Hi, Ron mentioned that C can be cancelled for the following reason :
* "capability of ____ing" and "capability in ____ing" are unidiomatic, so B and C are gone.
But dont we say this normally (made up sentence)
He was brought in given his capability of dealing with tough union bosses
He became head master given his capability in dealing with difficult students
Are my sentences wrong because of idiom issue ? If so, how to correct ?
Thank you !
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- Sage Pearce-Higgins
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Re: SC
There are two issues here. The first is learning new idioms. When you find an idiom on a GMAT problem that you don't know, then learn it. Make a flashcard and use it. Here, actually, I disagree with Ron and I think 'capability of -ing' is fine (but 'capability in -ing' isn't). Check out this: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/capability Also, there's a subtle difference between ability and capability that makes 'ability of the body' better in this case.
But the problem is that you can't learn all idioms and you don't know what GMAT will throw at you. You have to be clear what you're trying to achieve in this exam. In my opinion, part of the value of studying for the GMAT is that it makes you think about language more precisely. So, I hope it makes you feel better to hear me say: you don't need to get every question correct on SC.
But the problem is that you can't learn all idioms and you don't know what GMAT will throw at you. You have to be clear what you're trying to achieve in this exam. In my opinion, part of the value of studying for the GMAT is that it makes you think about language more precisely. So, I hope it makes you feel better to hear me say: you don't need to get every question correct on SC.
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Re: SC
RonPurewal Wrote:the point of that post is that you shouldn't select things that have the form "because of __ing", in which "__ing" is used as a NOUN.
there is no issue with other uses of "of + __ing", so there would be no point in trying to collect other examples. (in any other situation, "of + __ing" is going to be basically identical to "of" + any other noun.)
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... 33-15.html
Hi Ron/Manhattan staff,
In above mentioned post,Ron said that "because of -ing" can be ok IF "-ing" is a noun.
But here he mentioned a different statement( you shouldn't select things that have the form "because of __ing", in which "__ing" is used as a NOUN.
).
Please help me understand about this construction "because of _ing"
Regards,
Rahul Singh
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Re: SC
I think you've misinterpreted Ron here. To be clear, he wrote that the structure 'because of -ing' is incorrect when the -ing word is a noun. I think he has this kind of sentence in mind: 'She was tired because of playing football' (incorrect).
However, not all '-ing' words are nouns, and Ron wrote that it's okay to have 'because of -ing followed by a noun'. This would make the -ing word into, basically, an adjective. For example: 'The company is in trouble because of falling prices.' Here, the word 'falling' is not a noun, but an adjective describing prices. Read the part of Ron's post in green above again and I think it will make sense.
However, not all '-ing' words are nouns, and Ron wrote that it's okay to have 'because of -ing followed by a noun'. This would make the -ing word into, basically, an adjective. For example: 'The company is in trouble because of falling prices.' Here, the word 'falling' is not a noun, but an adjective describing prices. Read the part of Ron's post in green above again and I think it will make sense.
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Re: SC
Actually I mentioned wrong URL. Sorry for that mistake.
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... t2368.html
I this post RON mentioned about this usage.
be careful, though; "because of -ing" can be ok IF "-ing" is a noun.
for instance, the elephant population is dying out because of poaching is fine, since "poaching" is a noun in that instance.
and it's also ok in (e)!
I am getting confused about this "Beacuse of_ing"
Regards,
Rahul
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... t2368.html
I this post RON mentioned about this usage.
be careful, though; "because of -ing" can be ok IF "-ing" is a noun.
for instance, the elephant population is dying out because of poaching is fine, since "poaching" is a noun in that instance.
and it's also ok in (e)!
I am getting confused about this "Beacuse of_ing"
Regards,
Rahul
- Sage Pearce-Higgins
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Re: SC
Yes, I see now. It's pretty complicated! Ron's distinguishing between a verb participle and a noun. Both are -ing words formed from verbs. As I understand it, he's saying
The elephant population is dying out because of poaching. is fine, since the -ing word is a noun
but
Sulfur dioxide is an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing... in the above example is not okay, because the -ing word is a verb participle
and
Because of diminishing returns... is okay, since the -ing word is an adjective.
For me, this is not a useful rule. I mean, how can you be sure that an -ing word is a noun, an adjective, or a verb participle? I'm not surprised that you're confused! To be honest, I do pretty well on GMAT and have never considered this distinction. Plus, looking closer at Ron's posts, it seems that he contradicts himself.
I would encourage you to take a much less grammatical approach and focus on the meaning of the sentence. Many examples of 'because of -ing' are incorrect because it's not clear who is doing the action. Take my example above: 'She was tired because of playing football.' This doesn't make clear that she was playing football, and so the sentence 'She was tired because she had been playing football.' would be preferable.
Finally, remember that, in SC problems, you're faced with alternatives. Try to find some more examples of splits using 'because of' in GMAT problems and consider the meaning of the different alternatives.
The elephant population is dying out because of poaching. is fine, since the -ing word is a noun
but
Sulfur dioxide is an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing... in the above example is not okay, because the -ing word is a verb participle
and
Because of diminishing returns... is okay, since the -ing word is an adjective.
For me, this is not a useful rule. I mean, how can you be sure that an -ing word is a noun, an adjective, or a verb participle? I'm not surprised that you're confused! To be honest, I do pretty well on GMAT and have never considered this distinction. Plus, looking closer at Ron's posts, it seems that he contradicts himself.
I would encourage you to take a much less grammatical approach and focus on the meaning of the sentence. Many examples of 'because of -ing' are incorrect because it's not clear who is doing the action. Take my example above: 'She was tired because of playing football.' This doesn't make clear that she was playing football, and so the sentence 'She was tired because she had been playing football.' would be preferable.
Finally, remember that, in SC problems, you're faced with alternatives. Try to find some more examples of splits using 'because of' in GMAT problems and consider the meaning of the different alternatives.