The number of people flying first

[thanghnvn]

I should continue the posting.

the above points are important when we see the split (in comparison)

comma+doing
comma+twice as much/many as

comma+doing modify verb/clause

when we see this split, ask the following phrase modify preceding noun or preceding verb.

[jlucero]

The number (of people flying first class on domestic flights) rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the the previous year.

The fact that the number rose sharply (main clause of the sentence) is why the increase in 1990 doubled that from the previous year.

That makes mathematical sense, because of the number of people flying first class stayed the same as last year, the increase would not doubled the previous year's increase.

So do you mean the meaning of the scentence actually is :

The increase of the number of people flying first class in 1990 double the increase of previous year?

Why I cannot understand this meaning from reading the scentence...T T

Because if it were easy, it wouldn't be on the GMAT :)

[jlucero]

thank you Ron,

twice as many as
can modifies ONLY noun
because "many" can only modifies noun

in contrast

twice as much as
can modify verb or noun
because "much" can modifies noun or verb

amount of water twice as much as that used before is enough noun
I study gmat twice as much as you do

is my thinking correct?

In this idiom, many vs much is used to describe things that are either countable or not countable. They are both describing an amount of a thing:

I have twice as much water (uncountable) as you.
I have twice as many bottles of water (countable) as you.

[duyng9989]

Hi.

I have a question about the usage of twice and double:

[----]

[RonPurewal]

duyng9989, do you have proof that the "clergy" question is from GMATPrep?
that's a problem from OG 11th edition, and it has not (to our knowledge) ever appeared in the GMAT PREP software.

if you're actually seen that question in the software, please post a screenshot of the question, from the software. otherwise, we'll have to delete that post.

thanks.

[duyng9989]

duyng9989, do you have proof that the "clergy" question is from GMATPrep?
that's a problem from OG 11th edition, and it has not (to our knowledge) ever appeared in the GMAT PREP software.

if you're actually seen that question in the software, please post a screenshot of the question, from the software. otherwise, we'll have to delete that post.

thanks.

I am have found the question in the download SC question bank which is claimed to be from GMAT prep.

You mentioned earlier that "twice as many as" is the appositive. I just want to know whether the phrase "double the number" or "double the quantity" is consider appositive like "twice as many as"?

Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

I am have found the question in the download SC question bank which is claimed to be from GMAT prep.

so, in other words, you don't really know. (therefore i had to delete the post.)

You mentioned earlier that "twice as many as" is the appositive. I just want to know whether the phrase "double the number" or "double the quantity" is consider appositive like "twice as many as"?

those things should behave similarly, yes.

[duyng9989]

Thank you. I just need to have confirmation that "twice as many as" and "double the number" are appositive. :)

[RonPurewal]

Thank you. I just need to have confirmation that "twice as many as" and "double the number" are appositive. :)

they're used similarly. that's the best answer i can give you.

if you're asking whether these 2 modifiers are called "appositives", then, sorry, i don't know. but the good news is that it doesn't matter.
you can call them "appositives"; i can call them "pink flamingoes". as long as we both know how to use them... it's all good.

[duyng9989]

by the way, you can strike (d) and (e) without even seeing the prompt.
as soon as you see "twice as many as the increase...", these choices are automatically incorrect (since "increase" is not a countable quantity).

Ron, are you using the keyword "many" here to determine that the object should be countable? Is "Twice as much as" unidiomatic?

here's the basic idea:

if you say "twice as many", then this construction should be paired with a countable noun.
e.g., twice as many dogs --> "dogs" is a countable noun

if you said "twice as much", then this construction should be paired with an uncountable noun.
e.g., twice as much water --> "water" is an uncountable noun

if the noun in question is already an explicitly numerical quantity, then you should use neither "much" nor "many". instead, you should just use "twice" or "double" by itself.
e.g., twice the increase --> "increase" is an explicitly numerical quantity

these rules are followed pretty closely.
so, for instance:
twice as much water --> correct, since "water" is an uncountable noun (but is not an explicitly numerical quantity)
twice the water... --> incorrect, since water is not a numerical quantity

twice as much as the increase... --> incorrect; redundant
twice the increase... --> correct

Also, is there a generic rule regarding the uses of twice/double?

i don't know of one, other than restrictions on parts of speech, of which you are almost certainly already aware (e.g., "double" can be a verb, while "twice" clearly can't)

Hi Ron:

I have a question about the use of twice.

I know that "Increase STH by twice" is incorrect
But what about increase STH to twice? IS it correct.

For example:

Heat increases the pressure on the balloon to twice the normal value

Thank you.

[ghong14]

I wanted to clarify something that I have about the usage of "that of" in GMAT sentence correction. I often find answers where the use of "it" is a split with "that of."

Why is it appropriate in those sentences to use "it" but not that of? Shouldn't they be referring to the same antecedent and if there is one for it shouldn't there be one for that of?

You went into this on in here:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/og-review-10th-sc-73-t1595.html

In your most recent sentence, however, 'that of earlier generations' is a problem. Specifically, 'that of' doesn't have a clear referent, because there's no strong parallel structure to determine it anymore. It could conceivably stand for 'goal', 'majority', or perhaps even 'freestanding house' or 'land'. And if you go by the best possible parallelism, 'that of' seems to refer to a majority, because that's the word placed right before '...OF young adults' (which seems to work in parallel with '...OF earlier generations').

If you could elaborate.....

[duyng9989]

I wanted to clarify something that I have about the usage of "that of" in GMAT sentence correction. I often find answers where the use of "it" is a split with "that of."

Why is it appropriate in those sentences to use "it" but not that of? Shouldn't they be referring to the same antecedent and if there is one for it shouldn't there be one for that of?

You went into this on in here:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/og-review-10th-sc-73-t1595.html

In your most recent sentence, however, 'that of earlier generations' is a problem. Specifically, 'that of' doesn't have a clear referent, because there's no strong parallel structure to determine it anymore. It could conceivably stand for 'goal', 'majority', or perhaps even 'freestanding house' or 'land'. And if you go by the best possible parallelism, 'that of' seems to refer to a majority, because that's the word placed right before '...OF young adults' (which seems to work in parallel with '...OF earlier generations').

If you could elaborate.....

I would like to make an attempt to answer the question about the use of IT and That, (and that of):

"it" must refer to the entirely of the noun phrase serving as an antecedent!!!

For example: Last year's attendance was ten thousand greater than IT was this year.
-> it refers to "last year's attendance, not just attendance. Hence the above sentence is incorrect.

Other question: (this is from Gmat prep and is discussed in this forum).
There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels: more than 10 times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990

A. generated through win power now than it was
b. generated through wind power now as it was
c. gnereated through wind power now as was the case
d. now generated through wind power as it was
e.now generated through wind power then was the case.

In choice A, B,D: "IT" refers back to the entire "More than 10 times as much energy"; not just energy -> an interpretation makes no logical sense => incorrect. E is incorrect too because of "then" instead of "than" => incorrect =>C is correct answer.

in this example:
According to recent pool, owning and living in a freestanding house on its own land is still a goal of a majority of young adult, as it was of earlier generations.
"it" refers back to "owning and living in a freestanding house".

So if you see "IT" in a sentence, you have to determine that what is the antecedent of the noun. It refers back to the entire noun phrase.

About the use of "THAT OF".

"that" refers to the "noun before of" or the noun in possession of preceding noun.

For example:

The air quality of Las Vegas was higher than that of Baltimore=> correct.
Here: That stands for students.

The Las Vegas's air quality was higher than that of baltimore => still correct.
Here: that stands for students (but in possessive form).

I think those are the relevant points for you :D

[ghong14]

I think you probably want to look at your last example. I think you might have mis-typed the sentence.

I do like the explanation of "that of," pretty much we need to find a parallel structure that is also doing the comparison when that of is used in a construction. Which would explain why C D and E is wrong for the following question.

****deleted by moderator, reason, posting of Official Guide question, a banned source*****

[ghong14]

deleted by moderator. Please do not post Official Guide questions here; they are a banned source.

[jnelson0612]

Folks, I'm trying to determine if there are still questions here that need answers. If you still have questions, please post (without including official GMAT questions, please; they are a banned source).