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Comparison (Nouns and verbs ) Conceptual

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Comparison (Nouns and verbs ) Conceptual

by GMATMadeEasy » Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:24 am
Comparison of nouns and Actions

Nouns : "The people in my office are smarter than those in other offices."
Nouns : "The people in my office are smarter than those in other offices are."


Actions: "Synthetic oils burn less efficiently than do natural oils."
Actions: "Synthetic oils burn less efficiently than natural oils."

Could someone explain out of above four which two are correct and why ? of course, as preferred in GMAT.

Thanks.
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by gmat_perfect » Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:51 am
GMATMadeEasy wrote:Comparison of nouns and Actions

Nouns : "The people in my office are smarter than those in other offices."
Nouns : "The people in my office are smarter than those in other offices are."

=> Second one is correct:

The reasons are:

1. If there is "NOUN+VERB" before than, there should be another "NOUN+ VERB" after than.

Example:

I am taller than Rana (is).

Here, "I am" has been there before than. So, there MUST be another clause after than. And hence, "he is" has been used.

Again:

I know more about Shakespeare than does my brother, who is a student of history.

--> here, look at the last part of the comparison.

The NOUN has a modifier, "who is a student of history". Does has been used before the NOUN.



Actions: "Synthetic oils burn less efficiently than do natural oils."
Actions: "Synthetic oils burn less efficiently than natural oils."


=> The first one is correct for the same reason.

BUT the first sentence could be more smooth if "do" were used after "natural oils".

Thanks.


Could someone explain out of above four which two are correct and why ? of course, as preferred in GMAT.

Thanks.
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by GMATMadeEasy » Tue Aug 10, 2010 11:45 am
In first example of Shakespeare, you need verb because it causes ambiguity.

Where is the rule of noun + verb before than ?
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by e-GMAT » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:12 pm
Very good question gmatmadeeasy.

The basic principle that I follow is that the sentence must be able to communicate the meaning without any ambiguity. If after reading the sentence, I feel that there could be more than one possible meaning, then it is a good indicator that the sentence is not correct.

Nouns: "The people in my office are smarter than those in other offices."
Nouns : "The people in my office are smarter than those in other offices are."

Both the sentences are correct.
In the first sentence, the verb "are" is understood and hence has not been repeated. This is the preferred usage.
In the second sentence, the verb "are" has been explicitly mentioned and even though this is more wordy than the above, GMAT does not consider this as correct.

Actions: "Synthetic oils burn less efficiently than do natural oils."
Actions: "Synthetic oils burn less efficiently than natural oils."
Both the sentences are correct. GMAT may consider the first version to be more wordy than the second version, but this will not be the reason why GMAT will eliminate first choice.

The key thing to note is that in all the 4 sentences above, there is one and only one meaning possible. Hence there is no room for ambiguity.

Now consider the following sentence:
Tom is more afraid of dark than his wife.

Does it mean: Tom is more afraid of dark than his wife is.
Or does it mean: Tom is more afraid of dark than he is of his wife.

So in this scenario, you will need to change the sentence such that the meaning is absolutely clear.

To summarize, "meaning" is the key. When you state comparisons, make sure of these three things:
  • Meaning must be absolutely clear.
    The entities being compared must be grammatically and logically parallel.
    Helping verbs may not be repeated if both verbs are supposed to be in same tense.
For e-GMAT users the above are covered in the following concepts:
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by KrazyKarl » Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:59 pm
Really helpful - I've wondered about that while studying GMAT grammar, too. Thanks!
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by GMATMadeEasy » Wed Aug 11, 2010 6:54 am
Thanks for great explanation. I was thinkig the same.

I do not from where I have made notes which say

"When comparing noun, no need for helping verb but when comparing verbs as in the oil example , better to use helping verb." So i wanted to confirm.
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by John Besore » Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:43 pm
great explanation e-gmat!!

Just on a slightly unrelated topic, I find it difficult to identify clauses and phrases. GMAT_Perfect, you seem to be able to identify clauses very well. Is there a good source that I should refer to for the same.
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by e-GMAT » Thu Nov 18, 2010 4:46 am
Hi John,

Identifying clauses and phrases in a complex sentence helps to simplify the sentence and analyze each clause independently, facilitating better understanding of the sentence and the errors involved.

We have recently added two concepts on "Sentence Structure". These concepts explain the common sentence structure. Once you review these, you will be able to identify clauses and phrases in a complex sentence.

These are available in the Free Preview of Sentence Correction course on e-gmat. Thus, you only need to register at e-gmat to access these concepts.

Thanks,

Payal
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by John Besore » Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:39 am
Thanks egmat. The two concepts are awesome. helped me identify phrases and clauses in quite a few sentences. Kudos!!
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by gmatmachoman » Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:58 am
@John,

I have greatly benefited from e-gmat in terms of conceptual knowledge.....

If u wish to have all in a NUTSHELL, go for e-gmat...


yet I have to see a studymaterial that can match with the "attributes" of e-gmat.
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by John Besore » Tue Nov 23, 2010 1:39 pm
Thanks for your advice. I agree that it is one of the better sources for SC preparation.
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