Difference between usage"Identical to" & "

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Sagar Joshi: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 7; Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 11:27 pm

by Sagar Joshi » Wed Dec 31, 2014 6:18 am

Whether the idiom "identical to" or "identical with" is correct ?

Or it has to be used depending upon the correct meaning of the sentence.

For eg - 1) The new machine is identical to the one we sold yesterday.

2) His DNA is identical with his twin's.

Both seem to be correct ..

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Dec 31, 2014 6:18 am

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ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:39 am

According to several grammatical sources (including previous editions of the MGMAT SC guide), both usages are considered correct. However, In my personal experience as a native speaker of American English (from which the GMAT derives its idioms), I can tell you that "identical to" is much more common, and "identical with" sounds strange to my ears.

There is no instance that I can find of this idiom being tested on the GMAT, however. Please let me know if you come across an example from an official source. Thus, it's probably unlikely that you would encounter this issue on the GMAT. If you did, it's likely that either one would be considered correct.

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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