The birds have started considering the corner of the park a much safer

Question

The birds have started considering the corner of the park  a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much more  than before.

A. a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much more

B. as a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much greater

C. to be a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much more

D. a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much greater

E. to be a much safer place than the riverside; the number of them there are now much greater

Fresh Verbal Question From GMAT Club Tests'. Written by  sayantanc2k

V35-01

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

GMAT CLUB's Official Explanation:

The question tests the following issues:
 Issue 1:  Idiomatic use of the word “consider” 
Wrong: Consider A as B ( I consider you as my friend)
Questionable: Consider A to be B (I consider you to be my friend.)
Right: Consider A B ( I consider you my friend.)

Issue 2:  The plural “numbers” means a large crowd or multitude, while the singular “number” refers to a specific quantity of individuals. Therefore when the word “numbers” is used for comparison, “greater than” must be used instead of the “more than” - the latter may wrongly indicate that the quantity of numbers is larger and not that the quantity of the birds is larger.

A. Wrong because of issue 2: Using “more than” instead of “greater than” wrongly implies that there are more  numbers  rather than more  birds .

B. Wrong because of issue 1: “Consider A as B” is wrong

C. Wrong because of issue 2 as explained in A above. Moreover the idiom “consider A to be B” is questionable -. better is “consider A B”.

D. Right.

Issue 1 is correct addressed: “Consider A B”; A = corner of the park, B = a much safer place
Issue 2: The construction “their numbers..… greater than…” is proper.

E. “The number of…….” is singular and must use a singular verb. Here the plural verb “are” is wrongly used. Moreover the idiom “consider A to be B” is questionable -. better is “consider A B”.

gloomybison · Answer

A. a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much more
Much more is incorrect, "their numbers" is countable

B. as a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much greater
Wrong idiom, Correct Idıom should be "Consider X Y"

C. to be a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much more
Wrong idiom, Correct Idıom should be "Consider X Y". Also "much more" is incorrect, "their numbers" is countable

D. a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much greater
 Correct

E. to be a much safer place than the riverside; the number of them there are now much greater
Wrong idiom, Correct Idıom should be "Consider X Y". Also instead of "the number of them" using "their numbers" would be much more succinct

kungfury42 · Answer

The correct idiom usage is "Consider X Y" where X and Y are parallel. Other usage such as "Consider X to be Y" or "Consider X as Y" are wrong. Though I've read on a  Manhattan Blog  that "Consider X to be Y" can be right too sometimes, but only when the sentence is long worded or in absence of a stronger option such as "Consider X Y". "Consider X as Y" too is not entirely wrong but has very niche usage and is extremely unlikely to come up on the test day and make a difference.

Using this we can clearly eliminate options B, C, and E.

Between A and D, the only difference is in the usage of more vs. greater. Since we are talking about numbers (their numbers == birds' numbers) here, the correct thing to use is greater and not more.

Hence, option D should be our answer.

100mitra · Answer

Eliminate, C and E

1.) Wrong usage of " to be " refer to  Park 
2.) Option E, the number of "them", 
As pronouns the difference between them and their
" them " is third personal plural pronoun used after a preposition or as the object of a verb 
" their " is (possessive) belonging to, from, of, or relating to, describing the noun after it

C.  to be  a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much  more 
E.  to be  a much safer place than the riverside; the number of  them there  are now much greater

Eliminate B 
Wrong usage of " as " 
B.  as  a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much greater

Between A, and D -  Eliminate A 
-  Non Countable noun (more used for amount)  vs  Countable noun (greater used for numbers "birds")

A. a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much  more 
D. a much safer place than the riverside; their numbers there are now much greater -  Correct option

theirrationalmind · Answer

Hi, even I narrowed it down to A and D and I ended up picking A

I thought “more” would be the correct usage for countable nouns.

Thought “greater / lesser” is used for uncountable nouns?

Posted from my mobile device

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  theirrationalmind ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in the case of the construction "number/numbers of something", it is idiomatically correct to use "greater/lesser".

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

VerbalBot · Answer

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The birds have started considering the corner of the park a much safer

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