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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 23 Sep 2017, 04:47
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"D" is the correct choice - parallel structure and correct usage of ...not.... but...
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 12 Nov 2017, 22:59
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as - idiom issue - “think of X not as Y but as Z”
B) as not expense,but - idiom issue
C) not an expense,rather - “Not…rather” is non-idiomatic
D) not as an expense,but as - Correct
E) not in terms of expense,but - parallelism issue - “in terms of expense” and “an investment”

Answer D
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 13 Nov 2017, 04:25
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as
B) as not expense,but
C) not an expense,rather
D) not as an expense,but as
E) not in terms of expense,but
Show more

there is special situation here.
in other official problem "considered as" is wrong and "consider something " is right.
but inhere why "considered as" is correct.

the reason is not only because d is best but also because the object of "consisder" is long

"cost of conventions and gathering" is long

so, we need to retain "as"

the difuculty here is that gmat do not declare this rule and make us infer this rule. gmat want us to be grammar researchers ????
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 07 Mar 2018, 22:37
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A) as not an expense,but as - Incorrect starting with as
B) as not expense,but - Incorrect
C) not an expense,rather - Incorrect idiomatic expression
D) not as an expense,but as - Correct
E) not in terms of expense,but - Incorrect parallelism

Ans: D
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 05 Apr 2018, 22:13
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GMATNinja VeritasPrepKarishma egmat

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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends
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Assuming that I can not recall all idioms and AS can function as a role in AS + NOUN (eg. In the drama enacted, Steve acts as a lawyer), how can I eliminate (A)

AS + expense (noun-1) and AS + investment (noun-2) are correct usage since subjects - cost and gatherings - can take role of plural nouns.
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 05 Apr 2018, 23:38
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akadiyan
A) as not an expense,but as - Incorrect starting with as
B) as not expense,but - Incorrect
C) not an expense,rather - Incorrect idiomatic expression
D) not as an expense,but as - Correct
E) not in terms of expense,but - Incorrect parallelism

Ans: D
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Why starting with as is incorrect ?
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 06 Apr 2018, 11:20
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adkikani
egmat

In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends

Assuming that I can not recall all idioms and AS can function as a role in AS + NOUN (eg. In the drama enacted, Steve acts as a lawyer), how can I eliminate (A)

AS + expense (noun-1) and AS + investment (noun-2) are correct usage since subjects - cost and gatherings - can take role of plural nouns.
Show more


Hello Arpit/ adkikani,

Thank you for the query. :-)

Well, anyone preparing for the GMAT must at least remember such simple idioms as between X and Y, both X and Y, not only X but also Y, not X but Y, etc.

This question is all about idiomatic expression. So we must bear in mind that as not X is incorrect expression. The correct expression is not as X.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 06 Apr 2018, 11:24
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teaserbae
akadiyan
A) as not an expense,but as - Incorrect starting with as
B) as not expense,but - Incorrect
C) not an expense,rather - Incorrect idiomatic expression
D) not as an expense,but as - Correct
E) not in terms of expense,but - Incorrect parallelism

Ans: D


Why starting with as is incorrect ?
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Hello teaserbae,

I would like to help you with this one. :-)

On GMAT SC, certain expressions are considered correct and certain expressions incorrect.

So the expression as not X is incorrect,. The correct expression not as X.

The best way to get around these idiomatic expressions is to learn them by heart.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 09 Apr 2018, 08:46
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as
B) as not expense,but
C) not an expense,rather
D) not as an expense,but as
E) not in terms of expense,but

The correct idiom is Not as X, but as Y. X and Y should be parallal to each other.

The only choice which shows this use is D and hence D is the correct choice.

These are some commom parallelism markers. It is always better to know them very well as it can save a lot of time on the test day. I was able to solve this question in 33 seconds only because I knew that marker.

1 More A than B.
2 As many A's as B's.
3 As much A as B.
4 Not only A, but also B.
5 The more the A, the less the B.
6 No less was A than was B.
7 A is to X as B is to Y.
8 To A is to B.
9 Not A, but rather B
10 A instead of B.
11 The same to A as to B.
12 Range from A to B.
13 Both A and B.
14 Neither A, nor B.
15 Either A, or B.
16 Mistake A for B.

Thank you!
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 30 Apr 2018, 14:35
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Hello

Can anyone clarify if a comma is allowed in between an idiom such as :

Not X, but Y Vs Not X but Y
Think of X not as Y, but as Z Vs Think of x not as Y but as Z.

Is comma optional between the idioms or is it required or is it based on the structure of the sentence? Appreciate it.
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 12 May 2018, 02:27
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AbdurRakib
In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as
B) as not expense,but
C) not an expense,rather
D) not as an expense,but as
E) not in terms of expense,but
Show more



QA : IDIOM RULE : not as - but as
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 11 Jul 2018, 08:25
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the " that" refers to investment or networking?
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 11 Jul 2018, 09:43
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dewdrops909
the " that" refers to investment or networking?
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Hi dewdrops909, that would refer to investment because clearly this investment pays dividends.

that is flexible and can modify whatever makes sense. In this case, investment makes sense.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses modifier issues of that, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 27 Aug 2018, 18:13
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Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a question that deals with idiomatic structures! Let's take a closer look to determine the correct answer - and do it quickly! To get started, here is the original question with the main differences highlighted in orange:

In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense, but as
B) as not expense, but
C) not an expense, rather
D) not as an expense, but as
E) not in terms of expense, but

It's clear from looking over the question quickly that we're dealing with an idiomatic structure that also uses parallel structure. The idiomatic structure we're dealing with here is:

not X, but Y

In this case, both X and Y must be written using parallel structure and wording. For example:

The autumn leaves were not a bright yellow, but were a deep golden hue. --> WRONG
The autumn leaves were not a bright yellow, but a deep golden hue. --> RIGHT

To check for idiomatic structure and parallelism, let's go ahead and add in the phrase "an investment" to the end of each one to fully round out the phrase. Once we've done that, it should be pretty clear which options don't follow the idiomatic structure:

A) as not an expense, but as an investment --> WRONG
(The verb "as" needs to be part of both phrases, or not at all. In this case, it's part of one half, but not the other, making in not parallel in format).

B) as not expense, but an investment --> WRONG
(The word "an" needs to be part of both phrases. In this case, the verb "an" is before the word "not," which means it isn't part of the idiomatic structure. This is another example of a non parallel structure.)

C) not an expense, rather an investment --> WRONG
(While this option DOES use parallel structure for the X and Y by saying "an expense" and "an investment," it's still wrong! It doesn't follow the basic idiomatic structure of "not X, but Y." It uses "not X, rather Y" instead, which is wrong.)

D) not as an expense, but as an investment --> CORRECT
(This uses the correct format of the idiomatic structure "not X, but Y." Both X and Y are written in the same format, with the phrase "as an" at the beginning of each one. Therefore, this is the CORRECT choice!)

E) not in terms of expense, but an investment --> WRONG
(Here is another case of the X and Y not being written using parallel structure. They both need to start with the phrase "in terms of" in them, or both need to start with "an" in them to be parallel.)

There you have it! Option D is the correct option because it's the only one that uses the idiomatic structure "not X, but Y" correctly!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 13 Jun 2019, 21:20
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AbdurRakib
In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as
B) as not expense,but
C) not an expense,rather
D) not as an expense,but as
E) not in terms of expense,but
Show more

Dear Team,

I am ok with answer D. I have a doubt regarding use of comma. According to me, comma is not required. Kindly explain
bb GMATNinja generis
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 14 Jun 2019, 03:01
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

The structure is Not X but Y and X and Y should be parallel.

A) as not an expense,but as

If I break it down,
X as
not an expense
but as an Investment

If I remove but -> there are two "as" -> Incorrect

B) as not expense,but

We have an investment, we require an expense

C) not an expense,rather
Not X but Y is the structure

D) not as an expense,but as
Correct

E) not in terms of expense,but
We require in terms of Investment to make it parallel but we don't have that so incorrect
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Hello
In option B, if 'an' were present in the sentence ( as not an expense but an investment ), then out of B and D, which one would be right answer.
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 14 Jun 2019, 16:19
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Dear Sir,
I am clear with answer D. In all options, I have a doubt regarding the use of comma. Acc. to me, comma is not required. Kindly explain
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Hello priyanshu14!

Thanks for the question! The comma is required in this instance because it's part of the idiom format:

not X, but Y

This is one of the few exceptions where you need to use a comma before "but," even though what comes after it is not an independent clause. It needs to stay to properly show the strong contradiction between X and Y. It's a case of what I call the 90/10 rule with English grammar: 90% of the time the rules apply, but 10% of the time they don't. It's why English can be such a pain to learn!

I hope this helps!
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 17 Jun 2019, 07:13
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AbdurRakib
In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as
B) as not expense,but
C) not an expense,rather
D) not as an expense,but as
E) not in terms of expense,but

Dear Team,

I am ok with answer D. I have a doubt regarding use of comma. According to me, comma is not required. Kindly explain
bb GMATNinja generis
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As discussed in this post and this long-winded video, overreacting to commas is usually a bad idea. Is that comma entirely necessary? Probably not. Does that make it wrong on the GMAT? Nah. And at the very least, it's far better to look for decision points other than comma usage on official SC questions.

pm0103
Hello
In option B, if 'an' were present in the sentence ( as not an expense but an investment ), then out of B and D, which one would be right answer.
Show more
Messing around with answer choices and asking yourself, "what if...?", is not usually a great use of your valuable study time. Answering GMAT questions as written is hard enough, so don't torture yourself by analyzing tweaked versions of the answer choices. If you understand why (B), as written, should be eliminated, then you've done your job. :)

I hope this helps a bit!
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 22 Jun 2019, 02:13
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AbdurRakib
In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as
B) as not expense,but
C) not an expense,rather
D) not as an expense,but as
E) not in terms of expense,but
Show more

SV pairs:
1. the head..emphasized
2. companies..should think
3. investment..will pay

that is referring to investment

is this correct?
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In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized 18 Oct 2019, 03:51
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669. In her presentation, the head of the Better Business Bureau emphasized that companies should think of the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings as not an expense, but as an investment in networking that will pay dividends.

A) as not an expense,but as
B) as not expense,but
C) not an expense,rather
D) not as an expense,but as
E) not in terms of expense,but

The correct idiomatic structure is violated in all the options, but D. SO, D is the correct answer.
The correct idiomatic structure is: companies should think of A not as an B but as an C.

A = the cost of conventions and other similar gatherings

B = expense

C = investment
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