gmatassassin88 wrote:
AjiteshArunI have gone through your explanation w.r.t 'significance of 'the'.
Please find below whether my understanding of option A&B is correct for usage of 'the'
Option A: setting free the more than 500 slaves- means there were more than 500 slaves who were legally considered his property.He set free some SPECIFIC number which is more than 500 but did not mention precise(how many).
Option B : setting free more than the 500 slaves legally considered as- means he set free more than 500 slaves ( all 500 those who were considered legal his property PLUS those slaves who might not be considered his slaves.
I am doubtful about the understanding of option B.
Thanks
Hi
gmatassassin88,
That is correct. Let's start by leaving the number out:
1.
the slaves who were legally considered his property ←
All the slaves who were legally considered his property
Now, let's put a number in:
2.
the 500 slaves who were legally considered his property ←
All the slaves who were considered his property, and it specifies the exact number (500)
Okay, but what if the
exact number is not known?
3.
the (more than 500) slaves who were legally considered his property ← Again,
all the slaves who were legally considered his property, and it includes the number, but with
reduced precision ("> 500" instead of "500")
This is usually done when the precise number is not known, unnecessary, or awkward when used in the sentence. Consider the following sentences:
4.
The one billion three hundred eighty million four hundred eighteen thousand nine hundred eighty-nine people of India will soon need to apply for an Aadhaar card.
5.
The more than one billion people of India will soon need to apply for an Aadhaar card.
Even if we somehow managed to get the number in (4) right, it would have changed by the time we finished writing the sentence.
Thanks for your explanation for option A ' The more than..', explanation matches to my above reasoning I believe.
'more than the 500 slaves who considered legal property's Please share your explanation on this one.
i have shared my reasoning in the earlier post.Please share your's.