Idioms

[amitajaiswal6]

Reference: Manhattan GMAT guide 8 : Sentence Correction(Chapter 9: Idioms)

Idiom: **SO...THAT
RIGHT: The book was SHORT ENOUGH FOR me TO READ in one night.

Problem Set- Solutions:
10. (h) The chemical processes were complex enough for them to require additional analysis,
(complex enough for them to do) WRONG

QUESTION: Why is the first sentence("The book was short enough for me to read in one night") correct while the second sentence("The chemical processes were complex enough for them to require additional analysis") wrong?

[amitajaiswal6]

can anybody help me with this?

[RonPurewal]

"For me" is necessary, because the book is not reading the book. "Me" is not something that has yet been mentioned in the sentence, so it needs to be there.

In the other sentence, "the chemical processes" are the things that require additional analysis, so "them" doesn't belong there.

Compare:
The book is too big to fit on the shelf.
BUT
The book is too big for me to read in one night.
You can see the difference. In the first one, it's the book (which is already the subject) that's too big to fit on the shelf. In the second one, the book doesn't read itself, so "me" has to be mentioned.

[RonPurewal]

By the way --

can anybody help me with this?

Please don't make posts like this one.

First -- and most importantly -- it's rude and unprofessional, especially after only 1 day has passed. (If you do the same thing in your business communications -- unless something is truly urgent -- it could destroy relationships.)

Second -- By posting things like this, you'll just extend the time it takes for us to answer the question.
We answer questions from oldest to newest. By posting on the thread, you're just making it the "newest" again. Oops.

[lajulajay]

I have a follow-up question:

This idiom is cross-listed under ENOUGH and the following example is listed as wrong (SC 5th Ed p157):

The book was SHORT ENOUGH THAT I could read it in a night.

Could someone kindly explain why the example is wrong?

Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

Could someone kindly explain why the example is wrong?

If there were an answer to "why?", it wouldn't be an idiom. Remember what "idiom" means.

[amitajaiswal6]

"For me" is necessary, because the book is not reading the book. "Me" is not something that has yet been mentioned in the sentence, so it needs to be there.

Thanks a lot. Your reply helped me a lot in understanding the concept.

And i am extremely sorry for showing the urgency which somehow turned out to be a rude one. I shall avoid such kind of behavior in future.

[RonPurewal]

Thanks a lot. Your reply helped me a lot in understanding the concept.

You're welcome.

And i am extremely sorry for showing the urgency which somehow turned out to be a rude one. I shall avoid such kind of behavior in future.

No worries. Just make sure you have a reasonable definition of "urgency". (If this were a legal or medical advice forum, then a post could reasonably be "urgent". On a GMAT forum? Hardly.)