Sentence Correction

In the English-speaking world Anton Chekhov is by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime Chekhov's stories made him popular while his plays were given a more ambivalent reception, even by his fellow writers.

a.
b. by far better known for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime
c. known far better for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime it was
d. far better known for his plays than were his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that
e. far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime

close call between (A) and (E)...I'd go with (E).

What is the source of this problem? From what I've noticed, mostly wrong choices on the GMAT have more than one thing wrong with them.

IMO: E

although nothing gramatically is wrong with A
but A says by far...which means till date...

but according to the sentence the intended meaning is not "till date"
so i'd go with E
What is the OA?

E fr me OA ?

One more vote for E.

heymayank08 wrote:IMO: E

although nothing gramatically is wrong with A
but A says by far...which means till date...

but according to the sentence the intended meaning is not "till date"
so i'd go with E
What is the OA?

OA is E. Can you give me an example in which "by far" is used correctly, and why it is not here? I'm not sure i understand.

heymayank08 wrote:IMO: E

although nothing gramatically is wrong with A
but A says by far...which means till date...

but according to the sentence the intended meaning is not "till date"
so i'd go with E
What is the OA?

What do you mean by "till date". Can you give an example? Thanks

thoughts between by far, and far?

fangtray wrote:thoughts between by far, and far?

In the English-speaking world Anton Chekhov is by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime Chekhov's stories made him popular while his plays were given a more ambivalent reception, even by his fellow writers.

a. by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime
e. far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime

IMO 'BY FAR' is an intensifier used for SUPERLATIVES; 'FAR' used for COMPARATIVE adjectives in front of a noun (also as intensifier for SUPERLATIVES).

In this question, we have BETTER ..THAN that means its definitely not SUPERLATIVE and so BY FAR is inappropriate.

More example:

We use these words and phrases as intensifiers with comparative adjectives:
much - far - a lot - quite a lot - a great deal - a good deal - a good bit - a fair bit

He is much older than me.
New York is a lot bigger than Boston.

We use much and far as intensifiers with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:
France is a much bigger country than Britain.
He is a far better player than Ronaldo.

We use these words as intensifiers with superlatives:
easily - by far - far

The blue whale is easily the biggest animal in the world.
This car was by far the most expensive.

IMO E

source: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/ ... tensifiers