dipaksingh Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 Cleveland is one of a/the large number of communities that are/is looking to its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. what would be the correct usage ? please explain as i am highly confused with this type of format? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashokkk Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Cleveland is one of a/the large number of communities that are/is looking to its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. what would be the correct usage ? please explain as i am highly confused with this type of format? Cleveland is one of the large number of communities that is looking to its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. This sounds better to me...what is the OA? will explain if correct...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmat168 Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 use of "a/is" is correct, I think. You use "a" because the number is large. I think you usually use "the" when it's "special" or few: "one of THE few," "one of the first..." "is" should be used because the associated subject "number" is singular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashokkk Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 gmat168, Isn't 'Cleveland' the subject? So, Isn't this singular? Pls explain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmat168 Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Hmmm...nope, I think "number" is the subject of the clause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuZZ Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 various communities are looking to their water fronts; Cleveland is just one of them. I would use : .........communities that are looking to their water fronts......(THAT refers to COMMUNITIES, not NUMBER) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebullfighter Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 i also picked 'the-is' pair. but then the discussion got me thinkin..... well, not changed my answer, im still thinkin... "You use "a" because the number is large. I think you usually use "the" when it's "special" or few: "one of THE few," "one of the first..."" thinkin on gmat168's contribution---- is it wrong to say: "All the people who believe in Jesus go to church once in a week." i mean, here also "People" is a large number.... but we use (if the sentence is correct) 'the' instead of 'a', so...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmat168 Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 My thoughts ONLY apply to the "of the" or "of a" construction. It doesn't apply in the case you presented because you always use "the" after "all." Buzz, the subject is NOT communities -- be very careful. The subject is "number of communities..." -- NUMBER is singular, and is what the subject verb agreement is based on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaus Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Guys, the answer lies in its "looking to its water " so the sentence says Cleveland as a group or single entity and it's singular. "one of a large no of communities" -> plural "one of the large no of communities" -> singular so it's "the" and "is". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebullfighter Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 My thoughts ONLY apply to the "of the" or "of a" construction. It doesn't apply in the case you presented because you always use "the" after "all." Buzz, the subject is NOT communities -- be very careful. The subject is "number of communities..." -- NUMBER is singular, and is what the subject verb agreement is based on. hmm...:hmm: Very true. but my answer still holds to 'the-is' pair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaus Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 hmm...:hmm: Very true. but my answer still holds to 'the-is' pair. Not necessarily... The committee are in different views when the issue of national security is debated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmatguy Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 hmm...:hmm: Very true. but my answer still holds to 'the-is' pair. would agree with bull 'the-is' pair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanjeev Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 'The number' is singular and 'A number' is plural. so with the number we have to use IS and for A number we use 'ARE' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmat168 Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 sanjeev, you are correct. weird coincedence, I was just working on this tonight in the Manhattan GMAT SC guide and ran across this. I still stick to my choice of "a" and not "the" however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
800Bob Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 This sentence is hopeless. "A large number of" is just another way of saying "many." "Cleveland is one of many communities that..." The subject of the second verb is "that," which here refers to communities and is therefore plural. So "are" is correct. Cleveland is not the only city looking to its waterfront (one word). It is one of many that are doing so. The problem is "its," which should be "their": "Cleveland is one of a large number of communities that are looking to their waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Couple of pretty common GMAT tips: a number = some, many. Should be plural. E.g., A number of people are waiting for you. the number = the number. Should be singular. E.g., The number of people who are waiting for you is growing. And this perpetual stumper: one of + PLURAL NOUN + that/who + PLURAL VERB I discussed this a couple years back. Check out the one of post in the GMAT FAQ forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaq Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 The question should have been Cleveland is one of a/the large number of communities that are/is looking to their/its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. And the answer is Cleveland is one of a large number of communities that are looking to their water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipaksingh Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 The question should have been Cleveland is one of a/the large number of communities that are/is looking to their/its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. And the answer is Cleveland is one of a large number of communities that are looking to their water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. yes the OA is a & are but not their the book from where i took it used its IMO use of its is not wrong here since a large no of communities = many states are non living things and thus we cannot use their (personify) in this case, though i have seen their being used for states but the grammer rule says otherwise. for example we dont use chairs with their one leg broken. ofcourse, grammar rule mentions exceptional cases where non living things can be personified but i dont have any idea on what basis personification of non living things can be done. can any one help me on the personification issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlethisgmat Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Chosing 'a' and 'are' we get: Cleveland is one of a large number of communities that are looking to its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. This implies that Cleveland along with a larger number of other communities are looking at the development of Clevelands water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. According to the original question we did not have a choice to change 'its' to 'theirs' so the above sentence would result if we were to chose 'a' and 'are'. I think this sentence is technically correct. Perhaps the other communities are would benefit from development of Clevelands watefront. Maybe not directly but indirectly as a case study or an example that they can use to improve their own waterfront. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjohn Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Cleveland is one of a/the large number of communities that are/is looking to its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. what would be the correct usage ? please explain as i am highly confused with this type of format?Cleveland is one of the large number of communities that is looking to its water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. Cleveland is one of a large number of communities that are looking to their water front as a way to improve the quality of urban life. The 2nd better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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