Below each of the following sentences, three possible substitutes are given for the underlined part. If one of them is better than the underlined part, indicate your response on the Answer-Sheet against the corresponding letter (A), (B) or (C). If none of the substitutes improves the sentence, indicate (D) as your response on the Answer-sheet. How many from you are attending the function tomorrow?
How many of you
Understanding the Sentence and the Task
The task is to identify the best substitute for the underlined part "from you" in the sentence: "How many from you are attending the function tomorrow?" We need to choose the option that makes the sentence grammatically correct and natural, or indicate if no improvement is needed.
Analyzing the Original Sentence: "How many from you"
The phrase "from you" is generally used to indicate origin or source, like "I received a letter from you". However, when referring to a quantity or number out of a group, the preposition "of" or sometimes "among" is used, not "from". Asking "How many from you" is not standard or correct English grammar in this context.
Evaluating the Substitute Options
Option A: "What many from you"
This option replaces "How many" with "What many". "What many" is not a standard phrase for asking about quantity. Additionally, it retains the incorrect preposition "from you". Therefore, this option does not improve the sentence and is grammatically incorrect.
Option B: "Who among you all"
This option changes the structure significantly, replacing "How many from you" with "Who among you all". While "among you all" is a correct way to refer to a group, the word "Who" asks for identification of individuals, not the count or number. The original sentence asks for a quantity ("How many"), so this option changes the intended meaning of the question. It's grammatically sound on its own but not a direct improvement of the original question's intent.
Option C: "How many of you"
This option replaces the incorrect "from you" with the correct prepositional phrase "of you". The structure "How many of you" is the standard and grammatically correct way to ask about the number of people from a group who are doing something. It maintains the original intent of the question (asking for a quantity) while using correct English usage.
Option D: "No improvement"
As analyzed earlier, the original phrase "from you" is grammatically incorrect when asking about a quantity from a group. Therefore, an improvement is needed, and this option is incorrect.
Conclusion
Comparing the options, "How many of you" is the only substitute that correctly replaces the grammatically incorrect phrase "from you" while keeping the original meaning of the question (asking for a quantity from a group). This makes the sentence grammatically sound and natural.
The corrected sentence becomes: "How many of you are attending the function tomorrow?"
Important Questions from Phrase Replacement
In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the underlined part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “No improvement”
My old teacher gave many poor students money in spite of he was poor.
In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the underlined part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “No improvement”.
You should to read the newspaper regularly if you want to be well-informed.
In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the underlined part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “No improvement”.
If he had listening to me he would not have got lost.
In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the underlined part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “No improvement”
He asked for a bank loan also he didn't have sufficient resources.
In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the underlined part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “No improvement”.
I went to the shop to buy some stationeries .
