Idioms
Idioms are set of rules in the English Language. It’s very hard to teach idioms because they are something that you have to pick up over time.
Here is a list of idioms commonly found on the GMAT.
List of Idioms(adapted from Sahil)
Idioms to Remember
1.To exchange X for Y (exchange X with Y or any other form is incorrect)
2.Different from one another (Different one from the other is wrong)
3.X is unknown, nor it is known – is a correct idiom (Neither is not required) It is not that nor would always be preceded by a neither
4.To ratify (At ratifying is incorrect) An attempt to ratify is the correct use
5.Allergy to (Allergy of, allergy for are incorrect)
6.To try to fix is the right idiom (to try and fix is incorrect)
7.Just as… So too
8.X is different from Y (different than Y is incorrect)
9.Same as X..as to Y
Example:
Gravity will apply the same to an airplane flying in air as to a ship floating on water.
10.From X to Y (Grow from 2 million to 3 billion) (From X up to Y is wrong)
Example:
Studies of the human “sleep-wake cycle” have practical relevance for matters ranging from duty assignments in nuclear submarines and air-traffic control towers to the staff of shifts in 24-hour factories.
(A) to the staff of
(B) to those who staff
(C) to the staffing of
(D) and staffing(C)
(E) and the staff of
Solution:
From X where X is a noun here.
So, Y should be a noun.
To those who staff in B is incorrect.
C has a noun and is correct.
11.Estimated to be (Estimated at is incorrect)
12.Believe X to be Y
13.Acclaimed as is the correct idiom (Acclaimed to be is wrong)
14.Distinguish between X and Y (Distinguish X from Y is incorrect)
15.In an attempt to (gain control)
16.Worried about (When talking about someone’s condition)
17.Attempt to ‘do something’ (Attempt at doing is incorrect).
18.Both X and Y (Both X as well as Y is incorrect) Both at X and at Y is correct. Both on X or on Y is correct. Both should always have parallel forms associated to it. Similarly, ‘Neither… nor’ should have parallel forms associated to it.
19.Adverb twice cannot be an object of proposition ‘by’.
‘Increase by twice’ is incorrect; ‘doubled’ is correct
20.So X as to be Y (So unreal as to be true)
21.As much as (Republicans are involved as much as Democrats).
22.X prohibits Y from
23.x forbids y to do z
x prohibits y from doing z.
Example:
The new contract forbids a strike by the transportation union
A) forbids a strike by the transportation union
B) forbids the transportation union from striking
C) forbids that there be a strike by the transportation union
D) will forbid the transportation union from striking
E) will forbid that the transportation union strikes
A is the correct answer
24.Credit X with discovering Y (Credit with doing something)
25.Credit X Rupees to Y’s account (When money is involved)
26.Given credit for being ones…who
27.Believed to have
28.Regarded as having
29.Regarded as ones who have
30.Concerned for – worried; concerned with – related/affliated
31.No sooner…than
32.X expected to Y
33.Mistake X for Y
34.Not X; but rather Y
35.Persuaded X to do Y
36.So X that Y (So poor that they steal)
37.Require that X be Y (Not require that X is Y)
38.As a result of
39.At least as strong as…(At least as great as)
40.Modeled after
41.So X that Y (So illiterate are people that they cant even write)
42.Intent on
43.Native of (Native to is also used in some cases, as in the example given below)
44.Compensate for
45.Adapted for
46.Plead guilty for … failing
47.Descendent of (Descendent for is incorrect)
48.X is to… what…Y is to
49.Potential for causing
Example:
In large doses, analgesics that work in the brain as antagonists to certain chemicals have caused psychological disturbances in patients, which may limit their potential to relieve severe pain.
(A) which may limit their potential to relieve
(B) which may limit their potential for relieving
(C) which may limit such analgesics’ potential to relieve
(D) an effect that may limit their potential to relieve（E）
(E) an effect that may limit the potential of such analgesics for relieving
50.Aid in (Aid for is incorrect)
People were asking Goddess Dia’s aid in healing ills or thanking her for such help.
51.Consider X…to be Y (a little controversial)
52.Regard as is the correct idiom
Example:
Most nations regard their airspace as extending upward as high as an aircraft can fly; no specific altitude, however, has been officially recognized as a boundary.
(A) as extending
(B) as the extent
(C) to be an extent
(D) to be an extension（A）
(E) to extend
A is correct, because it uses ‘regard as’
53.When ‘rates’ means ‘prices charged’ it should be followed with ‘for’
Example: Rates for liability insurance
54.Distinguish between X and Y (2 very different items, distinguished, say red and green colors)
Example:
Some color blind people cannot distinguish between red and green
55.Distinguish X from Y (Two pretty similar items, say original paintings from fake ones)
56.Attribute X (An effect) to Y(A cause)
57.Not in a flash…but in a…
58.May be (This is a word) is idiomatic, maybe (This means perhaps) is not idiomatic
59.That X is called for is indicated both by Y and by Z.
60.Not so much to X…as to Y
61.Associate X with Y
62.Business ethics – Is a singular word
63.To worry about someone’s condition (To keep worrying over an action)
64.Combined X with Y OR Combined X and Y (Both are correct)
Example: Combined skill with determination
Combined reactant X and reactant Y
65.way to provide (Way for providing is incorrect)
66.No less an authority than…
67.Acclaimed as … is the correct idiom…
Example:
An artistic presence of the first order, one frequently ranked with Picasso, Stravinsky, and James Joyce, Martha Graham was acclaimed as a great dancer long before her innovative masterworks made her the most honored of American choreographers.
(A) Martha Graham was acclaimed as
(B) Martha Graham was acclaimed to be
(C) Martha Graham’s acclaim is as
(D) Martha Graham’s acclaim to be
(E) Martha Graham’s acclaim was in being
acclaimed as – choice A is correct in this case.
68.Allocated to is the correct idiom
Example:
The public library allocated revenues it received from the recently passed tax initiative to the purchasing of more than 2000 books and 50 computers.
A) to the purchasing of more than 2000 books and 50 computers.
B) in order to purchase more than 2000 books and 50 computers.
C) so as to purchase more than 2000 books and 50 computers.
D) so that more than 2000 books and 50 computers could be purchased
E) for the purchase of more than 2000 books and 50 computers.
allocated to – choice A is correct in this case.
Example:
Bufo marinus toads, fierce predators that will eat frogs, lizards, and even small birds, are native to South America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930’s in an attempt to control pests in the state’s vast sugarcane fields.
(A) are native to South America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930’s in an attempt to control
(B) are native in South America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930’s as attempts to control
(C) are natives of South America but were introduced into Florida during the 1930’s in an attempt at controlling
(D) had been native to South America but were introduced to Florida during the 1930’s as an attempt at controlling
(E) had been natives of South America but were introduced to Florida during the 1930’s as attempts at controlling
Solution:
Choice A is best. The phrasing are native to correctly suggests that the toad species is indigenous to, and still exists in, South America. In B, native in is unidiomatic; in C and E, natives of illogically suggests that each toad now in Florida hails from South America. In D and E, had been inaccurately implies that the toads are no longer native, or indigenous, to South America, and introduced to Florida is unidiomatic. Both as attempts in B and E and as an attempt in D are wrong because the attempt consists not of the toads themselves, but of their introduction into the environment. The correct phrase, in an attempt, should be completed by an infinitive (here, to control), as in A.
Idioms Assignment:
MGMAT: CHAPTER 8 and CHAPTER 9
OG 11: 2,4,16,26,27,30,31,40,51,53,55,67,69,82,87,111,121
Verbal Review: 5,9,14,17,20,46,48,60,66,76,80,90,93,108,111,113
(46)
(28)
(2)