Off topic: I need help for my cousin's homework! Thread poster: Egmont Schröder
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Egmont Schröder 
Germany
Local time: 14:49
Member (2013)
Chinese to German
+ ...
Dear linguists,
My cousin showed me her English homework and asked me about my professional opinion. Unfortunately, I didn't have any clue how to solve the question.
You should chose the right answer A, B, C and D for this question:
This CD player is more expensive than ___ in the shop.
A: all together B: any other C: others D: all
Could you tell me which one is right and why?
Thank you!
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"Any other" is definitely the correct answer here. Unfortunately, I cannot provide a rationale.
P. S. I don't know why I wrote "C" in the title of my post. "Any other" corresponds to B, of course.
[Edited at 2014-12-01 07:37 GMT]
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 20:49
Chinese to English
A and D are quite easy to discount: A doesn't make any sense, and D would need something added to make it work
*This CD player is more expensive than all in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than all the CD players in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than all the ones in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than all of them in the shop.
C is a bit harder. For me, C would be borderline acceptab... See more A and D are quite easy to discount: A doesn't make any sense, and D would need something added to make it work
*This CD player is more expensive than all in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than all the CD players in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than all the ones in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than all of them in the shop.
C is a bit harder. For me, C would be borderline acceptable:
?This CD player is more expensive than others in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than the others in the shop. (With "the" it's definitely OK)
This CD player is more expensive than some others in the shop.
This CD player is more expensive than others I saw in the shop.
But B is definitely acceptable:
This CD player is more expensive than any other in the shop.
Though, to be honest, this sentence seems rather stiff and formal to me. If I were editing I would pause over this sentence and think about whether I could make it clearer:
This CD player is more expensive than any other player in the shop. - that's better, I think. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ian Mansbridge
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:49
Member (2012)
Italian to English
+ ...
Or simply "this is the most expensive CD player in the shop"...
C is fine too, in my opinion, but has a different meaning - it means the CD player is not the cheapest in the shop, nor necessarily the most expensive.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 14:49
Spanish to English
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| Two possible solutions | Dec 1, 2014 |
Both B and C are correct and "I'll punch the man who says I'm not" (Ivor Cutler dixit).
| | | | | Yes, I agree. | Dec 1, 2014 |
B and c are correct. B has an implied noun (after "any other") which is not spelled out, so it is correct as well, and in my opinion it sounds better than others in this sentence. "Others" is grammatically correct, but unfortunately I think there will be just one correct answer according to he test rules(not necessarily true in real life), if it was not indicted that you can choose more than one option. B sounds more natural to me.
When other is not followed by a plural noun it s... See more B and c are correct. B has an implied noun (after "any other") which is not spelled out, so it is correct as well, and in my opinion it sounds better than others in this sentence. "Others" is grammatically correct, but unfortunately I think there will be just one correct answer according to he test rules(not necessarily true in real life), if it was not indicted that you can choose more than one option. B sounds more natural to me.
When other is not followed by a plural noun it should usually be changed into others, but sometimes there is an implied noun.
[Edited at 2014-12-01 09:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | All of them are right? | Dec 1, 2014 |
Hello, English is not my native language, but A, B and C sound pretty correct to me O_O. Besides, Egmont says:
"You should chose the right answer A, B, C [b]and[b/] D for this question."
Not to mention that we are in "Lighter side of trans"!
So I choose A, B, C and D
| | | | Kirsten Bodart
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:49
Dutch to English
+ ...
| Agree, B and C | Dec 1, 2014 |
are correct, although C sounds a bit awkward.
B basically means that the one who makes the statement has looked at all the available players and knows for sure the player he's got in his hands is definitely the most expensive of the lot. It would probably sound better if you added an s to 'other'.
C means the one making the statement has looked at other layers too and knows the player he's got in his hands is more expensive than those, but he's not sure he's looked at ... See more are correct, although C sounds a bit awkward.
B basically means that the one who makes the statement has looked at all the available players and knows for sure the player he's got in his hands is definitely the most expensive of the lot. It would probably sound better if you added an s to 'other'.
C means the one making the statement has looked at other layers too and knows the player he's got in his hands is more expensive than those, but he's not sure he's looked at absolutely all of them. Adding 'the' would be better, but it would change the meaning to B.
A is wrong. That should be 'altogether' and be put in a different place. But that would sound a little bit Victorian, IMO. Or it could be 'all of them together' as in all of them put together, but 'in the shop' would then have to go.
Probably D would be 'all of them/all those'. ▲ Collapse
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Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:49
Portuguese to English
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neilmac wrote:
Both B and C are correct and "I'll punch the man who says I'm not" (Ivor Cutler dixit).
| | | | Egmont Schröder
Germany
Local time: 14:49
Member (2013)
Chinese to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks a lot! | Dec 2, 2014 |
My cousin will be very happy.
I wasn't very clear with this assignment: It should really be the right answer A, B, C OR D.
The test answer also says that it is B, but why? Does anybody have a grammatical explanation (and not C)?
| | | | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 07:49
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
Egmont Schröder wrote:
My cousin will be very happy.
I wasn't very clear with this assignment: It should really be the right answer A, B, C OR D.
The test answer also says that it is B, but why? Does anybody have a grammatical explanation (and not C)?
The problem with C isn't grammatical, it's contextual - the statement simply doesn't provide any useful information on its own. After all, had you picked any random CD player in the shop, the statement would likely be true about that CD player. Now if you followed up the statement with "[others], but has more features and a better warranty", C would be a fine choice. But B is the better answer as it stands.
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