sahilvijay The problem with memorizing lists of idioms is that many idioms are correct in one context and incorrect in another. In the problem you're referencing (https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-his-resea ... 39274.html), someone is trying to draw a clear distinction between two things. He isn't just trying to tell them apart--he is asserting that they are different in a specific way. For that purpose, "distinguish between X and Y" works best, although A fails for other reasons. (I'll agree with the posters who said that despite the OG explanation, that little distinction alone isn't going to make or break an answer.)

In the context of our art question here, "distinguish X from Y" works just fine. Replace "distinguish" with "tell" and you'll see that it is just saying that people can't tell one thing from another.
_________________

looks B to me

far less is better + distinguish one FROM another

I would go with B too. It keeps the un-underlined (hope that is a word) and underlined portion parallel...distinguishing a from b ... x from y.

'far less' is better than 'much less' & the idiom is 'distinguish X from Y'.

It is 'B'.

OG 2011- Ques 107
Distinguish x from y is not correct => its unidomatic..
so why here option B is correct?

Official Explanation

Idiom; Parallelism

The preferred idiomatic form is distinguishing X from Y, rather than distinguishing X and Y.

A. This version uses the incorrect idiomatic form distinguishing X and Y.

B. Correct. This version uses the preferred idiomatic form distinguishing X from Y.

C. This version uses the incorrect idiomatic form distinguishing X and Y. Furthermore, expert when it comes to is excessively wordy in comparison to expert in as seen in choices A, B, and D.

D. This version uses the incorrect idiomatic form distinguishing X and Y.

E. Although the form distinguishing between X and Y is an acceptable alternative to distinguishing X from Y, this version fails to capture that what art patrons have difficulty distinguishing between are good paintings and poor ones on the one hand, and authentic art and fakes on the other.

The correct answer is B.

Hey DmitryFarber

As I understand there is a nuance here. Correct me if I am wrong.

Distinguish X from Y is always incorrect.
Distinguishing X from Y may be correct depending on the context.

GMATNinja daagh egmat please help in this question. The answer does not look very satisfying.

nlx

Although many art patrons can readily differentiate a good debenture from an undesirable one, they are much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and fakes.


The first point is that this a contrast question. Distinguishing here means differentiating, sifting or separating the chaff from the grain, or filtering the good from the bad.
Normally, the correct idiom for this function is 1.differentiate X from Y 2.distinguish X from Y, or 3. Discriminate between X and Y or distinguish between X and Y. However, 'distinguishing X and Y' will be wrong because there is now no contrast

(A) much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and -- This is wrong because it lacks the comparison or the contrast.

(B) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from----- Good one.

(C) much less expert when it comes to distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art from-- 'distinguishing good paintings and the poor ones' is unidiomatic in the context.

(D) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and ----- same problem as in A and C.

(E) far less the expert when it comes to distinguishing between good painting, poor ones, authentic art, and -- It looks like a list comprising four items, changing the original intent.
_________________

Correct answer: B

The idiom is "distinguishing x FROM y"

A: Incorrect idiom.
B: Correct: "distinguishing A FROM B, X FROM Y"
C: Idiom. Wordy.
D: Idiom
E: Noun "the expert" is not correctly modified by "far less." Idiom. Meaning distortion (distinguishing between A, B, C, and D).
_________________

Main Issue:

Idioms: Correct: "Distinguish X from Y" Wrong: "Distinguish X and Y"

(A) much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and - Wrong: Idiom

(B) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from - Correct

(C) much less expert when it comes to distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art from - Wrong: Idiom 2) Parallelism

(D) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and - Wrong: Idiom

(E) far less the expert when it comes to distinguishing between good painting, poor ones, authentic art, and - Wrong: 1) Meaning 2) Idiom: "between"

The main aspect in the sentence is about distinguishing two things in a parallel manner - a good debenture from an undesirable one, good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from fakes.

Answer B.
_________________

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

Although many art patrons can readily differentiate a good debenture from an undesirable one, they are much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and fakes.

(A) much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and
(B) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from
(C) much less expert when it comes to distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art from
(D) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and
(E) far less the expert when it comes to distinguishing between good painting, poor ones, authentic art, and

After a quick glance over our options, a couple things jump out that we can focus on:

1. much less vs. far less
2. good painting and/from poor ones; authentic art and/from fakes

While it may be tempting to tackle #1 on our list first, you should skip it. Why? Because there really isn't a difference between using "much less" and "far less" in this case. This split is meant to distract you from the real problem: IDIOMS! The idiom we're dealing with today is this:

distinguishing X from Y

We need to make sure that each sentence does this correctly every time it occurs in the sentence. To make problems easier to spot, let's add the last word "fakes" back in:

(A) much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and fakes = WRONG
(B) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from fakes = OKAY
(C) much less expert when it comes to distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art from fakes = WRONG
(D) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and fakes = WRONG
(E) far less the expert when it comes to distinguishing between good painting, poor ones, authentic art, and fakes = WRONG
(The problem with option E is the word "between." It is idiomatically correct to say "distinguish between X and Y." However, by listing all 4 items together as one list, it changes the overall meaning to be "distinguishing between A and B and C and D," rather than pairing up good/poor and authentic/fakes. You're not comparing each of the 4 items to all 3 of the other items, so this is wrong.)


There you have it - option B is our answer! By focusing in on the idiom "distinguishing X from Y," we were able to eliminate the wrong options quickly!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
_________________

IDIOMS:

To distinguish X from Y --- Used to distinguish among things that are opposites.
vs
To distinguish between X and Y ---- Used to distinguish among elements with things in common.


Therefore, in this sentence, it is important to use the idiom TO DISTINGUISH X FROM Y.


iN SUMMARY


(A) much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and ---- WRONG IDIOM

(B) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from ---- CORRECT. One of the uses of a comma is to give two similar adjectives or elements in a row without the conjunction "and" in the middle. Ex: She is a nice, studious woman.

(C) much less expert when it comes to distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art from ----- WRONG IDIOM

(D) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and ----- WRONG IDIOM

(E) far less the expert when it comes to distinguishing between good painting, poor ones, authentic art, and ----- WRONG IDIOM
_________________

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-



Choice A: In Option A, we see the use of the incorrect idiomatic form "distinguishing X and Y" in the phrase "distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and fakes". Thus, Option A is incorrect.

Choice B: Option B preserves the intended meaning of the sentence and utilizes the correct idiomatic form. Thus, Option B is correct.

Choice C: Option C commits the same error found in Option A. Moreover, the phrase "expert when it comes to" is needlessly wordy. Thus, Option C is incorrect.

Choice D: Option D also repeats the error found in Option A. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E: In Option E, we see a distortion of meaning arising from the use of the phrase "distinguishing between"; the intended meaning of the sentence is that while many art patrons can distinguish between a good debenture and an undesirable one, they are less capable of distinguishing between good paintings and poor paintings and between authentic art and fakes. However, if Option E is utilized, the resultant sentence lists all four elements in one list; this change alters the sentence to mean that the patrons are not as capable of distinguishing between all four elements taken together, as they are capable of differentiating between a good debenture and an undesirable one. Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of “Use of Distinguish on the GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________

As to Option B
is 'and' lost before 'authentic art'?
I think without 'and' the sentence is odd, maybe a fragment?
far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, and authentic art from

The correct idiom that we are looking for here is ‘distinguish X from Y’

The trick here is to notice a second pair of contrast that is made at the end of the sentence between ‘authentic art and fake art’.

Let’s scan the options:

(A) much less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and

(B) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from

(C) much less expert when it comes to distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art from

(D) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings and poor ones, authentic art and

(E) far less the expert when it comes to distinguishing between good painting, poor ones, authentic art, and

Eliminate Options A, C and D for the wrong idiom.

Eliminate Option E for altering the intended meaning; plus ‘between’ is incorrect for more than two items.

Option B is the best choice.

Hope this helps!
_________________

Hello Experts,
DmitryFarber
GMATNinja
daagh egmat

Although I got the correct answer for this one but I am trying to understand the structure of the idiom in option B.
"distinguishing x from y,A from B"
If it would have been distinguishing X from Y then it's understood, however, if you add another list like in this case, is the idiom still correct?

Hi

(B) far less expert in distinguishing good paintings from poor ones, authentic art from

In this option do we not need an 'and'?

"....distinguishing good paintings from poor ones and authentic art from fakes."
_________________