Bunuel
Of the eleven official languages in South Africa, English is
the more widely understood.
A. the more widely understood
B. understood more widely
C. the most widely understood
D. most widely understood
E. the most widely understood one
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Of the eleven official languages in South Africa, English is the more widely understood.A. the more widely understood
Incorrect.
This sentence compares English to all eleven official languages in South Africa. When comparing one thing to a group (rather than to another thing), the superlative form the most should be used. This answer choice, however, uses the comparative form more.B. understood more widely
Incorrect.
This answer choice repeats the original mistake. This sentence compares English to all eleven official languages in South Africa. When comparing one thing to a group (rather than to another thing), the superlative form the most should be used. This answer choice, however, uses the comparative form more.C. the most widely understood
This sentence compares English to all eleven official languages in South Africa. When comparing one thing to a group (rather than to another thing), the superlative form the most should be used.D. most widely understood
Incorrect.
While this answer choice corrects the original mistake, it uses the superlative form incorrectly. The correct superlative form is the most, not just most.E. the most widely understood one
Incorrect.
This answer choice is grammatically correct: it corrects the original mistake by replacing the comparative form more with the superlative form the most. However, it is stylistically flawed. Adding the word one creates redundancy. There's another grammatically correct answer choice that is more concise than this one. Look for it!