Sentence correction

[dlall2001]

Team: Attached below is the question from the MGMAT SC Question bank.

Congress has enacted legislation forbidding state and local governments from raising taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet for the next three years.
A. forbidding state and local governments from raising taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet for the next three years
B. that forbids state and local governments for the next three years from raising taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet
C. that for the next three years forbids state and local governments to raise taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet
D. forbidding for the next three years to state and local governments the raising of taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet
E. that forbids for the next three years state and local governments from raising taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet

Correct answer is C. What i would like to understand is when to use the "ing"form. This has been confusing me for a long time. Secondly, why "forbids to" is a better choice than" forbids from"

i thought answer A to be the right choice?Further, what difference can it make to the sentence to say "forbids for the next three years state govt to " instead of "forbids state government for the next three years to ".

Thanks

[DLALL2001]

Dear Team,

Can you pls revert..

thanks..:)

[StaceyKoprince]

"forbid X to do Y" is the correct idiomatic construction. A lot of people think the correct construction should be "forbid X from (doing) Y" b/c we all use this in everday conversation... but it's not grammatically correct.

It sounds terrible, I agree! But that's the idiomatic construction. If it's any consolation, this particular usage isn't tested very frequently.

"for the next three years" is referring to an action - it just needs to be clear which action this is referring to. In A, "for the next three years' is positioned at the end and appears to be referring to the action of "link(ing) consumers to the Internet. B through E are okay on this count - it's clear in those that we're talking about forbidding for 3 years, not linking for 3 years.

p.s. you'll likely get an answer more quickly if you post your questions in the proper folder. Since this is an MGMAT question from the SC question bank, it should go in the MGMAT Verbal Strategy Guide folder. Generally speaking, the specialized folders get answered before the two general math and verbal folders... :)

[dlall2001]

Thanks My mistake!!

[StaceyKoprince]

You're welcome!

[enginpasa1]

there re many idiom lists out there. IS there a specific one that Manhattan gmat recommends?

[StaceyKoprince]

We have a list of common idioms in our Sentence Correction strategy guide - in the idioms chapter!

[cesar.rodriguez.blanco]

One question:
"noun+forbidding X to do Y", for example "a law forbidding X to do Y", is ALWAYS wrong???

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

No - the construction that is incorrect, as noted above, is forbid X FROM (doing) Y. Did you mean to type "from" instead of "to"?

[ivy]

Hello Stacey,

According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, idiom 'forbid X from (doing) Y' is perfectly right. Then why is 'forbid X from (doing) Y' incorrect idiom? Can't Oxford Dictionary be considered a standard for language related issues?

Thanks a lot! :)

[tim]

Here's a good tip for SC: do not use ANY sources outside GMAT world. The GMAT decides what rules to use, and the fact that another source disagrees with the GMAT will not make the GMAT change its mind. It will only confuse you and cause you to get GMAT questions wrong.. :)

[ivy]

Here's a good tip for SC: do not use ANY sources outside GMAT world. The GMAT decides what rules to use, and the fact that another source disagrees with the GMAT will not make the GMAT change its mind. It will only confuse you and cause you to get GMAT questions wrong.. :)

Hmm, yes! You're right. :)

[tim]

Thanks :)

[AndyH539]

Dear instructor,
I am wondering if chaning the location of the "for the next three years " would make the C) incorrect or it will alter the meaning.

Thanks in advance!
Regards
Andy

C. that for the next three years forbids state and local governments to raise taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet

-> that forbids for the next three years state and local governments to raise taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet

-> that forbids state and local governments for the next three years to raise taxes on connections that link consumers to the Internet

-> that forbids state and local governments to raise taxes on connections for the next three years that link consumers to the Internet

[tim]

I would caution you against ever asking "what if" questions about changing parts of verbal questions, because there are often several interconnected parts that cannot be fully accounted for by a single change. Just focus on why the right answer is right and why all the wrong answers are wrong.

As for changing the meaning, every single word you change, in any sentence ever, changes the meaning.