Sentence Correction

There is a widespread belief in the United States and Western Europe that young people have a smaller commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents and that the source of the change lies in the collapse of the "work ethic."

(A) a smaller commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents
(B) less of a commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents
(C) a smaller commitment to work and a career than that of their parents and grandparents
(D) less of a commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents had
(E) a lessening of the commitment to work and a career that their parents and grandparents had

I marked C. Is 'smaller' wrong here ?
Can somebody throw some light

There is a 2 : 3 Split here between

1. Smaller
2. Less

Here we are comparing the commitment of young people VS commitment of parents and grandparents

Commitment is uncountable and as such it will take less ( Only options (B) and (D) left )


(B) less of a commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents

Compares the commitment to parents and grandparents - Hence Incorrect

(D) less of a commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents had

Correct comparison..

Hence answer will be (D)

gocoder wrote:There is a widespread belief in the United States and Western Europe that young people have a smaller commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents and that the source of the change lies in the collapse of the "work ethic."

(A) a smaller commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents
(B) less of a commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents
(C) a smaller commitment to work and a career than that of their parents and grandparents
(D) less of a commitment to work and a career than their parents and grandparents had
(E) a lessening of the commitment to work and a career that their parents and grandparents had

I marked C. Is 'smaller' wrong here ?
Can somebody throw some light

Yes, commitment is uncountable hence you need less not smaller.
Eliminate A and C
Option B incorrectly compares commitments to parents and grandparents. Eliminate

Between D and E, option E changes the meaning by using lessening.

Correct Option: D