My GMAT book (GMAT Ultimate Grammar) says it is incorrect in an exercise where we fill in the blank of a sentence based on choices of possible determiners of quantity. It says you cannot use hardly any to complete Joan drank ____ sodas. However, at Walden University's website it says hardly any can work with plural count nouns and non-count nouns.
6
-
1Welcome to EL&U. Please provide the full context: which book? What is the topic of the lesson? Is this an exercise or an example from text? I agree that there are no obvious problems, but there may be situations where this phrasing would not be desired. I strongly encourage you to take the site tour and review the help center for further guidance.– chosterCommented Sep 14, 2017 at 20:56
-
Not all Phds who write this stuff agree. Technically, Joan probably drank hardly any soda [because with an s that would mean 2 or 3 rather than 10 or 12]. That said, she may have eaten hardly any peas. In other words, size may matter.– LambieCommented Sep 14, 2017 at 21:25
-
Hardly any sodas does sound odd to me, but I don't know what the precise grammatical rule about that would be. Maybe if the noun can be non-countable or countable, the non-countable is preferred?– KevinCommented Sep 14, 2017 at 21:25
-
1Regardless, good luck. Tests like that are more about reading the writers' minds and knowing obscure vocabulary and arcane, pedantic (and not always objectively correct) "rules" than anything useful.– KevinCommented Sep 14, 2017 at 21:30
-
@Kevin - If at a party you sent me to check on the beverage situation and I checked the cooler and reported, “There are hardly any sodas left.” How would that sound to you?– JimCommented Sep 15, 2017 at 5:28
|
Show 1 more comment