to the plural noun "deaths".

ii) Only the first sentence is correct.

iii) "A number" of something is always plural.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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himanshu0123
ExpertsGlobal5

is there an exception in which 'the number' is plural noun?

ExpertsGlobal5
himanshu0123
just to understand the concept of pluralism

i] half of all PM2.5 air pollution-related deaths are from burning of fossil fuels

is a fraction considered plural or because of 'deaths' the verb is plural?


ii] -Are both correct below?

The number of deaths has increased because of burning of fossil fuels

v/s

The number of deaths are from burning of fossil fuels


iii] A number of deaths are occurring nowadays becasue of ...

is 'A number' always plural or it can be singular as well?

Hello himanshu0123,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query,

i) The verb is plural because it refers to the plural noun "deaths".

ii) Only the first sentence is correct.

iii) "A number" of something is always plural.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
Show more

Helo himanshu0123,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; "the number" is always singular; its plural equivalent is "the numbers".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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According to a recent study by Rutgers University, the number of women 09 Jan 2023, 04:31
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
pjreddy_rec
According to a recent study by Rutgers University, the number of women in state legislatures has grown in every election since 1968.


(A) the number of women in state legislatures has grown

(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown

(C) there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures

(D) a growing number of women have been in state legislatures

(E) women have been growing in number in state legislatures
Show more

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that in every election since 1968, the number of women serving in state legislatures has grown.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Tenses + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• The present perfect continuous tense (marked by "has/have been") is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in past and continue into the present.

A: Correct.
1/ This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun phrase "number of women" with the singular verb "has grown".
2/ Option A uses the construction "number of women...has grown", conveying the intended meaning - that in every election since 1968, the number of women serving in state legislatures has grown.
3/ Option A correctly uses the present perfect tense verb "has grown" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present.
4/ Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun phrase "number of women" with the plural verbs "are" and "have grown".
2/ Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "who are in state legislatures", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C:
1/ This answer choice uses the passive and needlessly wordy construction "there has been growth in", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D:
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "have been in state legislatures"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that in every election since 1968, the number of women serving in state legislatures has grown.

E:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect continuous tense verb "have been growing" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the present perfect continuous tense (marked by "has/have been") is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in past and continue into the present.
2/ Option E uses the passive and needlessly wordy construction "women have been growing in number", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Continuous Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
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Q. According to a recent study by Rutgers University, the number of women in state legislatures has grown in every election since 1968.


here , topics tested are Subject verb agreement.
SUBJECT = the number
VERB = has 'grown'
The subject is singular therefore according to the rule subject verb agreement the verb should be singular too.

(A) the number of women in state legislatures has grown.
we can't find any error in this sentence so let's look at this option later.

(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown. wrong
verb here is plural (have grown) which is wrong.


(C) there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures. wrong
this sentence to me is structured unnecessarily wordy .
Option A conveys the perfect meaning avoiding any kind of redundancy

(D) a growing number of women have been in state legislatures wrong
verb here is plural (have) been which is wrong. Also there is no working verb in this sentence


(E) women have been growing in number in state legislatures wrong
verb here is plural (have grown) which is wrong.


So therefore option A is correct,

hope this helps
please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
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According to a recent study by Rutgers University, the number of women in state legislatures has grown in every election since 1968.


(A) the number of women in state legislatures has grown

(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown

(C) there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures

(D) a growing number of women have been in state legislatures

(E) women have been growing in number in state legislatures

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KarishmaB
Hi Karishma,

Please help me to understand the following points:
1) Can I consider "The number of X" as singular and "A number of X" as plural always or it depends on whether "X" is singular of plural?
2)Why D is incorrect? I believe "a growing number of women have been" is correct in terms of SV agreement.

Thank you for your help!
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Sneha2021
KarishmaB
Hi Karishma,

Please help me to understand the following points:
1) Can I consider "The number of X" as singular and "A number of X" as plural always or it depends on whether "X" is singular of plural?
2)Why D is incorrect? I believe "a growing number of women have been" is correct in terms of SV agreement.

Thank you for your help!
Show more

The number of X -> Subject is "number" which is singular

The number of people is not known. (Verb "is" is singular)
The number of people who like coffee is not known.

The corresponding subject and verbs are similarly coloured.
Subject -> number; verb -> is
Subject -> who (which stands for 'people'); verb -> like


A number of X = many X
Subject is X which will be plural.

A number of people like coffee.
is equivalent to
Many people like coffee.
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Decibel
A for me too.

is it true that "THE number of X" is singular whereas "A number of Y" is plural?
Show more

Yes! Didn't know that before getting this question wrong.

Took this text below from a blog:

1. “A number of” takes a plural verb
Tell your students to think of it this way: a number of means many. Becaus “many + plural noun” takes a plural verb, you would say “Many cars are on the freeway during rush hour.” Likewise, you would say “A number of cars are on the freeway during rush hour.”

The important thing to remember is that this expressions is acting like a quantifier. So even though it involves a singular noun “number,” it is serving the same role in the sentence as a quantifier such as “many,” “a lot of,” “lots of,” “hundreds of,” etc. You would say “A number of people have started the test” just like you would say “A lot of people have started the test.”

2. “The number of” takes a singular verb
Here’s where it gets even more confusing. In English, “the number of” doesn’t mean “many.” Tell your students to think of it as one number. So even though that number might be large, the purpose of this expression is to compare this one number/amount with another number/amount. For example, we would say “The number of crimes in New York has increased this year.” There might be 56 more crimes committed this year compared to last year. Another example is “The number of people who are writing the test today is larger than yesterday.” There might be 20 more people writing the test today.
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Hi there, Can someone please clarify if the presence of "state legislatures" before "in the elections" is causing ambiguity to what "in the elections" modifies in options C,D and E and can it be used as a reason to reject them? That is if we ignore the other reasons to reject.

Plus in option C: Can "there" be used as a placeholder in general?
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