Idioms

Question	Answer
Not / But vs. Rather than	Not … but …. → While comparing things that are ‘linguistically equivalent’. Pucci is not a dog but a cat Not Todd but Taka will study I not was sad but happy I want a cat rather than a dog → here we are expressing a preference I need X rather than Y ≠ I need not Y
Compare to vs. Compare with	Compare to - Unlike things AND Compare with - Like / similar things
More / Less ..... than	Hippopotami weigh less as compared to rhinos. (x)
So ........ As to	Serves same purpose as the idiom "so ..... that" He was SO rich AS TO gamble every weekend. (Correct) He was SO rich THAT he gambled every weekend. (Correct)
Split Infinitive	"to + verb" - Correct "to + any word / phrase + verb" - Wrong Ex. Marsha told Jack TO QUICKLY RUN to the store. (x)
Each Other vs. One Another	Each Other --> 2 (one-to-one) One Another --> Many-to-many
Whether vs. if	'If' is used to denote a condition. 'Whether' is used to denote choice among options. 'Whether-or' structure is not necessary. In 'whether' construction, there can be 3 elements also i.e 'whether X, Y or Z'
Because vs. Because of vs. Due to	BECAUSE OF: Modifies CLAUSE Can be replaced by 'owing to' DUE TO: Implies causation, modifies only NOUNS Can be replaced by 'caused by' clause + because + clause clause + because of + noun noun + due to + noun
Greater vs. More	In general, Greater --> Uncountable OR Abstract Quantities More --> Countable When quantity in question is a number, we prefer 'greater'. Ex. price, cost, rate, distance, %, volume, etc.
Rather than vs. Instead of	RATHER THAN Use to show preference INSTEAD OF Use to replace something with another thing
The reason X is Y AND Y is because X	Both are correct. The structure “the reason X is because Y” is redundant. Ex. The reason that investment banks require background checks of their applicants is because they require clean criminal records of their employees
made possible ___	made possible by
CONJUNCTION Though there exist	"though existing": The conjunction "though" has been incorrectly paired with "existing". The correct phrase is "though there exist"
PREPOSITION despite the existence of	"despite there exist": This is incorrect because "despite" is a preposition. Preposition --> (followed by) Nominal Phrase / Gerund Ex. "despite the existence of"
SO.....THAT.......	SO.....THAT....... Note: Double 'so' is allowed. Ex. SO dogged were Frances Perkins’ investigations of the garment industry, [/u] SO persistent her lobbying for wage and hour reform, THAT [/u] Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt recruited Perkins to work within the government, rather than as a social worker.
merge ... with	"merge ... with" is correct Idiom. Not "merge ... and ..." We don't merge one thing and another — we merge one thing with another King James I of England tried unsuccessfully to merge the legislature of Scotland — his original kingdom —and England's. (x)
COMPARISON more common ...... than ......	This is the correct idiom. One way to remember this is to note that the word "more" already indicates a comparison, so adding a form of 'comparison' or 'compare' is simply redundant. Ex. Adoption is far more common among fish AS COMPARED WITH (or IN COMPARISON WITH) birds. (x)
COMPARISON Mistook X for Y	Mistook X for Y Ex. Early Ornithologists often mistook the call for the mockingbird FOR that of the rare rufous-sided towhee.
COMPARISON Distinguish between X and Y	Distinguish between X and Y (Correct) Distinguish X from Y (Wrong)
Not X but Y	Not X but Y
No prepositional phrase comes after "to research"	A professor at the university has taken a sabbatical to research [/u] about the books James Baldwin wrote in France [/u]. (Wrong) A professor at the university has taken a sabbatical to research [/u] the books James Baldwin wrote while he lived in France [/u]. (Correct) Ref. Q697. OG2017
'Combination of X and Y'.	Combination of X and of Y (Wrong)
Not X, but Y OR Not X, but rather Y	Not X, but rather Y. 'But' and 'rather' CAN come together. Ex. The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken [/u] apart, but rather [/u] a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.
in isolation from OR isolated from	isolated from
As much X as Y	Ex. Retailers reported moderate gains in their November sales, AS MUCH because [/u] their sales a year earlier had been so bad AS because [/u] shoppers were getting a head start on buying their holiday gifts. Notice 2 'because'
The rate is less than half OR The rate is less than 50%	The rate is less than 50% 'Rate' is never 'half'.
X is likely that X will do OR X is likely to do…	X is likely to do…
equally…as..... OR as…as.....	as…as.....
'so' and 'in order to' are redundant together	Ex. Caribou are wary animals with excellent hearing [/u] so in order to stalk them over the treeless landscape and get close enough to kill one [/u] with nothing but a handheld lance, as Dorset people did, required exceptional hunting skill. (WRONG) Correct --> [/u] so to stalk them over the treeless landscape and get close enough to kill one [/u]
'but instead' is a correct idiom	Ex. Evolutionary psychology holds that [/u] the human mind is not a "blank slate" but instead comprises specialized mental mechanisms that were developed to solve [/u] specific problems human ancestors faced millions of years ago.
Not only X but Y Is this correct idiom?	This is a suspect idiom (according to Manhattan SC book). this can be used sometimes Ex. We wore NOT ONLY boots BUT sandals. We wore NOT ONLY boots BUT sandals AS WELL.

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	Created by Nishant Jain about 7 years ago