Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than an

Guys....
Idiom: :"a number of" is plural always...
why is C correct...why not D

Here we must focus on number rather than numberS.

"A number of" - plural noun - do not affect to "other city" because we'r comparing LA to other city.

Clearly, C is best.

My answer is C.
A compares family dwellings per capita with any other large city. Wrong comparison.
B. "higher numbers" is not idiomatic. Also wrong comparison.
C. Is correct. Compares LA's higher number of family dwellings per capita with other city's family dwellings per capita.
D. "higher numbers" is not idiomatic. Wrong Would love a better explanation on this though
E. "high per capita number of X" is not the same as "a higher number of X per capita" Changes meaning. Wrong. Also, comparison is awkward.

generis GMATNinja VeritasKarishma AjiteshArun

What is the subtle difference between do / does in C/ D?
Is it related to verb tense or subject-verb number agreement?

Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city.


(A) a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city -- OUT BECAUSE HERE LOS ANGELES COMPARED TO LOS ANGELES ITSELF (IT SHOULD BE ANY OTHER LARGE CITY)

(B) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than any other large city -- WRONG COMPARISON

(C) a higher number of family dwellings per capita than does any other large city

(D) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities--HIGHER NUMBERS IS WRONG

(E) a high per capita number of family dwellings, more than does any other large city--WORDY CONSTRUCTION ; MORE CONCISE CONSTRUCTION IS PRESENT IN C

HOPE IT HELPS!

Please explain the use of "higher numbers"and "a higher number". Thank you.

“Numbers of people” indicates a large quantity—often a multitude of people.
For instance – Large numbers of families are migrating to Canada.

“A number of people” indicates a particular but indefinite number.
For example – The board is made up of a fixed number of members who attended the same college.

Higher numbers is not idiomatic IMO. It could have been “high numbers” or “large numbers” but NOT high-er / large-r numbers. Instead, idiomatically, it should be – a higher number/ a larger number.

Hope this clears it up!

Although I marked C, the right answer, but I was not confident.

Can we have segregated the options based on comparison with cities or city and got the answer.??
For example: If we had 'higher number of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities' or 'a higher number of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities' which one would have been correct.

Of course then C would have some error in it.

Hello experts, please help me clarify this doubt
'Los Angeles has' is the first part of sentence and in the last part we have 'than does any other large city'. Shouldnt the last part should have 'has' as verb. Do/does it seems the city is doing something.

Thnx in advance.

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Hi...


Let’s understand the intended meaning of the correct sentence:

Los Angeles has a high number of family dwellings per capita.
Other large cities do not have as high a number of family dwellings per capita as Los Angeles has.

Note the use of “do” (“does” when used with “any”) with "other cities" and “has” with Los Angeles.

What we are essentially saying is:

Any other large city does not have …..

And that is how “does” comes into the picture. It is like saying "does not possess".

Hope this helps

if choice A) had "other", would it be correct?

A) a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any "other" large city (does) - ellipsis

Hi GMATNinja thanks for your response I am sure your children would be sweet but not spicy anyhow coming back to the point. I was wondering if you remove "do" from the above sentence then the sentence would be illogical, in the sense that you will be comparing the seasoning on your cooking vs seasoning on your children, and that's why adding "do" becomes important.

As mentioned above "do" can replace the verb to make comparison clear, the original sentence can be though of as below


Please let me know if my understanding is correct.

Appreciate the help

Hi.
We are comparing Los Angeles with 'other' city(cities). Why do we need to have 'does'?
LA has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than (has) any other large city - this will be the corrected sentence. I can't understand why do we have to use 'does' when we are comparing a city with other cities.

Split:
A: Incorrect comparison between "number of family dwellings per capita" and "any larger city"; Ommission of "other" indicates that LA is not a large city
B: Same as A for comparison
C: Correct
D: "a higher number" is better than "higher numbers"
E: High and More are redundant

Take away:
In addition to referring to a person's height, Higher could also be used to refer to a more advanced number or degree of something, correct usage is "a higher number" rather than "higher numbers"

KarishmaB and AndrewN can you please help me with this one. I understand why A is incorrect because it incorrectly compares "higher number of family dwellings with large cities". Now, I have seen official comparison questions in which we needed to repeat the verb "do" to make the comparison clear but shouldn't we use "has/have" here instead of does? as do/does is used to replace action verbs while has/have for possession.

Appreciate your time and response in advance.

I think your confusion, RohitSaluja stems from this made-up rule at the end that do/does is used to replace action verbs while has/have for possession. As a substitute verb, to do can replace just about anything, including to have.

He has more rare books in his collection than do the ten collectors behind him combined.

Such usage occurs more frequently when the substitute verb is placed ahead of the comparative element. (If you are wondering why do makes an appearance at all, it really comes down to whether the author feels as though a reminder is necessary. The above sentence places seven words between has and the ten collectors, so a reminder of what is being compared, exactly, may facilitate the expression of vital meaning. In a less lengthy comparison, the verb may be omitted.)

He has more rare books in his collection than have the ten collectors behind him combined.

However, it is fine to repeat the verb at the end of the comparison.

He has more rare books in his collection than the ten collectors behind him have combined.

For further reference, I would recommend checking out the section Do as a substitute verb in the following article from the Cambridge Dictionary (link). Just be aware that some of the information on the broader page is more typical of British English.

Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

A form of 'do' is used to replace any and every action verb whether it is 'has' or 'dances' or 'gets'. And we use 'do so' to replace an entire predicate.

But the bigger problem with (A) is the missing 'other'.

Assuming LA is a large city, we must say "a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any "other" large city."

Note that though we are comparing actions, there isn't any ambiguity as such in the meaning. I would like to see
"a higher number of ... than does any other large city" but even if I have "a higher number of ... than any other large city," I will accept it.