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Verbal Review # 72: Rates of Vs Rates for

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Verbal Review # 72: Rates of Vs Rates for

by JK. » Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:25 am
State officials report that soaring rates of liability insurance have risen to force cutbacks in the operations of everything from local governments and school districts to day-care centers and recreational facilities.

(A) rates of liability insurance have risen to force

(B) rates of liability insurance are a force for

(C) rates for liability insurance are forcing

(D) rises in liability insurance rates are forcing

(E) liability insurance rates have risen to force


OA s C

Official explanation says that the rates of is misleading and that rates for is the correct idiom when rates is used to mean prices. My questions

a) Why is Rates of misleading. What is the other possible meaning? On the same line, Is it incorrect to say prices of beach side properties fell drastically ?
b) When to use Rates of. Is the sentence The Rate of fluid loss is under control correct ? How about The interest rates of government bonds are very high ?
c) Is there any other situation when use of rates for is appropriate ?
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by e-GMAT » Wed Dec 08, 2010 6:50 am
Your doubt is pertaining to the usage of rate in two different capacities.

Rate of is used when we have to express "measure"
For example: Rate of change in commodity prices is indicative of a highly volatile market.
Here we are using "rate of" to express "measure".
The sentence implies that the measure of change in commodity prices is indicative...

Rate for is used when we have to express "price"
For example: Rates for gold have been consistently increasing.
Here it is clear that we are talking about price of gold.

So when you see the word - rate, see if you can replace it with price. If yes, then you must use "for" with rate.
However, when it makes sense to replace "rate" with "measure", you must use "of" with rate.

Now coming to the sentences in your post:
1: Rates of liability insurance have risen.
Clearly here we are are talking about prices of liability insurance. So the correct idiom is "rates for"
2: Prices of beach side properties fell drastically
Yes this is correct. But we have to use "rates" here, we will use the idiom "rates for". This is just idiomatic usage that you will need to remember.
Rates for beach side properties fell drastically.
3: The rate of fluid loss is under control
Yes this is correct. Here we are using rate in the capacity of fluid loss. Measure of fluid loss is under the specification limit.
4: The interest rates of government bonds are very high.
Yes this is correct. Now note here that you are using "Rates". You are infact using "interest rates" which does not function like "rates". You are talking about a characteristic of government bonds - interest rate.

For e-GMAT customers, the idiomatic usage of "rate" is covered in detail in the concept titled - "Idioms - Functions - II"

Thanks,

Payal
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by amir_hatef » Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:22 am
Thanks e-gmat, Payal. Keep being active to share your awesome hints with us !
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by EducationAisle » Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:52 am
An easy issue to spot in this sentence is that three of the answer choices use risen/rises (A, D and E). However, soaring, used in the non-underlined portoin of the sentence already implies risen/rises and hence, repeating risen/rises does not make any sense. Hence, A, D and E can be disregarded right away.
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by JK. » Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:33 am
e-GMAT wrote:
So when you see the word - rate, see if you can replace it with price. If yes, then you must use "for" with rate.
However, when it makes sense to replace "rate" with "measure", you must use "of" with rate.

Payal
Thanks you very much Payal. Your explanation is clear and complete.
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by JK. » Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:38 am
EducationAisle wrote:An easy issue to spot in this sentence is that three of the answer choices use risen/rises (A, D and E). However, soaring, used in the non-underlined portoin of the sentence already implies risen/rises and hence, repeating risen/rises does not make any sense. Hence, A, D and E can be disregarded right away.
Thank you EducationAisle. I completely agree with you on the best way to zero-in on the correct choice. But my intent in this post is to become familiar with usage of Rates of Vs Rates for
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by pramendrapandeya » Wed May 21, 2014 8:28 pm
In Short:-

"Rates of" and 'rates for" both are idiom

"Rates of" is used ---> to Measure

"Rates for" ---> for Price
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by e-GMAT » Sat May 24, 2014 2:30 pm
Great job @Pramendrapandeya in explaining the usage of rate of and rate for.
Just adding a couple of examples:

As you said, 'rate' can be used with two different prepositions and carries very different meanings.

When rate is used with for, it means price charged. For example:

Rate for insurance coverage have increased over the last 2 years.

When rate is used with of, it implies measure. For example:

Rate of change of stock prices indicate the extent of volatility.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Payal
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by [email protected] » Sun Oct 09, 2016 6:45 am
State officials report that soaring rates of liability insurance have risen to force cutbacks in the operations of everything from local governments and school districts to day-care centers and recreational facilities.

(A) rates of liability insurance have risen to force - Soaring and risen are redundant. Rates of is incorrect. to force is illogical because it shows that rates have risen in order to force cutbacks.

(B) rates of liability insurance are a force for - Rates of incorrect.

(C) rates for liability insurance are forcing - Correct

(D) rises in liability insurance rates are forcing - Soaring and rises are redundant.

(E) liability insurance rates have risen to force - Soaring and have risen is redundant. To force is illogical.
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