GATE CS 2012 Q.59 (GA Q.59): Verbal Ability and Grammar

Choose the grammatically INCORRECT sentence:

They gave us the money back less the service charges of Three Hundred rupees.

This country's expenditure is not less than that of Bangladesh.

The committee initially asked for a funding of Fifty Lakh rupees, but later settled for a lesser sum.

This country's expenditure on educational reforms is very less.

Official answer and solution

Solution

Identify the sentence violating English adjective degree and modification rules.

In sentence (D), 'very less' is used. 'Less' is a comparative form of 'little'. The intensifier 'very' modifies positive degree adjectives ('very small', 'very little', 'very low'), not comparative forms.
The correct phrasing would be 'is very small', 'is very low', or 'is much less'.
Sentences (A), (B), and (C) follow standard usage:

Final answer

The answer is the one in the official GATE answer key. The solution is this site's own explanation.

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