Distinguish A FROM B vs. Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B

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VodkaBoy: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:35 am

by VodkaBoy » Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:43 am

Distinguish A FROM B vs. Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B

Hi, folks!
Does anybody know, is there significant difference between these idioms?
Does GMAT test this difference?

There is an opinion that
Distinguish A FROM B is used for different things, e.g. "I can distinguish apples from oranges" or "I can distinguish painting from photograph",
whereas Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B is used for alike things, e.g. "I can distinguish between green apples and red apples" or "I can distinguish between early paintings of DaVinci and his latest pictures"

Any thoughts?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:43 am

iamcste: Legendary Member; Posts: 940; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 55 times

Re: Distinguish A FROM B vs. Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B

by iamcste » Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:09 am

VodkaBoy wrote:Distinguish A FROM B vs. Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B

Hi, folks!
Does anybody know, is there significant difference between these idioms?
Does GMAT test this difference?

There is an opinion that
Distinguish A FROM B is used for different things, e.g. "I can distinguish apples from oranges" or "I can distinguish painting from photograph",
whereas Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B is used for alike things, e.g. "I can distinguish between green apples and red apples" or "I can distinguish between early paintings of DaVinci and his latest pictures"

Any thoughts?

There is one qtn in OG based on this

OG 11 edition qtn 107

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VodkaBoy: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:35 am

Re: Distinguish A FROM B vs. Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B

by VodkaBoy » Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:44 pm

iamcste wrote: There is one qtn in OG based on this

OG 11 edition qtn 107

Yes, since I encountered this question, I've decided to start this topic.
In q.107, all options with "distinguish from" have another serious flaw. Also in the answer explanation OG says that when we are contrasting two problems we use "distinguish between A and B", but it doesn't explain when we need to use "distinguish A from B" - everybody knows that this idiom also exists (so we can't say that this is wrong idiomatic expression in general - it is only wrong for this particular case).
The only thing that OG says is that "distinguish between X from Y" - is wrong idiom (but it is obvious).
The thing I want to know - if options with "distinguish from" aren't flawed by another mistakes - will the GMAT ask us to choose one idiom over the other?

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iamcste: Legendary Member; Posts: 940; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 55 times

Re: Distinguish A FROM B vs. Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B

by iamcste » Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:04 pm

VodkaBoy wrote:
iamcste wrote: There is one qtn in OG based on this

OG 11 edition qtn 107
Yes, since I encountered this question, I've decided to start this topic.
In q.107, all options with "distinguish from" have another serious flaw. Also in the answer explanation OG says that when we are contrasting two problems we use "distinguish between A and B", but it doesn't explain when we need to use "distinguish A from B" - everybody knows that this idiom also exists (so we can't say that this is wrong idiomatic expression in general - it is only wrong for this particular case).
The only thing that OG says is that "distinguish between X from Y" - is wrong idiom (but it is obvious).
The thing I want to know - if options with "distinguish from" aren't flawed by another mistakes - will the GMAT ask us to choose one idiom over the other?

I had read somewhere that you may not encounter a situation wherin you have to select one of two correct idioms, given that there are no other errors

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VodkaBoy: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:35 am

Re: Distinguish A FROM B vs. Distinguish BETWEEN A AND B

by VodkaBoy » Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:02 pm

iamcste wrote: I had read somewhere that you may not encounter a situation wherin you have to select one of two correct idioms, given that there are no other errors

Lets hope so!

Thanks!

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tnaim: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 67; Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:06 pm; Thanked: 3 times

by tnaim » Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:05 am

VodkaBoy wrote:
iamcste wrote: There is one qtn in OG based on this

OG 11 edition qtn 107
Yes, since I encountered this question, I've decided to start this topic.
In q.107, all options with "distinguish from" have another serious flaw. Also in the answer explanation OG says that when we are contrasting two problems we use "distinguish between A and B", but it doesn't explain when we need to use "distinguish A from B" - everybody knows that this idiom also exists (so we can't say that this is wrong idiomatic expression in general - it is only wrong for this particular case).
The only thing that OG says is that "distinguish between X from Y" - is wrong idiom (but it is obvious).
The thing I want to know - if options with "distinguish from" aren't flawed by another mistakes - will the GMAT ask us to choose one idiom over the other?

Hi,
Yes I think you're right. Below is a copied definition of distinguish from Cambridge dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/diction ... istinguish):
Distinguish: to notice or understand the difference between two things, or to make one person or thing seem different from another
He's colour-blind and can't distinguish (the difference) between red and green easily.
I sometimes have difficulty distinguishing Spanish from Portuguese.
It's important to distinguish between business and pleasure.
It's not the beauty so much as the range of his voice that distinguishes him from other tenors.

Notice the absence of Between when from is used. I think that's the key.

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frank1: Legendary Member; Posts: 537; Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:06 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 14 times

by frank1 » Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:47 pm

tnaim wrote:
VodkaBoy wrote:
I sometimes have difficulty distinguishing Spanish from Portuguese.
.
well if it the case then is notion that
Distinguish A FROM B is used for different things,
both are languages here as explained in another one, red apples and green apples

bit confused...

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tpr-becky: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 509; Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:08 pmFollowed by: 85 members; Location: Irvine, CA; Thanked: 199 times; GMAT Score:750

by tpr-becky » Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:56 pm

As far as I am aware either is proper for any situation with two things. The GMAT often uses this idiom and mixed up the prepositions. so both are correct and you shouldn't have to choose between them. the problem you are speaking of only contains one sentence with the correct idiom.

Becky
Master GMAT Instructor
The Princeton Review
Irvine, CA

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