Nobody Knows Exactly How many Languages there are in the World, Partly Because of the Difficulty of Distinguishing Between a Language and the Sub-Languages or Dialects Within It

Question: Nobody knows exactly how many languages there are in the world, partly because of the difficulty of distinguishing between a language and the sub-languages or dialects within it, but those who have tried to count typically have found about five thousand.

(A) and the sub-languages or dialects within it, but those who have tried to count typically have found
(B) and the sub-languages or dialects within them, with those who have tried counting typically finding
(C) and the sub-languages or dialects within it, but those who have tried counting it typically find
(D) or the sub-languages or dialects within them, but those who tried to count them typically found
(E) or the sub-languages or dialects within them, with those who have tried to count typically finding

“Nobody knows exactly how many languages there are in the world, partly because of the difficulty of distinguishing between a language and the sub-languages or dialects within it, but those who have tried to count typically have found about five thousand” - is a GMAT sentence correction question. These types of questions contain grammatical errors in the underlined sentence and we have to choose the correct statement from the options. GMAT sentence correction is a part of GMAT verbal.

Answer: A

Explanation:

The given sentence correction question is tested by the given-below rules:

• Parallelism
• Comparison of two elements
• Modifiers

Nobody knows exactly how many languages there are in the world, partly because of the difficulty of distinguishing between a language and the sub-languages or dialects within it, but those who have tried to count typically have found about five thousand.

(A) Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun “language” with the singular pronoun “it”. Further, Option A uses the phrase "but those who have tried to count", conveying the intended meaning - that although it's difficult to differentiate between a language and also the sub-languages or dialects within it, those who have tried to count have found about five thousand.
(B) This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun “language” with the plural pronoun “them”. Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “with those that have tried “; the development of this phrase incorrectly implies that it's difficult to differentiate between a language and also the sub-languages or dialects within it, and people who have tried to count have found about five thousand.
(C) This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb “find” to confer with an action that concluded within the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, this perfective (marked by the employment of the helping verb “has/have”) is employed to explain events that concluded within the past but still affect this, and therefore the simple present is employed to point actions happening within the current timeframe, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that's permanent in nature.
(D) This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun “language” with the plural pronoun “them”. Further, it incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb “tried” to visit an action that concluded within the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the current tense (marked by the employment of the helping verb “has/have”) is employed to explain events that concluded within the past but still affect the current, and therefore the simple past is employed to confer with events that concluded within the past.
(E) This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun “language” with the plural pronoun “them”. Further, it alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “with people who have tried “; the development of this phrase incorrectly implies that it's difficult to tell apart between a language and therefore the sub-languages or dialects within it, and people who have tried to count have found about five thousand

Suggested GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions

• But man is not destined to vanish. He can be killed, but he cannot be destroyed, because his soul is deathless and his spirit is irrepressible.
• JIT stands for Just-In-Time. More than a standardized methodology or systematic process, it is a philosophy
• Josh has twenty years of typing experience behind him
• If the books have been cataloged last week, why haven’t they been placed on the shelf?
• According to a survey of graduating medical students conducted by Association of American Medical College
• Because no employee wants to be associated with bad news in the eyes of a superior
• Until recently most astronomers believed that the space between the galaxies in our universe was a near-perfect vacuum
• Seeking a competitive advantage, some professional service firms
• A new medication for migraine seems effective, but there is concern that the medication might exacerbate heart disease.
• The pioneers of the teaching of science imagined that its introduction into education would remove the conventionality, artificiality, and backward-lookingness
• Between 1980 and 2000 the sea otter population of the Aleutian Islands declined precipitously.
• The Extremely High Cost of Running a World Class Zoo is Limiting
• Few of the corporate contributions to the earthquake relief fund, aside from Pterocom
• The Marison County Police Department recently implemented a new traffic safety program
• French cuisine is highly regarded all over the world.
• Critics have Long been Puzzled by the Inner Contradictions of Major Characters in John Webster’s Tragedies.
• A major network news organization experienced a drop in viewership in the week
• Arnold: I was recently denied a seat on an airline flight
• Whenever a major political scandal erupts before an election and voters blame the scandal on all parties
• Women who are married sleep more soundly than women who have never married or lost a partner