Happy Unhappy

[goelmohit2002]

Hi All,

In the below question, the OA is [spoiler]"A"[/spoiler]. Can somebody please tell why [spoiler]"A"[/spoiler] is better than [spoiler]"B"[/spoiler] ?

Freedman's survey showed that people living in small towns and rural areas consider themselves no happier than do people living in big cities.

a) no happier than do people living
b) not any happier than do people living
c) not any happier than do people who live
d) no happier than are people who are living
e) not as happy as are people who live

Thanks
Mohit

[karmayogi]

I was also confused between A and B. Selected A just because it sounded better than B.

[goelmohit2002]

But how to eliminate without basing on "sounding right" ?

[karmayogi]

But how to eliminate without basing on "sounding right" ?

True. Sometime, it's matter of sheer luck . But, I am sure, there must be some grammatical reasoning behind this.

[Kunal_gmat]

My feeling is that one cannot have "any" follow" "not" and have a comparison follow it.

e.g. Not any greater is better said as no greater than or not greater than.

Hence (A).

[quocbao]

I am also confused between A & B. But I think A is better (shorter) so I pick A

[TedCornell]

A is better than B for concision's sake

B is also incorrect because "not any" is incorrect. This doesn't have to do with a comparison like Kunal surmised. It's in all cases

"not anyone" wrong but "no one" is right.
"not anything" wrong but "nothing" is right.
"not anywhere" wrong but "nowhere" is right.

"not any happier" wrong but "no happier" is right.

An alternative answer using "any" would put the "not" earlier:

"People living in small towns don't consider themselves any happier than do those living in big cities."

In this sentence, the not is modifying consider rather than any, so it doesn't pose a problem or sound bad.

(I study with OG, MGMAT SC and GMATFix Verbal Flashcards)

[karmayogi]

A is better than B for concision's sake

B is also incorrect because "not any" is incorrect. This doesn't have to do with a comparison like Kunal surmised. It's in all cases

"not anyone" wrong but "no one" is right.
"not anything" wrong but "nothing" is right.
"not anywhere" wrong but "nowhere" is right.

"not any happier" wrong but "no happier" is right.

An alternative answer using "any" would put the "not" earlier:

"People living in small towns don't consider themselves any happier than do those living in big cities."

In this sentence, the not is modifying consider rather than any, so it doesn't pose a problem or sound bad.

(I study with OG, MGMAT SC and GMATFix Verbal Flashcards)

This makes sense. Nice explanation Ted.

[goelmohit2002]

Thanks Kunal and Ted for nice explanation.

Please also tell based on above discussion, does that mean that both "Original A" and "Modified B" ( please see the same below) would have been fine....or we will prefer one over the another ?

Original....a) no happier than do people living
Modified.....b) not happier than do people living

Thanks
Mohit

[TedCornell]

consider themselves no happier Correct.

consider themselves not happier Incorrect

don't consider themselves any happier Correct

consider themselves not any happier Incorrect