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distunguish from or between?

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by thegmatbeater » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:47 pm
In his research paper, Dr. Frosch, medical director of the P.W.Clinic, distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic depressive psychois.

a)mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic depressive psychois

b) between mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic depressive psychois
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

Re: distunguish from or between?

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:57 pm
thegmatbeater wrote:In his research paper, Dr. Frosch, medical director of the P.W.Clinic, distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic depressive psychois.

a)mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic depressive psychois

b) between mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic depressive psychois
Both are idiomatically correct.

We can say either:

distinguishes A from B

or

distinguishes between A and B.

So, ignoring what's between the commas, we have:

a) distinguishes mood swings from genuine manic depressive psychois; and

b) distinguishes between mood swings and genuine manic depressive psychosis

both of which are just fine.

Accordingly, in this question it comes down to what's between the commas, specifically the extra "their" in the first choice, which hurts the parallelism of the sentence.
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by thegmatbeater » Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:16 am
get it! thank you..
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Re: distunguish from or between?

by beeparoo » Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:11 pm
Stuart Kovinsky wrote:
thegmatbeater wrote:In his research paper, Dr. Frosch, medical director of the P.W.Clinic, distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic depressive psychois.

a)mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic depressive psychois

b) between mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic depressive psychois
Both are idiomatically correct.

We can say either:

distinguishes A from B

or

distinguishes between A and B.

So, ignoring what's between the commas, we have:

a) distinguishes mood swings from genuine manic depressive psychois; and

b) distinguishes between mood swings and genuine manic depressive psychosis

both of which are just fine.

Accordingly, in this question it comes down to what's between the commas, specifically the extra "their" in the first choice, which hurts the parallelism of the sentence.
After experiencing some difficulty spotting subtle parallelism problems, I have to ask: What areas of the part that lies "between the commas" are supposed to demonstrate parellelism?

Is it (1) be violent and (2) being grounded?
GMAT obsession begone - girl needs her social life back.
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by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:39 pm
It's "their":
which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease
.
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by Fiver » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:31 am
Stuart Kovinsky wrote: Accordingly, in this question it comes down to what's between the commas, specifically the extra "their" in the first choice, which hurts the parallelism of the sentence.
Hi Stuart, thanks for your comments.

I was wondering whether 'being' here plays the role of a gerund.
And if yes, won't we need some possessive form to preceed it?

Request you to please clarify.

Thanks in advance.
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