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GMATPREP: Help do smth VS Help do smth

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GMATPREP: Help do smth VS Help do smth

by nonameee » Sat Feb 11, 2012 1:57 am
In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

A. in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
B. in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
C. in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
D. between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
E. between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

OA: A

Can someone please explain the difference between help determine VS help to determine?

I have found this:
Help to do something would be someone giving you all the tools to complete a task but not working with you to complete it; while help doing something is a person working with you to complete a task
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by EducationAisle » Sat Feb 11, 2012 3:11 am
nonameee wrote: Can someone please explain the difference between help determine VS help to determine?
Am sorry but which option uses help to determine?
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by nonameee » Sat Feb 11, 2012 3:37 am
No option. I just wanted to clarify it. Because I thought that "help to determine" is the right way to say it.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:14 am
nonameee wrote:In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

A. in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
B. in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
C. in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
D. between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
E. between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

OA: A

Can someone please explain the difference between help determine VS help to determine?

I have found this:
Help to do something would be someone giving you all the tools to complete a task but not working with you to complete it; while help doing something is a person working with you to complete a task
In C and D, helps (singular) does not agree with differences (plural). Eliminate C and D.

In E, between must refer to two things; it cannot refer only to how a sound. Between how a sound is heard AND what? Eliminate E.

In B, differences in the TWO EARS does not convey the intended meaning. The differences here are not in the ears themselves but in how the two ears HEAR. Eliminate B.

The correct answer is A.

Certain verbs (see, hear, watch, make, help) can be combined with the bare infinitive, the infinitive form of a verb with the to omitted.
The typical construction is SPECIAL VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + BARE INFINITIVE:

John heard the dog bark. (bark = bare infinitive, to bark with the to omitted)
Susan is watching her son play baseball. (play = bare infinitive, to play with the to omitted)
You made me love you. (love = bare infinitive, to love with the to omitted)

In the OA above:

Subtle differences help the listener determine. (determine = bare infinitive, to determine with the to omitted)
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
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by nonameee » Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:19 am
Mitch, thank you for your reply. Is there a semantical difference between "help to determine" and "help determine"?
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by kevincanspain » Thu Feb 16, 2012 3:18 am
No, the former is more common in British English.
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by nonameee » Thu Feb 16, 2012 4:10 am
Kevin, thank you. Now I remember that I must have read it in some British grammar book.
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by jgmatk » Fri Feb 17, 2012 5:04 am

In B, C and D, helps (singular) does not agree with differences (plural). Eliminate B, C and D,
Hi, Mitch.
In option B, the verb is not singular as you said "helps"(singular), but "help"(plural).
Then, what is wrong with option B?
Is it "in determining"?
Thanks.
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by sam2304 » Fri Feb 17, 2012 5:59 am
difference between X and Y, differences in X - both are right idioms

C, D - SV agreement error - differences helps - wrong, should be help
B - differences in the two ears hearing - makes the meaning awkward as if pointing to the differences between two ears.

Between A/E - we can go for A as E uses passive voice and the usage of between over X (single entity) which is wrong.

Its quite difficult to eliminate without knowing the idiom. As idioms are completely phased out we don't need work more on them. Hope this helps.

IMO A.
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