Majority

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tony4mba: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 19; Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:13 am

by tony4mba » Sun Jul 18, 2010 6:13 am

The 3 sentences given below are taken from Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide. Though they have given explanation for the first two I could not understand its usage clearly. The 3 sentences given are CORRECT according to the guide.
Can someone help?

The guide tells;
Numerical words-majority,minority,plurality-can be either singular or plural depending on their context.

If one means the many individual parts of the totality, then use a plural verb form:
1. The majority of the students in this class ARE hard workers.

If one means the totality itself, then use a singular verb form:
2. The student majority IS opposed to the death penalty.

3. A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Jul 18, 2010 6:13 am

aloneontheedge: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 97; Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 2:07 am; Thanked: 9 times

by aloneontheedge » Sun Jul 18, 2010 6:34 am

tony4mba wrote:The 3 sentences given below are taken from Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide. Though they have given explanation for the first two I could not understand its usage clearly. The 3 sentences given are CORRECT according to the guide.
Can someone help?

The guide tells;
Numerical words-majority,minority,plurality-can be either singular or plural depending on their context.

If one means the many individual parts of the totality, then use a plural verb form:
1. The majority of the students in this class ARE hard workers.

If one means the totality itself, then use a singular verb form:
2. The student majority ISopposed to the death penalty.

3. A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling.

Tony,
lemme try to explain
1. The majority of the students in this class ARE hard workers.
According to the context, Lets say there are 100 students,out of which majority will be >=51 now if u want to say abt these students you will not say 51 students(not student) in this class is hard workers

If one means the totality itself, then use a singular verb form:
2. The student majority IS opposed to the death penalty.
What we are talking abt? the student or The student majority?
since the the student majority is a phrase and is considered singular "is" is appropriate

3. A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling.
Same applies for the above.
Hope this is of some help.

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tony4mba: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 19; Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:13 am

by tony4mba » Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:23 am

@aloneontheedge
I can understand the first 2 sentences in that way; but when I related the last sentence with the example that you have given for the 1st sentence, it still confuses me.
Relating your example with the 3rd sentence, Can't we say;
51 railway commuters read or listen to music while traveling!

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:58 am

tony4mba wrote:@aloneontheedge
I can understand the first 2 sentences in that way; but when I related the last sentence with the example that you have given for the 1st sentence, it still confuses me.
Relating your example with the 3rd sentence, Can't we say;
51 railway commuters read or listen to music while traveling!

YES, you are right.

The Manhattan SC guide has this error.

General rule:

Majority of + Plural NOUN===> PLURAL though there may have some exceptions.

Individualism Vs Unity:

If the group works as a unit, the use SINGULAR.

The jury has given opinion to sentence the criminal.
=> Here, the jury has become united in that opinion.

The jury were divided in their opinions.
=> The jury have given individual opinions.

Try to understand the concept; then, use the verb.

Another thing about Majority:

Students majority is a single unit. It can be treated as an abstract noun. Abstract noun are always singular.

So, it can be inferred that "SOMETHING + MAJORITY" is singular.

Hope, it helps.

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tony4mba: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 19; Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:13 am

by tony4mba » Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:53 pm

@gmat_perfect

The Manhattan SC guide has this error.

Are you trying to say that the 3rd sentence given here is incorrect?

3. A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling.

Will there be any dependence on the articles used in these sentences ( A & The )
"A majority of ..... " and "The majority of .... "

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Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:26 pm

No, there is not an error in the guide (at least, not on this issue!).

The English language is fuzzy on this point: some words can be either singular or plural depending upon the context of the sentence.

The sentence "The majority of the students in this class ARE hard workers" is in our book.

The sentence "The student majority IS opposed to the death penalty" is NOT in our book - it is not in either the 3rd or 4th editions. I checked both.

The sentence "A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling" is also NOT in our book - neither the 3rd or 4th editions.

Are you possible studying from a Manhattan Review book, not a ManhattanGMAT book? Or are you possibly using a very old version of our books? (The 1st and 2nd editions are from many years ago; I don't even have copies anymore.)

In our book, the example given for the totality itself is:
In the Senate, the majority HAS coalesced into a unified voting block.

Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me

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tony4mba: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 19; Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:13 am

by tony4mba » Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:04 pm

Yeah.. May be I am using an old version (Manhattan_SC_2003ed.pdf) of your book. I got a pdf file from one of my friends.
Hope there are only few mistakes like this in that version! I completed the same.

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GMAT/MBA Expert

Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:07 pm

Yeah - that's edition 2. We're on edition 4 now.

It isn't that the sentences listed in edition 2 are incorrect - they're all correct. It's that the third one is used in a way that you wouldn't see on the exam. There is some ambiguity here in terms of the actual language - there are times when the same sentence actually can go both ways. And that, of course, doesn't get tested on the exam because there isn't just one right way.

That kind of thing is explained more clearly in the 4th edition.

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