The president of the council rejected a proposal

[vinni.k]

The president of the council rejected a proposal to permit meetings to be held on a twice-weekly basis instead of to limit them to once every other week.

A. to permit meetings to be held on a twice-weekly basis instead of to limit them to
B. that would have permitted meetings to be held on a twice-weekly basis instead of limited to
C. by which meetings are permitted to be held on a twice-weekly basis instead of limiting them for
D. that would permit meetings to be held on a twice-weekly basis rather than a limitation to
E. to permit meetings to be held on a twice-weekly basis rather than be limited to

Answer is E

Why "instead of" is incorrect ?

Thanks & Regards
Vinni

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

"Instead of" is not usually followed by an infinitive.
e.g. I stayed in bed all day instead of going to work.

[vinni.k]

"Instead of" is not usually followed by an infinitive.
e.g. I stayed in bed all day instead of going to work.

Thanks for your reply. So, can i take it in this way. Whenever i see two choices such as in this question in which "rather than" and "instead of" are given. I must select a choice with "rather than".
and not "instead of"

Vinni

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

No, "rather than" is a completely different story when it comes to grammar.

"Rather than" is an expression that requires the two parts joined to be parallel - they should be the same parts of speech and they should be parallel logically.

e.g. Jim prefers to go for walks rather than stay at home.

You must always check the following points:
- when there is "instead of" - that it is not followed by an infinitive
- when there is "rather than" - that the two words or expressions joined are the same parts of speech and that they are logically parallel.

[vk_vinayak]

How in E rather than be limited to couldn't refer to president?

as in:

The president of the council rejected a proposal to permit meetings to be held on a twice-weekly basis rather than be limited to once every other week.

Thanks,
VK

[Bill@VeritasPrep]

It's an issue of placement. Since the "rather than" is directly between "be held on a twice-weekly basis" and "be limited to...", it's pretty clear that the comparison is between the different meeting times.