<p>Both A and B have become extremely popular singers, but C has the largest number of fans. No Error.</p>
<p>The answer sheet says it is "largest" has to be changed to "larger" I'm not sure why. Should it not be "No error" because among A, B, and C. C has the largest?
Please explain in detail!</p>
<p>C has a larger number of fans than both A and B. But does C have the largest number of fans - vs anybody else? A B and C are not an exclusive group - there are other popular singers to whom C could be compared. </p>
<p>If this sentence is part of a whole paragraph where A B and C were already introduced, you could use “largest among this group,” in which case “largest” by itself still isn’t correct.</p>
<p>I’ve checked a couple of grammar guides and haven’t found anything that bears on this issue. My feeling is that the word ‘both’ in the phrase “Both A and B” suggests that A and B are to be thought of as a combined group in comparison to C. In other words, A and B are both popular and together they have a large number of fans, but C has a larger number of fans. On the other hand, if one considered each singer individually, the proper choice would be ‘largest’. A has a large number of fans, and B has a large number of fans, but C has the largest number of fans.</p>
<p>Absent a specific rule (which may exist somewhere), that is the best explanation I can come up with. If my guess is right, I think it is a bad question because it requires the reader to know the intent of the speaker in order to choose between two grammatical forms that indicate the different possible intents of the speaker. Only the word ‘both’ suggests which interpretation the reader should choose, and I don’t think it’s really adequate to serve that purpose.</p>
<p>Very tricky question! Is it from a CB SAT?</p>
<p>The comparative is used when one of the items is a group and the other not.</p>
<p>So we would say:</p>
<p>(1) Mt Whitney is higher than all other mountains in the continental United States.</p>
<p>Here “all other mountains” is a group.</p>
<p>(2) Jane is taller than either Betty or Elise.</p>
<p>Here “either” is a group.</p>
<p>(3) Both Joe and Bill claim that they have many books, but Steve has more books than either of them.</p>
<p>Here “both” is a group.</p>
<p>The answer to the posted question would be more clear is the phrasing were:</p>
<p>(4) Both The Cool Blues and The Sad Owls have many fans, but The Hoppers have a larger number of fans than either of them.</p>
<p>As written I would guess that even grammar savvy readers would have a difference of opinion.</p>
<p>The question was from Barron’s WB. My guess was that because of the word “Both”, it could be a compound noun. Thanks for all of your replies!</p>