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MGMAT SC Guide error ????

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by voodoo_child » Sun May 29, 2011 12:17 pm
Guide -MGMAT Sentence completion
Page - 115/ Chapter 7
Text : I like ice cream, WHETHER it is chocolate, vanilla or any other flavor.

I think the rule is that we use "if" for more than two options.
In my opinion, the correct sentence should be:
"I like ice cream, if it is chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor"

PLease correct me if i am wrong.

Thanks
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by sameerballani » Sun May 29, 2011 12:32 pm
voodoo_child wrote:Guide -MGMAT Sentence completion
Page - 115/ Chapter 7
Text : I like ice cream, WHETHER it is chocolate, vanilla or any other flavor.

I think the rule is that we use "if" for more than two options.
In my opinion, the correct sentence should be:
"I like ice cream, if it is chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor"

PLease correct me if i am wrong.

Thanks
On GMAT, when we use IF we mean IF..THEN... implied. Then may or may not be explicitly mentioned.
And when we use Whether we mean WHETHER OR NOT... OR NOT may or may not be explicitly mentioned.

I like ice cream, WHETHER it is chocolate, vanilla or any other flavor.
This means I LIKE ice creams whether ITS FLAVOUR is chocolate, vanilla or any other flavor OR NOT.
In nutshell, it says I like ice cream irrespective of the flavour.

"I like ice cream, if it is chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor"
This means IF it(Flavour/ice-cream) is chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor, THEN i like cream.
This is conditional. IF X,THEN Y...

A is more appropriate meaning !!

I hope this helps !!

Thanks
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by Ashley@VeritasPrep » Mon May 30, 2011 9:44 pm
Just tacking on here...

In *this* particular sentence, we really could get away with EITHER "if" or "whether," without changing the meaning, because that condition "or any other flavor" is your catch-all that covers the entire universe of remaining ice cream flavors.

So if I say "I like ice cream, whether it is chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor," I'm saying I like ice cream no matter the flavor.

If I say "I like ice cream if it is chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor," I'm setting the sentence up as though I'm going to provide some limited conditions under which I like ice cream (as sameerballani says), but that's really a fake-out because the conditions I specify (chocolate OR vanilla OR any other flavor) leave no possible condition under which I do *not* like ice cream.

So in both sentences, I like ice cream no matter what. The second sentence is a bit more *fun*/comical -- because you pretend you're going to be picky and then you aren't -- whereas the first sentence lacks that humor component. But both are fine grammatically, and both lead to the same meaning. :)
Ashley Newman-Owens
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep

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by sameerballani » Mon May 30, 2011 11:32 pm
Good Point Ashley !!

I will repeat what Ron told me: Always try and see the meaning component of the sentence and then proceed with grammatical rules.
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