In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given

A. in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine CORRECT
B. in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining. Awkward construction
C. in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine Subject and Verb agreement issue.
D. between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining Usage of between is wrong idiom correct idiom is between X and Y.

E. between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining.Usage of between is wrong idiom correct idiom is between X and Y.

In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

(a) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
Correct. S-V agreement "differences......help".

(b) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
Wrong. change meaning "differences in the two ears"

(c) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
Wrong. differences is plural, so "helps" is incorrect.

(d) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
Wrong. "differences between how the two ears hear" is wrong idiom. Should be "differences between how X and how Y". Also, "helps" is incorrect.

(e) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining
Wrong. "differences between how the two ears hear" is wrong idiom. Should be "differences between how X and how Y". Also, "help in doing something" is wrong idiom.

No, "to" is not mandatory. The following is an excerpt from Manhattan SC guide from the chapter Idioms:

RIGHT:
He HELPS RAKE the leaves.
He HELPS TO RAKE the leaves.
He HELPS me RAKE the leaves.
He HELPS me TO RAKE the leaves.
His HELP IN RAKING the leaves has been welcome.

WRONG:
He HELPS me IN RAKING the leaves.
I need him AS HELP TO RAKE the leaves.

First, it shouldn't be "help the listener to determine" (although that is how lots of people would say it). You don't need the "to" - and, if you don't need it, then it's not going to be in the correct answer!

Be careful about deciding based upon what sounds good or bad. The test will fool your ear. Go based upon the specific rules you KNOW are true.

You may read an original sentence and think it sounds awkward (in fact, this will happen quite a lot!), but if you cannot point to a specific area that you KNOW is an actual grammatical error, don't eliminate A. It stays in as a possibility.

The in vs. between issue is an idiom. I say differences in X (just one thing) or differences between X and Y (two things). This sentence has one thing: how the two ears hear a given sound. So, I need "differences in." Elim D and E.

B says "differences in the two ears hearing" - that makes it sound like the two ears themselves are different (as in, they look different or something), as opposed to a difference in the way the two ears perceive a sound. That's not the original meaning (and doesn't even make a lot of sense), so elim B.

C says "differences... helps" - that's a subj-verb mismatch. Elim C. (you can also use this to elim D, if you haven't already eliminated it).

Only A is left. (And, usually this will be the process for getting yourself to A. There won't be anything wrong with it but you'll be suspicious of it b/c 80% of the time there IS something wrong with it, so you'll find some reason to say it sounds bad. But DO NOT eliminate A unless you can point to a specific error. Leave it in and test the others.)
Stacey Koprince
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A for me.

differences need help, not helps.

using between will not be idiomatic.

IMO A

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine - CORRECT
(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining - as if differences in the ears
(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine - differences is plural
(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

Hello, kntombat. To answer your question, no, option (C) would not have been incorrect had it incorporated a proper subject-verb agreement. It would still have been less preferable to (A), since the active voice of the original sentence beats out a passive construct, but at least (C) would not have been dismissible. (I am sure the sentence was carefully crafted to ensure that (C) would be undeniably incorrect.)

Thank you for thinking to ask me about the question.

- Andrew

Difference between indicates dissimilarity between two entities. For example: There are many differences between a car and a truck.

Difference in is generally used to emphasize a specific characteristic that is different between two entities. For example: There is a difference in the way one drives a car vs the way one drives a truck.

In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine Correct answer.

(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining "help...in determining" is incorrect, "help...to determine" is the correct idiom. Eliminate.

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine Singular verb "helps" is incorrectly associated with plural "differences". Eliminate.

(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining Same error as in (C). Eliminate.

(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining Same error as in option (B). Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

Because of both 'between' and 'in determining'

It is much better to use 'differences... help the listener determine' than to say 'differences... help the listener in determining' because in the second case, it is not clear who is doing the determining. It is acting as a noun, an object for the preposition 'in'. Whereas when we use the infinitive form 'determine/to determine' we know that the listener is doing the action of determine.


A helps B do something. (infinitive when B is doing the action)
A helps B in his projects. (prepositional phrase when nouns are involved)

Still not sure on A. 'to' has to be there..

AndrewN, I was confused between A and C but chose C and got it wrong. I understood where I went wrong based on what the others before me have written but the question I have is in C if the verb "helps" would have been "help" would the sentence still been wrong?

Anybody else who reads this is also welcome to solve the dilemma.

Thank you.

Hello Sir,
EducationAisle
Can you shed some light on "difference in" vs "difference between" ?

Thank you!

Hi AjiteshArun GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

If "helps" would have been modified to "help" in option choice C-

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener determine

then would option choice A still be the correct answer ?


I understand option choice C is in passive voice, but in terms of meaning wouldn't the modified version of C be the better choice rather than A ?

Hi tt147,

Perhaps, but we should avoid taking that call, because generally speaking, we prefer the active voice to the passive voice.

In your own writing you can absolutely choose the passive if you want to shift emphasis away from the agent, but fine calls like that are unlikely to be tested on the GMAT, which is most likely why they ensured that test takers would not be forced to take that particular call in this question.

In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

Option Elimination -
A bit of basics first
What is the difference between "help in ING" and "help to"
"Help in" is used when we want to say that the assistance contributes to achieving a specific goal. E.g., The new software will help in improving productivity. Here, "the new software" contributes to achieving a specific goal which is improving productivity.

"Help to" is used when we say that the assistance enables someone to perform a specific task. E.g., The tutor helps to develop student's problem-solving skills. Here, the assistance provided by the teacher enables the students to develop problem-solving skills)

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine - here, "subtle differences" enable the listener to perform a particular task. What task? "to determine the qualities of that sound." "to" before "determine" is skipped and that's ok.

(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining - "determining the qualities of that sound" is not some goal, so we need "to determine."

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine - SV Issue. "subtle differences" plural and "helps" singular verb.

(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining - same as C.

(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining - same as B.

Is option E wrong because of between idiom?
KarishmaB
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