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Less/fewer

by arorag » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:12 pm
Because natural gas is composed mostly of methane, a simple hydrocarbon, vehicles powered by natural gas emit less of certain pollutants than the burning of gasoline or diesel fuel.

(A) less of certain pollutants than the burning of gasoline or diesel fuel
(B) fewer of certain pollutants than burning gasoline or diesel fuel do
(C) less of certain pollutants than gasoline or diesel fuel
(D) fewer of certain pollutants than does burning gasoline or diesel fuel
(E) less of certain pollutants than those burning gasoline or diesel fuel


OA is E?????
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by g_beatthegmat » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:05 am
Answer = E

Less is used for uncountable things, fewer is used for countable things.

Less/fewer is being used for pollutants so we'll use less here. Eliminate (B) and (C).

Now what emits less of certain pollutants?
Because natural gas is composed mostly of methane, a simple hydrocarbon, vehicles powered by natural gas emit less of certain pollutants than the burning of gasoline or diesel fuel.

(E) is the only option that clearly compares vehicles with vehicles and not vehicles with (a) burning of gasoline OR (c) gasoline
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by atlantic » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:08 am
yep, imo OA is E.

Fewer is only when itens /nouns are countable here you cannot count the itens 'vehicles' so B and D are out.

From the remaining, E is the only that correctly stablish a relation between 'vehicles powered by natural gas' and 'those powered by gasoline or diesel'.

Hope it helps.
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by ildude02 » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:28 am
I'm not so sure of E as it's written. First, I think we can use "fewer" when comparing things and in "plural" form. Also, I think pollutants can be countable, (eg: 10 pollutants is a sensible word, Pollution is non-countable but I beleive pollutants are countable. Eg: How many pollutants are present in the air)Also, we should have a verb to parallel "emit" since we are comparing how much natuaral gas emits to how much diesel emits? So, we should use "do" as in B.

Can someone point out where I went wrong with my reasoning, if B is not correct.
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by lvincy » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:44 am
"emit less of certain pollutants"
here both vehicles are emitting same pollutants but the difference is amount.
Here we are comparing amount which is uncountable so less is right.
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by pinktiger » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:17 pm
fewer than is not idiomatic. less than is the corret usage.
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by pinktiger » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:37 pm
fewer than is not idiomatic. less than is the corret usage.
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by Ian Stewart » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:03 pm
Regardless of the issue with 'less of' and 'fewer of', only answer E makes the correct comparison. We are comparing here vehicles powered by natural gas with vehicles burning gasoline or diesel fuel. Only E makes the comparison clear- that we are comparing one type of vehicle with other types of vehicles, and not with the 'general phenomenon' of burning gasoline.

Incidentally, 'less of' is correct here. If we say 'fewer pollutants', we would mean 'a smaller number of pollutants', not 'a smaller quantity of pollutants'. The point is that the natural gas car emits less pollution, not that it emits a more restricted variety of pollutants.
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by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:21 pm
Pollutants could be countable or non-countable, it depends on context.

If you're talking about the number of different pollutants, it's countable. For example:

Some furnaces emit 4 pollutants, while others emit 3; an environmentally concerned home owner should buy the one that emits fewer pollutants.

If you're talking about the amount of a specific pollutant, it's not countable. For example:

While both furnaces emit pollutant X, the BoznoFurnace emits less of the pollutant than does the CraziFurnace.

In the sentence posted, it's definitely talking about the amount of certain pollutants, not the number of pollutants - so "less" is correct.
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