the most popular of

[faryan]

Hey everyone and dear teachers

Could you please take a look at the sentence below. Does the underlined part make sense to you? In my idea a comparative adjective fits much better ( replacing more popular than).
I would appreciate your explanation if you find the sentence below logical.

Small cars are the most popular of the large ones, which generally use more gasoline.

 

[tedmc]

Small cars are the most popular of the large ones, which generally use more gasoline.

The sentence does not make sense to me, especially the part underlined.

 

[jutfrank]

The sentence is ungrammatical. As you notice, the first clause should have a comparative form: Small cars are more popular than large ones.

Please tell us where you saw this sentence.

 

[faryan]

There are some more actually. I'm checking a book which is supposed to expose students to a range of questions in order to teach -or for a better word help- them with general English but every two or three pages I get stuck somewhere and doubt if I'm making mistakes or the questions are wrong! I would appreciate anyone reading this thread help me figuring them out.

I'd rather not open a new thread. If there is any problem or it's against the rules, please kindly let me know.

 

[faryan]

Read the sentence below please...
Initially, individuals worked for their own purposes to ensure their own survive.

The book claimed the sentence must end in "survives". Shouldn't it end in "survival"? or does the word survive function as a noun? does it need to be in plural at all?

 

[emsr2d2]

It should be "survival". "Survive" is not a noun.

 

[GoesStation]

You should discard this book. Its author has not mastered English.

 

[jutfrank]

Initially, individuals worked for their own purposes to ensure their own survive.

The book claimed the sentence must end in "survives". Shouldn't it end in "survival"? or does the word survive function as a noun? does it need to be in plural at all?

Okay. The writer is claiming that the sentence must end in a verb, not a noun, where their own functions as subject of survives. You could insert that after ensure to make the structure clearer. However, this seems like a bizarre claim to make, given the apparent meaning of the sentence.

Are you sure you've represented the writer's opinion accurately? Is there any other relevant context mentioned? I find it extremely hard to believe that a native speaker could make such a mistake. What's the title and who's the author of this book?

 

[faryan]

Okay. The writer is claiming that the sentence must end in a verb, not a noun, where their own functions as subject of survives. You could insert that after ensure to make the structure clearer. However, this seems like a bizarre claim to make, given the apparent meaning of the sentence.

Are you sure you've represented the writer's opinion accurately? Is there any other relevant context mentioned? I find it extremely hard to believe that a native speaker could make such a mistake. What's the title and who's the author of this book?

In fact the author is not a native speaker and that's why the questions are brought up here. Considering the second sentence, there is no context, no more sentences. The sentence is the stem of a multiple choice question. I was thinking to ask the forum one more question to make sure discarding the book is a much wiser choice but the feedback is nearly convincing me that it might not be a helpful book.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

[STRIKE]Hey everyone and dear teachers[/STRIKE]

Could you please take a look at the sentence below? Does the underlined part make sense to you? In my mind, a comparative adjective fits much better ([no space]replacing more popular than).

Yes, you're absolutely right.

I would appreciate your explanation if you find the sentence below logical.

Small cars are the most popular of the large ones, which generally use more gasoline.

There's no logic to it at all. Your correction solves it.

 

[Yankee]

It should be "survival". "Survive" is not a noun.

It is in your second sentence.