Countable Vs Uncountable

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asp_2010: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 24; Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:38 am; Thanked: 1 times

by asp_2010 » Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:55 am

Hi,
someone pls explain the below one:

1) Although the government's expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than that spent by tobacco companies, many believe that the government should allocate no more funds to a battle they perceive as pointless.
a) expenditure on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than
b) expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically less than
c) expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically lower than
d) law suit expenditures regarding tobacco companies amount to a dramatically lower sum than
e) law suit expenditures against tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than

The dilemma is between B and C. I thought "sum" is uncountable just like "amount" or "money" and hence preferred "less than" rather than "lower than". Pls correct me if wrong.

Last edited by asp_2010 on Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:47 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:55 am

hk_4u: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 79; Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:16 pm

by hk_4u » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:15 am

b) expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically less than
c) expenditure on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically lower than

I feel sum is uncountable

However, the question really does not requires you to pick between less than and lower than.

B/w B & C , C is wrong as expenditure is singular , so amount - plural verb is wrong

so B should be the correct answer.

what is the OA ?

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asp_2010: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 24; Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:38 am; Thanked: 1 times

by asp_2010 » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:49 am

I am extremely sorry ..in the question it is expenditures instead of expenditure...I will edit the post.

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loveusonu: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 278; Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:17 pm; Location: Bangalore,India; Thanked: 17 times

by loveusonu » Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:59 am

I agree with you, answer should be B. SUM should be uncountable.

Another HINT:
A&C are on same lines.A has singular sub with singular verb, while C has plural subject with plural verb.
So if wouldn't be possible to narrow down between A&C if lower were correct.

whats the OA for this?

Sonu
--------
When you want something desperately, the whole Universe conspires in helping to give it to you - The Alchemist

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asp_2010: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 24; Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:38 am; Thanked: 1 times

by asp_2010 » Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:12 pm

The OA is C. Can u pls explain

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hk_4u: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 79; Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:16 pm

by hk_4u » Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:48 pm

I think there must be some rule for this - picking one between lower/less

Instructors - Stuart/Ron/Stacey - Can you please help

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:21 am

Could someone explain difference between less than/lower than ?

Less (adjective, adverb , noun) : comparative of little
lower (verb (transitive and intransitive, noun), adjective)

Does manhattan SC guide has any rule for this ? i could not figure out.

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scorpionz: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 98; Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:00 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 7 times; GMAT Score:760

by scorpionz » Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:39 am

asp_2010 wrote:Hi,
someone pls explain the below one:

1) Although the government's expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than that spent by tobacco companies, many believe that the government should allocate no more funds to a battle they perceive as pointless.
a) expenditure on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than
b) expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically less than
c) expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically lower than
d) law suit expenditures regarding tobacco companies amount to a dramatically lower sum than
e) law suit expenditures against tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than

The dilemma is between B and C. I thought "sum" is uncountable just like "amount" or "money" and hence preferred "less than" rather than "lower than". Pls correct me if wrong.

The below link helps in resolving the confusion between greater than and more than.. The same principle can be applied to lower than & less than cases..

https://www.beatthegmat.com/og-10-qs-251-t10581.html

Based on Ron's explanation in the above link, I correctly chose C.

The gist of his explanation is that when referring to a single statistic (in this case "the sum of expenditures"), one must choose "greater than" (or "lower than" if applied to this case)...when dealing with statistics regarding countable objects, but where the count is unknown, one must choose "more than" (or "less than" as in this case)...

Hopes this helps!!

Cheers!!

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reply2spg: Legendary Member; Posts: 1261; Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:46 am; Thanked: 27 times; GMAT Score:570

by reply2spg » Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:53 am

What is wrong with E?

Where did you get this question from?

Sudhanshu
(have lot of things to learn from all of you)

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scorpionz: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 98; Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:00 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 7 times; GMAT Score:760

by scorpionz » Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:56 am

reply2spg wrote:What is wrong with E?

Where did you get this question from?

...law suit expenditures against tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than...

expenditures...amount would be the correct agreement..

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Thu Aug 26, 2010 10:24 am

Source I would guess 1000 SC.

Explanation from Ron helps to get the answer.

But does anyone of you has more of this sort of questions to apply what we have learnt just now ?

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:04 am

asp_2010 wrote:Hi,
someone pls explain the below one:

1) Although the government's expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than that spent by tobacco companies, many believe that the government should allocate no more funds to a battle they perceive as pointless.
a) expenditure on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than
b) expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically less than
c) expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum dramatically lower than
d) law suit expenditures regarding tobacco companies amount to a dramatically lower sum than
e) law suit expenditures against tobacco companies amounts to a sum dramatically lower than

The dilemma is between B and C. I thought "sum" is uncountable just like "amount" or "money" and hence preferred "less than" rather than "lower than". Pls correct me if wrong.

Quickest approach:

In A, expenditure should be plural in order to match the plural law suits. Eliminate A.

The correct idiom is expenditure on. Eliminate D and E.

In B, less is incorrect. We can't have a less sum; we can have only a lower sum. Eliminate B.

The correct answer is C.

Here's the take-away:

Less is used to refer to something that is not countable:

John has less ice cream than Mary has.

But we can't say John has a less amount of ice cream. Words such as amount, sum, and total require an -er word. We need to say:

John has a smaller amount of ice cream than Mary has.

Hope this helps!

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ansh.kumar: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 108; Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:20 am; Thanked: 2 times

by ansh.kumar » Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:16 am

hi mitch,
but here in this question=
Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts to a sum lower than one percent of the $541 billion the nation spent on health care last year, doctors say fear of lawsuits plays a major role in health-care inflation.
(A) amounts to a sum lower
(B) amounts to less
(C) amounted to less
(D) amounted to lower
(E) amounted to a lower sum
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C"
AMOUNTED TO LESS
PLZ EXPLAIN

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Sep 12, 2010 5:40 am

ansh.kumar wrote:hi mitch,
but here in this question=
Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts to a sum lower than one percent of the $541 billion the nation spent on health care last year, doctors say fear of lawsuits plays a major role in health-care inflation.
(A) amounts to a sum lower
(B) amounts to less
(C) amounted to less
(D) amounted to lower
(E) amounted to a lower sum
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C"
AMOUNTED TO LESS
PLZ EXPLAIN

In the SC above, less refers to one percent, which in turn refers to $541 billion. The whole construction (less than one percent of the $541 billion) is describing the sum. Also, using lower in the SC above creates an incorrect comparison: a sum cannot be compared to one percent.

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ansh.kumar: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 108; Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:20 am; Thanked: 2 times

by ansh.kumar » Sun Sep 12, 2010 8:49 am

THANKS FOR THE EXPLANATION,
ONE MORE QUERY
"DO WE ALWAYS USE LESS WITH PERCENTS AND FRACTIONS ?

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