Sentence Correction

"The new law makes it a crime to <do>".
"The new law makes it a crime for <someone> to <do something>".
"The new law makes <something> a crime".

are ALL CORRECT.


Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

We can say "a projected decline of..".
Also, ".. is projected to decline by .. ".

But NOT, "a projected decline at ... ".


Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

"Making do without" is correct English. One would use the phrase when speaking in the past continuous.
Example:
"We were making do without power during the blackout".


It's a bit more common to use "made do without".
Example:
"My family was quite poor, so we made do without luxuries".


Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

--[ IMPORTANT ]--

LIKE / AS RULE:

You make comparisons with LIKE when you compare nouns, or noun phrases (i.e., anything that doesn't have a VERB).
EXCEPTION:
Prepositional phrases take "As".
Note that there may be modifiers attached to these nouns. If there are, don't care. Modifiers are disposable.


You make comparisons with AS when you compare clauses (things that have real VERBS), or prepositional phrases.

NOTE: When you're deciding whether something is a clause or just a noun phrase, remember that -ING FORMS DO NOT COUNT AS VERBS (unless there's a helping verb attached to them).


Examples:
"Those babies are cute, like little pandas sliding down rainbows" -- CORRECT!
Note that:
* "sliding" is NOT a verb.
* "sliding down rainbows" is a modifier, and thus doesn't have to be considered in the grammar of the sentence.

"Those babies are cute, as are little pandas that slide down rainbows" -- CORRECT!
* "are" is a verb, so this is a clause.
* "that slide..." DOES NOT count, since it's part of a modifier.

"Those babies are cute, like little pandas that slide down rainbows" -- CORRECT!
* "little pandas" is a noun.
* "that slide..." DOES NOT count, since it's part of a modifier.

"Our family lives on a farm now, as in the 19th century." -- CORRECT! Prepositional phrases take "as"



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

papgust wrote:--[ IMPORTANT ]--

LIKE / AS RULE:

You make comparisons with LIKE when you compare nouns, or noun phrases (i.e., anything that doesn't have a VERB).
EXCEPTION:
Prepositional phrases take "As".
Note that there may be modifiers attached to these nouns. If there are, don't care. Modifiers are disposable.


You make comparisons with AS when you compare clauses (things that have real VERBS), or prepositional phrases.

NOTE: When you're deciding whether something is a clause or just a noun phrase, remember that -ING FORMS DO NOT COUNT AS VERBS (unless there's a helping verb attached to them).


Examples:
"Those babies are cute, like little pandas sliding down rainbows" -- CORRECT!
Note that:
* "sliding" is NOT a verb.
* "sliding down rainbows" is a modifier, and thus doesn't have to be considered in the grammar of the sentence.

"Those babies are cute, as are little pandas that slide down rainbows" -- CORRECT!
* "are" is a verb, so this is a clause.
* "that slide..." DOES NOT count, since it's part of a modifier.

"Those babies are cute, like little pandas that slide down rainbows" -- CORRECT!
* "little pandas" is a noun.
* "that slide..." DOES NOT count, since it's part of a modifier.

"Our family lives on a farm now, as in the 19th century." -- CORRECT! Prepositional phrases take "as"



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

Wow! man i thought I knew this rule. I like the detail and simplicity of this. Thanks a ton. Is it possible for you to share these rule in a word doc with the community? That would really help out. Thanks again for this!

"a word doc" - Good advise, but Papgust is already putting his efforts and this wud be little unfair to ask him.

Once Papgust has exhausted all his flashcards I think one of us has to take it afterwards..what you say ?

BTW, how many more are coming Papgust ?

Don't worry guys...I am documenting all grammer rules and advices mentioned here in a word doc for my reference.
I wouldn't mind sharing them with this community in the end.

The Jock wrote:Don't worry guys...I am documenting all grammer rules and advices mentioned here in a word doc for my reference.
I wouldn't mind sharing them with this community in the end.

Here you go...thanks Jock

Wow.. That's good. Glad that you are ready to share with the community.

@suman, still lots more to come. Stay tuned!

The Jock wrote:Don't worry guys...I am documenting all grammer rules and advices mentioned here in a word doc for my reference.
I wouldn't mind sharing them with this community in the end.

Thank you so much for offering to share the file with the community Jock. We'll have to wait till Papgust completes his collection of rules. BTW Great initiative Papgust

Compared to/with for STATISTICS:

If you say "compared with/to" for statistics, you should cite BOTH statistics in the comparison.
The expression "compared to/with" does NOT imply any sort of direction to the comparison; i.e., it gives no hint as to greater/less/like/unlike. Therefore, you need to give both of the relevant statistics, or else the statement won't make any sense.

Examples:
"The unemployment rate in Esteria last month was 5.3%, compared to the rate in Burdistan." -- INCORRECT! This makes no sense. We have absolutely no idea what is going on with the rate in Burdistan.

"The unemployment rate in Esteria last month was 5.3%, compared to a rate of 7% in Burdistan." -- CORRECT!
Both statistics are cited.


Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

"In contrast to":

If you say "in contrast to", then you don't HAVE to mention both statistics... Although you still can mention.


Examples:
"In contrast to the corresponding rate in Esteria, the unemployment rate in Burdistan fell last month." -- CORRECT! In this case, the "in contrast to" construction implies that the Esterian rate went up. We don't actually have to say this explicitly.

But, if you want, you can mention both statistics:
"In contrast to the corresponding rate in Esteria, which rose by 0.5%, the unemployment rate in Burdistan fell by 0.3% last month." -- ALSO CORRECT!



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

"By Time":

In clauses modified with "by TIME", you should use:

i. Past Perfect (had VERBed) if the time marker is in the past.
ii. Present Perfect (has/have VERBed) if the time marker is "by now"/current.
iii. Future Perfect (will have VERBed) if the time marker is in the future.


Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

Usage of "COULD":


"Could" is a modal expressing past (potential) ability.

If something is assumed in the PAST, then the usage of "Could" is appropriate. In other words, it is used to refer to the "Future in the PAST".

If it is "ongoing", then "Could" CANNOT be used.



Courtesy: Ron Purewal, GMAT Expert.

papgust wrote:Relative Pronouns:

Modifying phrases are often introduced by relative pronouns such as "which", "that", "where", "who", "whom", "whose".


"Which"
1. Introduce NON-ESSENTIAL modifiers.
2. Introduce phrases that modify things.


"That"
1. Introduce ESSENTIAL modifiers.
2. Modify either people OR things.


"Who"
1. Introduce either ESSENTIAL or NON-ESSENTIAL modifiers.
2. Modify a person or a group of people.

Are who and where the same that they can both introduce either essential or non-essential modifiers? Is there a particular rule that is used to determine if the modifier is essential or non-essential?