Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before

Question

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

For a complete discussion of substantive clauses (a.k.a nominal clauses, a.k.a noun clauses) ---including the very tricky issue of noun-clauses and subject-verb agreement --- as well as a full explanation of this particular question, see this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Mike :-)

mikemcgarry · Accepted Answer

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

For a complete discussion of substantive clauses (a.k.a nominal clauses, a.k.a noun clauses) ---including the very tricky issue of noun-clauses and subject-verb agreement --- as well as a full explanation of this particular question, see this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Mike :-)

tia2112 · Answer

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

carcass · Answer

Clearly fewer refers to journals that are countable C is ackward and not fluent D it is

Ciao Mike

mbacrazeddude666 · Answer

Why X were so singularly successful against Y  IS  blah blah. Therefore "are" is incorrect and hence A & B are out.

C - "Is debated about" is unidiomatic, wordy and just plain awkward

E - "is debated in no less than" is incorrect since we are using numbers (five hundred) so "fewer" is preferred.

D is the only remaining choice that fixes all the errors.

nanishora · Answer

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  should be singular is instead of are 
(B) are debated in no less than  should be singular is instead of are 
(C) is debated about in no fewer than  debated about is unidiomatic. should be debated 
(D) is debated in no fewer than  Correct!!! 
(E) is debated in no less than less should not be used with countable quantity

IMO, answer is D.

aim730 · Answer

Subject Verb error : 
is/are -- "is" is correct as the subject is Singular. This cancels option A and B
less/ fewer -- "fewer" is to be used in case of countable quantity. This cancels option E
 We are now left with C and D.

Debated about could be unidiomatic or awkward construction. Hence the incorrect choice.
The choice D conveys the correct meaning.
Hence D is correct

vickymancer07 · Answer

I go with (C) , though I still wonder the need for "about"

mikemcgarry · Answer

What is your logic for picking (C) over (D)?

vickymancer07 · Answer

Hi Mike,

With my initial round of POE , it was either (C) or (D) but I was not sure whether to go for "Debate"or "Debate about".

From your blog I just read that "debate about"is awkward and not idiomatic , so then its (D)

Cheers!

carcass · Answer

I like this sentence with multiple modifiers.

Basically the key words is generals so plural and this can lead us to think "are" but is misleading.

hre we are talking about a question so the right verb is \("is"\)

Then we have to take in account generals so fewer (countable) and C is ackward

D is the best

umeshpatil · Answer

"Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee" is a single fact and should proceed with singular verb  is . Eliminating A,B

As five hundred is countable number, So, we can't use less than. Eliminate E.

Between C & D, Usage  debated in  is correct as we are only referring the time. So, Option D looks correct.

Bluelagoon · Answer

subject is singular + historical journals can be counted. In C about and in both are prepositions. That's incorrect, we want a noun phrase after a preposition. This eliminates C. D wins.

gmatter0913 · Answer

Picked C over D. I knew "debate about" is the idiom.

With this I got a silly question - Do I say "I knew "debate about" was/is the idiom". Because the truth of the idiom still holds in present. :?:

happyinlove505 · Answer

Chose C and it's wrong

eliminated A and B because of "are"
eliminated E because of "less"

had to choose between C and D, but did not know which one is right.

sadovskiya · Answer

I had the right answer by eliminating the less/ fewer option, but what is the subject of this sentence? Can't spot it.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear sadovskiya , I'm happy to respond. :-)

The subject is hard to spot because the main subject of the sentence is not an individual noun, but an entire clause. This is called a " substantive clause " --- sometimes also called a "noun clause" or a "relative nominal clause". This is a kind of clause that can act in the role of a noun and hence be the subject of the sentence. See this blog for a full explanation: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/ Mike :-)

Ajax1 · Answer

'Is' brings me down to C, D, and E. 'Fewer' brings me down to C and D. Never heard of 'debated about', so D it is!

honchos · Answer

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.

are debated about in no less than
are debated in no less than
is debated about in no fewer than
is debated in no fewer than
is debated in no less than

honchos · Answer

Noun Clause is The Subject here!

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before

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Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before

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