Most insomnia is not an illness or a physical condition so much as a

Question

Most insomnia is not  an illness or a physical condition so much as a symptom of another problem that may simply be a reaction to certain medications , anxiety about travel, or stress before a job interview.

A. an illness or a physical condition so much as a symptom of another problem that may simply be a reaction to certain medications

B. an illness or a physical condition so much as symptomatic of another problem that may be a simple one, like a reaction caused by certain medications

C. so much an illness or a physical condition but a symptom of another problem that may be as simple as when certain medications cause a reaction

D. so much an illness or a physical condition, but it is a symptom of another problem, maybe a simple one like certain medications causing a reaction

E. so much an illness or a physical condition but symptomatic of another problem, maybe simply a reaction to certain medications

TommyWallach · Accepted Answer

Hey Kaja et. al.,

Okay. I take full blame for this. My first response up top, was just in response to your one question, and I'm still right there.

But looking at A and C, I disagree with myself passionately. I think the answer needs to be A. You can't say "not so much X but Y." The idiom is "not so much X as Y." This is enough to choose A. Beyond that, even though A has a lot of wacky wording (I should add I don't like this question at all), the "when" in C is a problem (not from a parallelism perspective, but general meaning).

So I apologize to everyone. The answer has to be A.

-t

b14kumar · Answer

It's C.

Most insomnia is   not   so much   an illness   or a physical condition   but a symptom   of another problem  that may be  as simple as when certain medications cause a reaction,  anxiety about travel, or stress before a job interview. 

Regards,
Brajesh

GMATT73 · Answer

not so much X, but Y~ is idiomatic.

Among C, D, and E, only C correctly uses a parallel noun comparison 

 an illness...a symptom 

(C) is our winner.

1:02

Kaja · Answer

Can the "not so much ...as...", be "not....so much as"?

TommyWallach · Answer

Hey Kaja,

As far as I know, yes.

-t

soumanag · Answer

Idiom  NOT X BUT Y  - X & Y need to be parallel.

Most insomnia is not  an illness or a physical condition so much as a symptom of another problem that may simply be a reaction to certain medications , anxiety about travel, or stress before a job interview.

A. an illness or a physical condition so much as a symptom of another problem that may simply be a reaction to certain medications -  BUT is missing 
B. an illness or a physical condition so much as symptomatic of another problem that may be a simple one, like a reaction caused by certain medications -   BUT is missing 
C. so much an illness or a physical condition  but a symptom  of another problem that may be as simple as when certain medications cause a reaction -  illness - symptom are parallel 
D. so much an illness or a physical condition, but  it is a  symptom of another problem, maybe a simple one like certain medications causing a reaction -  illness - it is an illness - not parallel 
E. so much an illness or a physical condition but symptomatic of another problem, maybe simply a reaction to certain medications -  illness - symptomatic - not parallel 
Answer - C

TommyWallach · Answer

Hey Kaja,

It's actually about how the meaning changes based on the change in the modifier:

A. an illness or a physical condition so much as a symptom of another problem that may simply be a reaction to certain medications

PROBLEM: The modifier here is the relative clause starting with "that." It's modifying "problem". But the problem is not "a reaction to certain medications...". That's supposed to be an example of a similar problem, not the problem itself.

C. so much an illness or a physical condition but a symptom of another problem that may be as simple as when certain medications cause a reaction

ANSWER: See how here, the clause modifying "problem" is COMPARING the problem to these other issues, instead of equating them? That's what we want.

Hope that makes sense!

-t

Kaja · Answer

hi！well....
about A
I think the that clause in choice A could modify "symptom" , as we can hardly break "of another problem" from"a symptom" I mean, if we wanna have a clause modify another sysptom, we can just put it right after "another problem", is it true? 
But i agree that readers may think that clause is modifying "problem", where a little ambiguity raised,but we cannot help it.

about C
the when clause is not parallel with the non-underlined part,(anxiety ....,and stress from ....) is this a good choice?

about E
the problem of C is fixed in this choice, however, "systomatic of" is not parallel with "illness"........

Seems every choice has imperfection....which can we tolerate?

TommyWallach · Answer

Oh, and Munda, that's not quite right. You're thinking of SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT. The main subject of a sentence will never be within any modifier (prepositional phrase, participial phrase, etc.). However, part of a prepositional phrase can ABSOLUTELY be modified. Both of these sentences are correct.

The King of France, who makes fantastic cheese, is handsome.

The King of France, where I was born, is beautiful.

It's just a meaning issue, really. If there's ambiguity, it will be wrong.

-t

TommyWallach · Answer

A better example:

While living in France, where I was born, I saw David.

"France" is within the prepositional phrase "in France," but obviously it's okay to modify it.

-t

prasi55 · Answer

The idiom is "(X is) not so much A as (it is) B". A and B must have the same structure. The meaning is that X is "closer" to B than it is to A.

The idiom implies a comparison/preference. So the "as" is absolutely essential.

The other idiom is "(X is) Not A, but B." Here there is no comparison. The meaning is that X "is" B through and through and is "not A".

So C, D, and E are out. Note that E has faulty parallelism as well. The noun "illness" is not parallel to the adjective "symptomatic".

B is incorrect for this very reason. "Illness" and "symptomatic" are not parallel.

The logical meaning is that Insomnia is more likely a "symptom" than an illness. A gets the idiom and the parallelism right.

--Prasad

SUNILAA · Answer

but answer here is A

hiranmay · Answer

Most insomnia is not an illness or a physical condition so much as a symptom of another problem that may simply be a reaction to certain medications, anxiety about travel, or stress before a job interview.

A. an illness or a physical condition so much as a symptom of another problem that may simply be a reaction to certain medications-> correct

B. an illness or a physical condition so much as symptomatic of another problem that may be a simple one, like a reaction caused by certain medications-> symptomatic is awkward

C. so much an illness or a physical condition but a symptom of another problem that may be as simple as when certain medications cause a reaction-> “when” is wrong here

D. so much an illness or a physical condition, but it is a symptom of another problem, maybe a simple one like certain medications causing a reaction -> “like” is wrong here

E. so much an illness or a physical condition but symptomatic of another problem, maybe simply a reaction to certain medications-> same as B

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Most insomnia is not an illness or a physical condition so much as a

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