For those who share space in communal workshops

A it is : there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better not to build or tear things apart at home.

My 2 cents.

For those who share space in communal workshops – often called “hacklabs” – to build electronics or crafts, there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better not to build or tear things apart at home.

A) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better not
to build or
(to)tear things apart at home.
B) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better to not
build or
(to)tear things apart at home.
C) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better to not
build or
to tear things apart at home.
D) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better to not
build or
not to tear things apart at home.
E) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might not
be better to build or
to not tear things apart at home

not
to X or
(to) Y.
Correct =>(A)
there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better not
to build or
(to)tear things apart at home.

For those who share space in communal workshops – often called “hacklabs” – to build electronics or crafts, there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better not to build things or tear things apart at home.

A) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better not to build things or tear things apart at home
B) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better to not build things or tear things apart at home
C) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better to not build things or to tear things apart at home
D) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better to not build things or not to tear things apart at home
E) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might not be better to build things or to not tear things apart at home

not to X or Y is better than to not and to or to not versions.
choice A clearly stands out.
other options are completely redundant.

Would have also chosen A - definitely the most efficient w/o changing the meaning and creating additional redundancy. Only B would come the closes but creates ambiguity w/ the negation IMO.

C) there are reasons beyond additional space that it might be better to not build things or to tear things apart at home

1. It' s meaning is different from the meaning of the original sentence.

original meaning-- not to build things

-- not to tear things apart

Meaning of the choice C-- not to build things

but-- to tear things apart


2. As far as I know, this construction makes more sense --
main verb +not+to+infinitive form
rather than
main verb +to +not+infinitive form

Example

I don't need to go there or I need not to go there --- both are correct

I tend to eat four times a day or I tend not to eat four times a day-- both are correct (https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-scrub-jay- ... ml#p728633)


But

I tend to not eat four times a day -- incorrect

TommyWallach, can you please confirm the second point? Thanks

Hi Experts, Whats is the difference between not to build and to not build ?

Both the above usages are logically alright, though some have opinion that an infinitve (to + verb) should not be split, . The usage of the latter is though much rare than that of the former.

OFFICIAL SOLUTION

Solution: A

Explanation: This problem is a great example of when to use the “slash and burn” strategy. The “beyond additional space” should be removed to simplify the sentence and allow you to see the core structure: “there are reasons that it might be better not to build or tear things apart at home” Also, the negation is confusing so read it without that: “there are reasons that it might be better to build or tear things apart at home.” The original sentence, read like that, is clearly correct and indeed (A) is the correct answer. However the negation and the choices that follow in (B) through (E) are very confusing. Consider two simple examples: “there are several reasons not to run the race” and “there are several reasons to not run the race”. Grammarians drastically prefer the first but both are considered “grammatical” so you cannot decide alone on that. In this sentence, however, there are two infinitives, which require parallel construction. Also, things change if you put the “not” between the “to” and the “build”, as it no longer carries to both infinitives because only the “to” is understood in the second part: in the original it is not to x….or (to) y. As a result (B) should be read like this and is clearly wrong: “might be better to not build or (to) tear things apart…” This seems to indicate two things “to not build” (what we don’t know) or “to (affirmatively) tear things apart at home. (C) perpetuates that error, making it even worse by inserting the “to” to REALLY clarify the lack of negation in the second infinitive. (D) is clearly not parallel with the different locations of “not” with each infinitive and (E) is even worse with the illogical placement of the “not” twice. Answer is (A).

GMATNinja, What is the pronoun it referring to? Does it refer to “hacklabs”?

And here's an example of an official GMAT question that (correctly) uses a non-referential pronoun: https://gmatclub.com/forum/though-the-a ... 49076.html

Hi Experts,

Wouldn't 'not' and 'or', should create parallel sentences.
In A, if it would have been 'not to build or to tear', then it should have made perfect sense.

In the current scenario 'not to build or tear', there should be a parallelism issue?

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