Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by

Here is the OE

Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness.

(A) Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness.

The construction "X rather than Y" requires parallelism between X and Y, but the original sentence pairs an active verb ("accept") with a passive one ("was sent"). Second, the use of "if" in this context is incorrect. "if" is used only to introduce conditional clauses (e.g. “if X, then Y”). Here, "whether" should be used instead of “if” to indicate uncertainty about achieving a state of enlightenment. GMAT prefers “if” to be used as a conditional and “weather” to express uncertainty about certain event.

(B) Rather than accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness.

This choice contains the same errors as in (A). "X rather than Y" requires parallelism between X and Y, but this choice pairs an active verb ("accepting") with a passive one ("was sent"). Second, the use of "if" in this context is incorrect. "if" is used only to introduce conditional clauses (e.g. “if X, then Y”). Here, "whether" should be used instead of “if” to indicate uncertainty about reaching India by traveling west.

(C) Instead of accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent towards the path of complete awareness by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of complete awareness.

This choice begins with "instead of," which is incorrectly used to compare the verbs “accepting” and “sailed.” When comparing verbs, “rather than” is the better choice. Even if “instead of” were correct, the construction "X instead of Y" requires parallelism between X and Y, but this choice pairs an active verb ("accepting") with a passive one ("was sent"). Finally, the use of "if" in this context is incorrect. "Whether" should be used instead of “if” to indicate uncertainty.

(D) Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha went towards the path of complete awareness to see whether he could achieve a state of enlightenment, having been sent by his inner instincts.

CORRECT. This choice uses the construction “X rather than Y” to correctly compare the parallel active verbs “accept” and “went.” The uncertainty about reaching India by travelling west is correctly indicated by the word “whether.”

(E) Instead of accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha went towards the path of complete awareness to see whether he could achieve a state of enlightenment, having been sent by his inner instincts.

This choice begins with "instead of," which is incorrectly used to compare the verbs “accepting” and “went.” When comparing verbs, “rather than” is the better choice.

It was a straight D. The higher percentage of errors and the fact that it featured in the 100 hardest SC made me ponder a bit longer over this question.

Hello,

In E, If it was "rather than accepting" will it be grammatically correct? is "accepting" parallel with "went"?

can anyone give more information when to choose "rather than" or "instead of"

This question is not correct, and MGMAT also agreed to revise this question.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/rat ... t1177.html

There is no good enough reason to select D over C, instead of saying that rather than is much formal.

Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness.

A) Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness.The sentence is not parallel and "whether" would be better.
B) Rather than accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness.The sentence is not parallel and "whether" would be better.
C) Instead of accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent towards the path of complete awareness by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of complete awareness.Replacing "rather than" with "instead of" doesn't resolve the issues in A and B
D) Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha went towards the path of complete awareness to see whether he could achieve a state of enlightenment, having been sent by his inner instincts.
E) Instead of accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha went towards the path of complete awareness to see whether he could achieve a state of enlightenment, having been sent by his inner instincts. still not parallel

Can sum1 plz explain the use of INSTEAD OF and RATHER THAN

in E
instead of +doing + main clause
is correct pattern, in which instead of work as a preposition

rather than can not work as a preposition but work only as a conjuction which connect two similar words/phrase.

e is wrong because we should not us both doing and having done in the same clause. this error is not big

because this problem is not from official source, I will not study deeply

PS: I don't think this is a 95% difficulty level question. To concepts are tested here If vs Whether and Rather than vs Instead of .

If is used when there is conditional statement .(here in this question, no condition stated)

Always prefer rather than(preference) to Instead of .

D...... uses both the concepts correctly .

Time take : 11 sec

Note that D still keeps the parallel in tense.
"went" is past tense, but "rather than + V infinitive is correct.

GMATNinja generis Vercules

IMO, D AND E CHANGE THE MEANING OF SENTENCE. COULD SOMEONE CLARIFY?

shubhamgautam

Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness.


A) Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness. - WRONG Because of points 1, 2 and 3

B) Rather than accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of enlightenment by going towards the path of complete awareness. - WRONG Because of points 2 and 3

C) Instead of accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha was sent towards the path of complete awareness by his inner instincts to see if he could achieve a state of complete awareness. - WRONG Because of point 1, 2 and 3

D) Rather than accept the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha went towards the path of complete awareness to see whether he could achieve a state of enlightenment, having been sent by his inner instincts. - CORRECT

E) Instead of accepting the throne of Kapilavastu, Lord Buddha went towards the path of complete awareness to see whether he could achieve a state of enlightenment, having been sent by his inner instincts. - WRONG Because of point 1

1. Instead+ of(a preposition)+ ??
it has to be a noun, and it cant be a verb!!

rather than + ??
it can be anything, noun or verb!!

**Instead of can be replaced with "In the place of"
similar to
1. being = in the process of
2. due to = caused by

and if that sounds correct to you well then that's the correct usage!

2. passive, active/ active, passive construction is awkward
never right.
an active voice is always preferred over a passive voice!!!


3. if vs whether
if is a conditional statement. the most frequent and correct use of if is in "if X, then Y"
please note in if clause could/would never appears.

4. verbing modifier
verbing modifier preceded with comma has 2 functions
1. it modifies the previous clause
2. it modifies the subject too!!

Regards
Padfoot

Can someone pls explain the use of "Having been + ...." in general? Can the event that comes after having been clause be in past tense?

How is option D correct. having been sent by his inner instincts is modifying state of enlightenment which is wrong. Or is my understanding wrong? Also HAVING BEEN SENT BY HIS INNER INSTINCTS is a clause which is incomplete

gambit07 Mahima1203
I can try to help.

The having + verb-ed modifier is not a clause rather an action modifier that presents the sequencing between the modifier and the modified action. Per this usage, the modifier action is the earlier action, and the modified action is the latter action.
For example:
Having finished his breakfast, Tim went out to play.

Hope this helps.

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