Sentence Correction

Judge Bonham denied a motion to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead of to confine them to a hotel.

A. to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead of to confine them to

B. that would have allowed members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead confined to

C.under which the members of the jury are allowed to go home at the end of each day instead confining them in

D.that would allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day rather than confinement in

E.to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day rather than be confined to

aaggar7 wrote:Judge Bonham denied a motion to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead of to confine them to a hotel.

A. to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead of to confine them to

B. that would have allowed members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead confined to

C.under which the members of the jury are allowed to go home at the end of each day instead confining them in

D.that would allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day rather than confinement in

E.to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day rather than be confined to

In A, to confine (infinitive) cannot serve as the object of the preposition of.
Eliminate A.

In B, to go home...instead confined to is not parallel.
Eliminate B.

In C, to go home...instead confining them is not parallel.
Eliminate C.

In D, to go home...rather than confinement is not parallel.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.

Only the OA offers a parallel comparison:
a motion to allow members of the jury TO GO HOME...rather than [TO] BE CONFINED to a hotel.
The word in brackets is omitted, but its presence is understood.

Thank you Mitch for this nice explanation.

Could you please let me know (if possible, along with a few Official examples) what are the EXACT DIFFERENCES between instead of and rather than in terms of USAGE and APPLICATIONS in GMAT ?

When we should use what ?

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Thank you Mitch for this nice explanation.

Could you please let me know (if possible, along with a few Official examples) what are the EXACT DIFFERENCES between instead of and rather than in terms of USAGE and APPLICATIONS in GMAT ?

When we should use what ?

X instead of Y means X in place of Y.
The implication is that Y had been expected, but X happened INSTEAD.
John chose a pen instead of a pencil.
Implication: John had been expected to choose a pencil, but he chose a pen INSTEAD.
In the SC above, instead implies the following: it had been expected that doctors would elect to face the threats of lawsuits, but they have elected to retire early INSTEAD.
Not the intended meaning.

X rather than Y means X is preferred to Y.
John chose a pen rather than a pencil.
Implicated: John PREFERRED a pen.
This is the intended meaning of the SC above:
Jurors did not want to be confined to a hotel.
They PREFERRED to go home at the end of each day.
The result is the wording in the OA:
a motion to allow jurors to go home at the end of each day RATHER THAN be confined to a hotel.

In most cases, an SC with a rather than/instead of split intends to convey that one outcome is PREFERRED to another.
For this reason, if you can't decide between two answer choices -- and one of them uses rather than, while the other uses instead of -- opt for the one with rather than.

For another official example, check my two posts here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/someone-plz- ... 43049.html

GMATGuruNY wrote: In most cases, an SC with a rather than/instead of split intends to convey that one outcome is PREFERRED to another.
For this reason, if you can't decide between two answer choices -- and one of them uses rather than, while the other uses instead of -- opt for the one with rather than.

Hi GMATGuruNY - it appears BIT confusing to me. Are you saying that if we've two answer choices - one of them uses rather than, while the other uses instead of - then we should ALWAYS choose rather than ? Are there any SPECIFICS to prefer rather than to instead of on GMAT ?

Is it TRUE that instead of MUST ALWAYS be followed/preceded by NOUN or Noun-like stuffs ? Whereas rather than can take ANYTHING to compare ?

Look forward to your feedback!

Hi GMATGuruNY - Could you please share your thoughts on my IMMEDIATE above post ?

Look forward to hearing your feedback. Much thanks in advance!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: In most cases, an SC with a rather than/instead of split intends to convey that one outcome is PREFERRED to another.
For this reason, if you can't decide between two answer choices -- and one of them uses rather than, while the other uses instead of -- opt for the one with rather than.

Hi GMATGuruNY - it appears BIT confusing to me. Are you saying that if we've two answer choices - one of them uses rather than, while the other uses instead of - then we should ALWAYS choose rather than ?

C) blah, blah, blah...rather than X...blah, blah, blah
E) blah, blah, blah...instead of X...blah, blah, blah
If only these two answer choices remain, and you cannot spot an error in either answer choice, then choose C (the answer choice with rather than).
It is MORE LIKELY to be correct.

Are there any SPECIFICS to prefer rather than to instead of on GMAT ?

rather than and instead of convey different meanings.
I explain the difference in my post above and offer a link to another SC with a split between rather than and instead of.
For an OA with instead of, check my post here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmatprep-sc-t270774.html

Is it TRUE that instead of MUST ALWAYS be followed/preceded by NOUN or Noun-like stuffs ? Whereas rather than can take ANYTHING to compare ?

Correct.
instead of is a PREPOSITION.
It must be followed by a NOUN -- a noun serving as the OBJECT of the preposition.
rather than can be followed by virtually anything.

Mitch,
A quick question - While comparing actions, does rather than always precede BARE INFINITIVE, on GMAT ?

Or it(re rather than) can be followed by simple INFINITIVE form as well ?

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Mitch,
A quick question - While comparing actions, does rather than always precede BARE INFINITIVE, on GMAT ?

Or it(re rather than) can be followed by simple INFINITIVE form as well ?

When rather than serves to introduce an infinitive, the bare form of the infinitive -- to + VERB with the to omitted -- is used.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Is it TRUE that instead of MUST ALWAYS be followed/preceded by NOUN or Noun-like stuffs ? Whereas rather than can take ANYTHING to compare ?

Correct.
instead of is a PREPOSITION.
It must be followed by a NOUN -- a noun serving as the OBJECT of the preposition.
rather than can be followed by virtually anything.

Hi Mitch - with reference to the above discussion I've a question on the USAGE of INSTEAD.

Like rather than,INSTEAD also takes ANYTHING to compare. Right ?

For example, the following OA of another OG Qs:
"According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a 'soft landing...".

Here,INSTEAD is followed by a VERB [will] come -- so INSTEAD can be followed by virtually anything, I think. Thoughts ?

Also, it'd great if you could shed some light on the LOGIC behind the usage of PAST PERFECT in this OA ?

Look forward to know your thoughts!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Is it TRUE that instead of MUST ALWAYS be followed/preceded by NOUN or Noun-like stuffs ? Whereas rather than can take ANYTHING to compare ?

Correct.
instead of is a PREPOSITION.
It must be followed by a NOUN -- a noun serving as the OBJECT of the preposition.
rather than can be followed by virtually anything.

Hi Mitch - with reference to the above discussion I've a question on the USAGE of INSTEAD.

Like rather than,INSTEAD also takes ANYTHING to compare. Right ?

For example, the following OA of another OG Qs:
"According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a 'soft landing...".

Here,INSTEAD is followed by a VERB [will] come -- so INSTEAD can be followed by virtually anything, I think. Thoughts ?

Because it ends with of -- a PREPOSITION -- instead OF must be followed by a noun.
instead without of does NOT have to satisfy this constraint.

Also, it'd great if you could shed some light on the LOGIC behind the usage of PAST PERFECT in this OA ?

The gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year.
The usage of the past perfect (had feared) implies the following sequence:
In the recent PAST, there have been GAINS in the stock market.
BEFORE these gains in the stock market, many FEARED a recession.
Since the act of fearing is a past action completed before another past event -- the gains in the stock market -- the past perfect is used.

Mitch - a quick clarification on the usage of the PAST PERFECT (had feared).

In this SC, we've a TIME-shift INDICATOR - EARLIER.... So,when such a TIME-shift INDICATOR is present in SC, is the use of the PAST PERFECT OPTIONAL or still MANDATORY (because one purpose of PAST PERFECT, I think, is to denote a PAST action that occurred before another action in the PAST -- while BOTH the PAST ACTIONS are correlated/mutually connected and there is a sequence of the TWO actions!) ?

Can you please share your views ?

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Mitch - a quick clarification on the usage of the PAST PERFECT (had feared).

In this SC, we've a TIME-shift INDICATOR - EARLIER.... So,when such a TIME-shift INDICATOR is present in SC, is the use of the PAST PERFECT OPTIONAL or still MANDATORY (because one purpose of PAST PERFECT, I think, is to denote a PAST action that occurred before another action in the PAST -- while BOTH the PAST ACTIONS are correlated/mutually connected and there is a sequence of the TWO actions!) ?

Can you please share your views ?

Hi Mitch - any feedback on this Sir ?

It'd be really helpful to know your thoughts. Much thanks in advance!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Mitch - a quick clarification on the usage of the PAST PERFECT (had feared).

In this SC, we've a TIME-shift INDICATOR - EARLIER.... So,when such a TIME-shift INDICATOR is present in SC, is the use of the PAST PERFECT OPTIONAL or still MANDATORY (because one purpose of PAST PERFECT, I think, is to denote a PAST action that occurred before another action in the PAST -- while BOTH the PAST ACTIONS are correlated/mutually connected and there is a sequence of the TWO actions!) ?

Can you please share your views ?

Hi Mitch - any feedback on this Sir ?

It'd be really helpful to know your thoughts. Much thanks in advance!

Here, the usage of the past perfect seems necessary.
Just as the present perfect serves to link a past action to the PRESENT, so the past perfect serves to link an action FURTHER IN THE PAST to an event in the MORE RECENT PAST.
Here, the purpose of had feared is to show how the gains in the stock market (an event in the more recent past) is LINKED to a recession that people HAD FEARED (an action further in the past).
Conveyed meaning:
Once the gains in the stock market began, people NO LONGER feared a recession.
To establish this link, the past perfect is required.

Mitch - could you please shed some light that on GMAT what are the different types of uses PAST PERFECT has ?