Children Mistakes

[goelmohit2002]

Hi All,

In the below question the OA is [spoiler]"C"[/spoiler]. Can somebody please tell why [spoiler]"C"[/spoiler] is better then [spoiler]"A"[/spoiler] ? Is it because of verb "do". If yes, they why ?

The mistakes children make in learning to speak tell linguists more about how they learn language than the correct forms they use.
(A) how they learn language than
(B) how one learns language than
(C) how children learn language than do
(D) learning language than
(E) their language learning than do

Thanks
Mohit

[PinkBox]

in A the pronoun is ambiguous; it could refer to "linguists" or "children"

[goelmohit2002]

If suppose we would have to choose between the Modified "A" and "C"...then which one we would have chosen and why ?

Modified ....(A) how children learn language than
(C) how children learn language than do

Thanks
Mohit

[karmayogi]

If suppose we would have to choose between the Modified "A" and "C"...then which one we would have chosen and why ?

Modified ....(A) how children learn language than
(C) how children learn language than do

Thanks
Mohit

Good question. I also have the same doubt.

[kobel51]

C would still be better than A if we had

A) how children learn language than
C) how children learn language than do

The intent is to compare two actions. The key is do figure out the subject of "do", or at least to know which verb "do" stands for. The sentence could be rewritten as:

"The mistakes tell more about how shildren learn than the correct forms tell about how children learn."

We are comparing what the mistakes tell linguists to what the correct forms tell linguists. Since we're comparing two actions, there must be a verb in both elements -- that's why the "do" is necessary. It stands for "tell"

By removing the "do" the meaning is no longer clear as the sentence without "do" could mean something illogical.

"The mistakes tell more about how children learn than the mistakes tell about the correct forms children use."

[karmayogi]

C would still be better than A if we had

A) how children learn language than
C) how children learn language than do

The intent is to compare two actions. The key is do figure out the subject of "do", or at least to know which verb "do" stands for. The sentence could be rewritten as:

"The mistakes tell more about how shildren learn than the correct forms tell about how children learn."

We are comparing what the mistakes tell linguists to what the correct forms tell linguists. Since we're comparing two actions, there must be a verb in both elements -- that's why the "do" is necessary. It stands for "tell"

By removing the "do" the meaning is no longer clear as the sentence without "do" could mean something illogical.

"The mistakes tell more about how children learn than the mistakes tell about the correct forms children use."

Got it! "do" stands for tell.

Thanks

[lunarpower]

here's an analogy:

i know more about shakespeare than my brother.
--> wrong, because it's ambiguous.
this could mean that my knowledge of shakespeare is superior to my brother's, but it could also mean that i know more about shakespeare than i know about my own brother.

to fix this, you must insert a helping verb or preposition:
i know more about shakespeare than does my brother / than my brother does --> the former meaning
i know more about shakespeare than about my brother --> the latter meaning.

substitute "i know" for "the mistakes ... tell", "shakespeare" for "how ____ learn language", and "my brother" for "the correct forms they use", and the same discussion applies here.

--

and, yes, as another poster mentioned above, there is also a pronoun issue with "they", which could, technically, also stand for "mistakes".

[karmayogi]

here's an analogy:

i know more about shakespeare than my brother.
--> wrong, because it's ambiguous.
this could mean that my knowledge of shakespeare is superior to my brother's, but it could also mean that i know more about shakespeare than i know about my own brother.

to fix this, you must insert a helping verb or preposition:
i know more about shakespeare than does my brother / than my brother does --> the former meaning
i know more about shakespeare than about my brother --> the latter meaning.

substitute "i know" for "the mistakes ... tell", "shakespeare" for "how ____ learn language", and "my brother" for "the correct forms they use", and the same discussion applies here.

--

and, yes, as another poster mentioned above, there is also a pronoun issue with "they", which could, technically, also stand for "mistakes".

Awesome analogy and equally awesome explanation.

[lunarpower]

here's an analogy:

i know more about shakespeare than my brother.
--> wrong, because it's ambiguous.
this could mean that my knowledge of shakespeare is superior to my brother's, but it could also mean that i know more about shakespeare than i know about my own brother.

to fix this, you must insert a helping verb or preposition:
i know more about shakespeare than does my brother / than my brother does --> the former meaning
i know more about shakespeare than about my brother --> the latter meaning.

substitute "i know" for "the mistakes ... tell", "shakespeare" for "how ____ learn language", and "my brother" for "the correct forms they use", and the same discussion applies here.

--

and, yes, as another poster mentioned above, there is also a pronoun issue with "they", which could, technically, also stand for "mistakes".

Awesome analogy and equally awesome explanation.

thanks.