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1) Organizers claimed that the rally for public health care drew close to half a million people, but the city officials estimated the amount of people at the rally to be less than 300,000.
(A) the amount of people at the rally to be less
(B) the number of people at the rally to be less
(C) the number of people attending the rally at fewer
(D) that the number of people attending the rally was fewer
(E) that the amount of people at the rally was less
The answer for the above is option B.
2) Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than
(B) are debated in no less than
(C) is debated about in no fewer than
(D) is debated in no fewer than
(E) is debated in no less than
The answer for the above is option D.
Though both of the above questions use the numbers 300,000 and 500 respectively, why are we choosing "less than" for first question and "fewer than" for second question ??
Explanation1 for question1 from mikemcgarry blog:
Countable vs. uncountable. We can count people, so it would be fewer people, but here we are talking about “number of people”, and for number we use “less.”
Explanation2 for question2 from mikemcgarry blog:
We are talking about “historically oriented journals”, and journals are discrete countable items. One can count how many journals one is reading, or how many feature this ongoing Civil War debate. We would say “how many journals” — using “how much” instead of “how many” would clearly be wrong. For countable nouns, nouns for which we would ask “how many?” instead of “how much?”, we have to use “fewer.” The phrase “no fewer than five hundred historically oriented journals” is perfectly correct, and the phrase “no less than five hundred historically oriented journals”, while it may sound correct, is dead wrong. The answer must be (D).
Now,
if I go with explanation1, I feel question2 should also use "less than". But contradictorily we are choosing "fewer than" as the answer for question2.
if I go with explanation2, I feel question1 should also use "fewer than". But contradictorily we are choosing "less than" as the answer for question1.
Need more clarification on this please.
(A) the amount of people at the rally to be less
(B) the number of people at the rally to be less
(C) the number of people attending the rally at fewer
(D) that the number of people attending the rally was fewer
(E) that the amount of people at the rally was less
The answer for the above is option B.
2) Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than
(B) are debated in no less than
(C) is debated about in no fewer than
(D) is debated in no fewer than
(E) is debated in no less than
The answer for the above is option D.
Though both of the above questions use the numbers 300,000 and 500 respectively, why are we choosing "less than" for first question and "fewer than" for second question ??
Explanation1 for question1 from mikemcgarry blog:
Countable vs. uncountable. We can count people, so it would be fewer people, but here we are talking about “number of people”, and for number we use “less.”
Explanation2 for question2 from mikemcgarry blog:
We are talking about “historically oriented journals”, and journals are discrete countable items. One can count how many journals one is reading, or how many feature this ongoing Civil War debate. We would say “how many journals” — using “how much” instead of “how many” would clearly be wrong. For countable nouns, nouns for which we would ask “how many?” instead of “how much?”, we have to use “fewer.” The phrase “no fewer than five hundred historically oriented journals” is perfectly correct, and the phrase “no less than five hundred historically oriented journals”, while it may sound correct, is dead wrong. The answer must be (D).
Now,
if I go with explanation1, I feel question2 should also use "less than". But contradictorily we are choosing "fewer than" as the answer for question2.
if I go with explanation2, I feel question1 should also use "fewer than". But contradictorily we are choosing "less than" as the answer for question1.
Need more clarification on this please.
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18 May 2017, 08:17
Kudos
Bookmarks
In 1st example, the sentence made a counting. Hence, "no less than" is used correctly.
Idiom "no less than" is also used to emphasize a large amount.
In 2nd example, the sentence made a comparison with countable nouns. Hence, "fewer than" is correct here.
Idiom "no less than" is also used to emphasize a large amount.
In 2nd example, the sentence made a comparison with countable nouns. Hence, "fewer than" is correct here.
19 May 2017, 04:50
Kudos
Bookmarks
Explanation1 for question1 from mikemcgarry blog:
Countable vs. uncountable. We can count people, so it would be fewer people, but here we are talking about “number of people”, and for number we use “less.”
Explanation2 for question2 from mikemcgarry blog:
We are talking about “historically oriented journals”, and journals are discrete countable items. One can count how many journals one is reading, or how many feature this ongoing Civil War debate. We would say “how many journals” — using “how much” instead of “how many” would clearly be wrong. For countable nouns, nouns for which we would ask “how many?” instead of “how much?”, we have to use “fewer.” The phrase “no fewer than five hundred historically oriented journals” is perfectly correct, and the phrase “no less than five hundred historically oriented journals”, while it may sound correct, is dead wrong. The answer must be (D).
Now,
if I go with explanation1, I feel question2 should also use "less than". But contradictorily we are choosing "fewer than" as the answer for question2.
if I go with explanation2, I feel question1 should also use "fewer than". But contradictorily we are choosing "less than" as the answer for question1.
Need more clarification on this please.
Countable vs. uncountable. We can count people, so it would be fewer people, but here we are talking about “number of people”, and for number we use “less.”
Explanation2 for question2 from mikemcgarry blog:
We are talking about “historically oriented journals”, and journals are discrete countable items. One can count how many journals one is reading, or how many feature this ongoing Civil War debate. We would say “how many journals” — using “how much” instead of “how many” would clearly be wrong. For countable nouns, nouns for which we would ask “how many?” instead of “how much?”, we have to use “fewer.” The phrase “no fewer than five hundred historically oriented journals” is perfectly correct, and the phrase “no less than five hundred historically oriented journals”, while it may sound correct, is dead wrong. The answer must be (D).
Now,
if I go with explanation1, I feel question2 should also use "less than". But contradictorily we are choosing "fewer than" as the answer for question2.
if I go with explanation2, I feel question1 should also use "fewer than". But contradictorily we are choosing "less than" as the answer for question1.
Need more clarification on this please.
