Sentence Correction

Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those enlisted in the USMC had reached
an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years.

(A) had reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
(B) have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(C) have reached an E-5 ranking in under three years
(D) had reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(E) have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
[spoiler]why A here instead of E? i chose E and its wrong and i dont understand why, anybody can help me please?[/spoiler]

Whenever 'since' is used, we must use present perfect(has/have).So E is correct.

Think about had reached as a past tense of have reached. So, if you were to comment today (as in, in 2010), you would say:

Since 2007, number of crimes committed have never been as high.

After (say) 5 years, if I were to quote you what you said today, I would say:

In 2010, diebeatsthegmat said that since 2007, number of crimes committed had never been as high.

So, basically we are talking about a timeframe of the past; hence have reached would not be a valid structure.

diebeatsthegmat wrote:Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those enlisted in the USMC had reached
an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years.

(A) had reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
(B) have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(C) have reached an E-5 ranking in under three years
(D) had reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(E) have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
[spoiler]why A here instead of E? i chose E and its wrong and i dont understand why, anybody can help me please?[/spoiler]

have should be used because of since... Can experts please explain that why B is incorrect... i thought that whenever we have numbers we should use less... Please explain!!!

Firstly I agree with Ashish that the difference between "have" and "had" would depend upon when this statement is being made. Hence, it would help to know where you got this question from, and when was this question initially printed.

Assuming that the question was printed in 1969, then "have" would be correct. On the other hand, if it was printed recently, "had" would be correct.

Secondly, while "few" is used for countable nouns and "less" is used for uncountable nouns, for measurement, time or when numbers are used on their own, "less" is preferred.

Assuming that the question is talking about a past time period (from 1966 to 1969) I would choose D.

kapur.arnav wrote:

diebeatsthegmat wrote:Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those enlisted in the USMC had reached
an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years.

(A) had reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
(B) have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(C) have reached an E-5 ranking in under three years
(D) had reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(E) have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
[spoiler]why A here instead of E? i chose E and its wrong and i dont understand why, anybody can help me please?[/spoiler]

have should be used because of since... Can experts please explain that why B is incorrect... i thought that whenever we have numbers we should use less... Please explain!!!

you cant use " less" for plural noun ( 3 years) so B is incorrect and neither is D
since is for perfect tense including present and past perfect tense... why is it not past perfect tense?

EducationAisle wrote:Think about had reached as a past tense of have reached. So, if you were to comment today (as in, in 2010), you would say:

Since 2007, number of crimes committed have never been as high.

After (say) 5 years, if I were to quote you what you said today, I would say:

In 2010, diebeatsthegmat said that since 2007, number of crimes committed had never been as high.

So, basically we are talking about a timeframe of the past; hence have reached would not be a valid structure.

@Ashish: As per your comment above if I change the sentence to something "Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those who are enlisted in the USMC have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years" then use of past perfect should be right?
Please confirm my understanding.

The Jock wrote:
@Ashish: As per your comment above if I change the sentence to something "Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those who are enlisted in the USMC have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years" then use of past perfect should be right?
Please confirm my understanding.

Grammatically the sentence would be correct, but the meaning is not coming out well. Because of fewer than three years, it would include people who enlisted in USMC in (say) 1966 and reached E-5 ranking by 1969, people who enlisted in USMC in (say) 1982 and reached E-5 ranking by 1985, people who enlisted in USMC in (say) 2005 and reached E-5 ranking by 2008 and so on.

However, the intent of the original sentence is to just include people who reached E-5 ranking by 1969.

kapur.arnav wrote:

diebeatsthegmat wrote:Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those enlisted in the USMC had reached
an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years.

(A) had reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
(B) have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(C) have reached an E-5 ranking in under three years
(D) had reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(E) have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
[spoiler]why A here instead of E? i chose E and its wrong and i dont understand why, anybody can help me please?[/spoiler]

have should be used because of since... Can experts please explain that why B is incorrect... i thought that whenever we have numbers we should use less... Please explain!!!

I also think that the answer should be B.

examples of 'less than' correct with numbers.
less than 5 kilometers
less than 3 hours
he is less than 6 feet tall

In addition, if you search in google for 'less than 3 years' you will get many hits but not a single hit for 'fewer than 3 years'

What is the OA?

I would go with B... Can anyone explain what the answer is?

I went with E but I was surprised to see that the OA is A.

Here are the reasons -

1.Less is used for uncountable things whereas Few is used to indicate countable things.

There are few books on the table.

There is less sugar in the coffee.

https://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/di ... rless.html

2. Also the difference between since and ago are ,

Since indicates an event from past to present

Ago indicates an event from present to past

Experts , please help.

even if OA is A,the answer is wrong.I'm a student of Knewton.I sent this question to knewton and got the following explanation.

MY QUESTION

Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those enlisted in the USMC had reached
an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years.

(A) had reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
(B) have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(C) have reached an E-5 ranking in under three years
(D) had reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(E) have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years

Obviously A and D are out for using wrong tense because Since... can be
followed only by present perfect , as in B,C,and E.

Now I'm stuck (less than vs fewer than). I know that I can count years (1
year , 2 year etc) , but the following usage of fewer than (Oxford
dictionary) does not agree.

https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/150

People often don't know when to use *less* and when to use *fewer* in a
sentence. Here's how to get it right.

Use *fewer* if you're referring to people or things in the plural (e.g. *
houses*, *newspapers, dogs*, *students, children*). For example:

People these days are buying *fewer newspapers*.
*Fewer students* are opting to study science-related subjects.
*Fewer* than thirty *children* each year develop the disease.

Use *less* when you're referring to something that can't be counted or
doesn't have a plural (e.g. *money*, *air*, *time*, *music*,*rain*). For
example:

It's a better job but they pay you *less money*.
People want to spend *less time* in traffic jams.
Ironically, when I'm on tour, I listen to *less music*.

*Less* is also used with numbers when they are on their own and with
expressions of measurement or time, e.g.:

His weight fell from 18 stone to *less* than 12.
Their marriage lasted *less* than two *years*.
Heath Square is *less* than four *miles* away from Dublin city centre


This explanation also then justifies the usage " I have less than two
dollars" and not " I have fewer than two dollars" because dollar is an
expression of measurement and two is a number. Please clarify.

THEIR REPLY

The OED's explanation is correct. An easier way to remember this is that "fewer" is for countable nouns, and "less" is for uncountable nouns with three exceptions: money, time, and distance (for which we use "less"). So we say "The event lasted less than two hours" and "I have less than two dollars in my wallet" and "Time ran less than two miles this morning" because these are all nouns describing time, money, or distance. Otherwise, we use "fewer" with countable nouns, even countable nouns preceded by a number. For example, "The class has fewer than 100 students."

The correct answer to this question should be choice B: "have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years." We need "less" because "three years" is a measure of time. "I have less than two dollars" is also the correct expression because "two dollars" is a measure of money.

Note that not every noun preceded by a number takes "less." For example: "There are fewer than 10 students in the class." This is correct because "students" is not an expression of measurement, time, money, or distance. The number "10" is basically just further proof that "students" are countable. So we use "fewer."


GOT IT GUYS?


THE ANSWER SHOULD BE B.

Infact you can even check MGMAT strategy guide to confirm that have ALWAYS goes with phrases " Since...", "From.."

Also, MGMAT guide says you can say :

I have less than ten dollars

But you cannot say : I have fewer than ten dollars.

Instead if you have to use fewer you say:

I have fewer than ten dollar bills.

rishab1988 wrote:even if OA is A,the answer is wrong.I'm a student of Knewton.I sent this question to knewton and got the following explanation.

MY QUESTION

Since 1966, roughly 21 percent of those enlisted in the USMC had reached
an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years.

(A) had reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years
(B) have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(C) have reached an E-5 ranking in under three years
(D) had reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years
(E) have reached an E-5 ranking in fewer than three years

Obviously A and D are out for using wrong tense because Since... can be
followed only by present perfect , as in B,C,and E.

Now I'm stuck (less than vs fewer than). I know that I can count years (1
year , 2 year etc) , but the following usage of fewer than (Oxford
dictionary) does not agree.

https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/150

People often don't know when to use *less* and when to use *fewer* in a
sentence. Here's how to get it right.

Use *fewer* if you're referring to people or things in the plural (e.g. *
houses*, *newspapers, dogs*, *students, children*). For example:

People these days are buying *fewer newspapers*.
*Fewer students* are opting to study science-related subjects.
*Fewer* than thirty *children* each year develop the disease.

Use *less* when you're referring to something that can't be counted or
doesn't have a plural (e.g. *money*, *air*, *time*, *music*,*rain*). For
example:

It's a better job but they pay you *less money*.
People want to spend *less time* in traffic jams.
Ironically, when I'm on tour, I listen to *less music*.

*Less* is also used with numbers when they are on their own and with
expressions of measurement or time, e.g.:

His weight fell from 18 stone to *less* than 12.
Their marriage lasted *less* than two *years*.
Heath Square is *less* than four *miles* away from Dublin city centre


This explanation also then justifies the usage " I have less than two
dollars" and not " I have fewer than two dollars" because dollar is an
expression of measurement and two is a number. Please clarify.

THEIR REPLY

The OED's explanation is correct. An easier way to remember this is that "fewer" is for countable nouns, and "less" is for uncountable nouns with three exceptions: money, time, and distance (for which we use "less"). So we say "The event lasted less than two hours" and "I have less than two dollars in my wallet" and "Time ran less than two miles this morning" because these are all nouns describing time, money, or distance. Otherwise, we use "fewer" with countable nouns, even countable nouns preceded by a number. For example, "The class has fewer than 100 students."

The correct answer to this question should be choice B: "have reached an E-5 ranking in less than three years." We need "less" because "three years" is a measure of time. "I have less than two dollars" is also the correct expression because "two dollars" is a measure of money.

Note that not every noun preceded by a number takes "less." For example: "There are fewer than 10 students in the class." This is correct because "students" is not an expression of measurement, time, money, or distance. The number "10" is basically just further proof that "students" are countable. So we use "fewer."


GOT IT GUYS?


THE ANSWER SHOULD BE B.

Infact you can even check MGMAT strategy guide to confirm that have ALWAYS goes with phrases " Since...", "From.."

Also, MGMAT guide says you can say :

I have less than ten dollars

But you cannot say : I have fewer than ten dollars.

Instead if you have to use fewer you say:

I have fewer than ten dollar bills.

thanks indeed!
its really helpful... and got it!
hug ya!

I ruled out A immediately. Apparently, I was wrong

I thought "had reached" would apply to a timeframe with an exact terminus in the past. In other words, I thought "had reached" would be correct if the sentence began with "By" instead of "Since". With "Since", we're talking about some starting point in the past which continues to the present, and I thought this would necessitate the usage of "have reached".

Then, since years are countable (as opposed to "less time"), I used "fewer", and the combination of the two led me to 'E'.

*Less* is also used with numbers when they are on their own and with
expressions of measurement or time, e.g.:

His weight fell from 18 stone to *less* than 12.
Their marriage lasted *less* than two *years*.
Heath Square is *less* than four *miles* away from Dublin city centre

Numbers are countable right? You can say 1 ,2,3.But do you say 12 is fewer than 15?GMAT always says 12 is less than 15!