Sentence Correction

"Estimate .. ":


"Estimate NJ deer population to have grown" is UNIDIOMATIC.


In general,
"Estimate X to have VERB'ed" is WRONG.
"Estimate that X has VERB'ed" is RIGHT.



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

"Rather than" Vs "Instead of":


"Rather than" is preferable to use for VERBS.

"Instead of" is preferable to use for NOUNS.



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

In general, "FISH" is PLURAL.

If "Fish" is attached with articles such as "a" or "the", then it is SINGULAR.



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

papgust wrote:"Twice":


"Twice" CANNOT function as an object of the preposition such as "by".

"Twice" is an adverb.


Example:
"... increased by more than twice .." -- WRONG!



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

On a similar note, "DOUBLE" is an adjective and cannot modify verb, but since "Twice" is an adverb it can modify Verb.
Example:-
The same amount of acreage produces double the apple.... -- WRONG
The same amount of acreage produces twice as many apples..... --CORRECT

Good point suman. Thanks for sharing it!

"X was more concentrated than Y"


When Y uses a past tense, "was" (a past tense) must be used by X. MAINTAIN PARALLELISM b/w X and Y including TENSES.


--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 2] <--

"Maybe" and "Perhaps" are INTERCHANGEABLE.

"Perhaps" is slightly more formal.


--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 2] <--

"double what it was in 1977".

"what it was" is awkward, wordy and unclear according to GMAT standards.


--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 4] <--

AVOID DUPLICATION:


"... in the past would have conceded previously to rivals".

"Previously" repeats the idea of "in the past". WRONG!!



--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 5] <--

"Although" typically introduce a subordinate clause that has a SUBJECT and a VERB.



--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 9] <--

"In Japan, unlike the United States ... "


"In Japan" MUST be balanced by "in the United States" to maintain parallelism.

BUT, the preposition "in" CANNOT follow the preposition "Unlike". Therefore, this construction is ALSO awkward and imprecise.



--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 10] <--

"Contrast":

Correct idioms for contrasts:

* In contrast to X, Y
* In contrast with X, Y
* Unlike X, Y

-- X and Y must be grammatically and logically parallel.


Incorrect Idiom:

* As contrasted with X, Y



--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 16] <--

"are in danger" is ALWAYS followed by "of".


Incorrect Idioms:

* "are in danger to"
* "have a danger"



--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 27] <--

"seem to indicate that .." is a PROPER idiom.
"seem as if ... " is correct in SOME contexts.



--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 29] <--

"X as much as Y" is a PROPER idiom.

"Not so much as" is another PROPER idiom used ONLY in the negative contexts.
E.g:
"Not so much as a whisper was heard from the crowd"


Incorrect Idioms:
* "So much/many as"
* "As much/many that"
* "So much/many that"



--> [Refer OG11, Qn. # 30] <--