idiom "agree that" is correct ??

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idiom "agree that" is correct ??

by lav » Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:17 pm
Got this ques from pdf that claims to be for OG10ed , but all choices seems wrong to me ... please correct me if i am wrong..
However much United States voters may agree that there is waste in government and that the government as a whole spends beyond its means, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.
(A) However much United States voters may agree that
(B) Despite the agreement among United States voters to the fact
(C) Although United States voters agree
(D) Even though United States voters may agree
(E) There is agreement among United States voters that

My ans
A) use of much is incorrect, many should be used
B) is incorrect not parallel... despite the agreement ... and that the government .. spends
C) is incorrect not parallel .. Although US voters agree ... and that the government .. spends
D) is incorrect not parallel .. Even though US voters may agree ... and that the government .. spends
E) 1st half is correct "There is agreement among United States voters that ... and that the government .. spends" because of 2nd half its better if the statement starts with Although

agree that is not an idiom ... but that is used in non-underlined part "agree that there is waste . . . and that the government... spends"
it should be "agree to the fact that..."
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/agree

Pls correct me if i am wrong
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

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Re: idiom "agree that" is correct ??

by Vemuri » Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:39 pm
Hi Lav, 'that' is very much underlined as per your post. Please re-check if your post is correct.

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by lav » Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:56 pm
yes that is underlined in post
but just because its underlined and not underlined in 2nd part i dont think we must use the wrong idiom ??

here is the explanation in book

[spoiler]Answer to Question 10
A is the best choice. Choices B, C, and D incorrectly omit that after agree; that is needed to create the parallel
construction agree that there is waste . . . and that the government... spends. Choice E, though it retains
that, is grammatically incorrect: because E starts with an independent rather than a subordinate clause and
separates its two independent clauses with a comma, it creates a run-on sentence with no logical connection
established between the halves. In B, the agreement ... to the fact is unidiomatic, and B, C, and E alter the
sense of the original sentence by saying that voters agree rather than that they may agree.[/spoiler]

A is clearly incorrect right ?
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by mittalashwani13 » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:06 am
Look for the best answer in the given 5 options... one HAS to be right (grammatically among all)

that is required because US voters agree to 2 things ...
A) that there is waste in government
B and that the government as a whole spends beyond its means

Try removing the above two things which voters agree...the sentence will be something like this

However much United States voters may agree, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.

is there anything wrong? ... Can you count agreement? So we can use Much ...and I don't see any error ...

Try to tear apart the sentence and then try...

Hope this helps...

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by lav » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:17 am
correct me if i am wrong ...
much is used with uncountable nouns
many with countable
https://www.learn-english-online.org/Les ... sson36.htm
US voters are countable hence many must be used.
However much United States voters may agree, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.
should be
However many United States voters may agree, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.
right ?
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much can be used

by raghavsarathy » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:23 am
Hi. "much" can be used in this case because it is used to refer to the "agreement" among the voters. It does not refer to the number of voters. So Ans should be A. What is the OA ?

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by hk » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:13 pm
lav wrote:correct me if i am wrong ...
much is used with uncountable nouns
many with countable
https://www.learn-english-online.org/Les ... sson36.htm
US voters are countable hence many must be used.
However much United States voters may agree, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.
should be
However many United States voters may agree, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.
right ?
You are absolutely right Many for countable and Much for non-countable. In the given sentence the MUch is used for a Non-countable quantity - Agreement. Its not used to refer to the number of voters. Its used to refer to the amount/portion of their action.

Eg: The children were so much at peace. Here much refers to their action. they were not at "little" peace but at "much" peace :D
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