To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with

The correct idiom is "To A is to B"


(A) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with that of ordinary grape juice.

(B) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is comparing the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with that of ordinary grape juice.

(C) Comparing the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with ordinary grape juice.

(D) Comparing the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is like comparing the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with ordinary grape juice.

(E) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare a fine wine’s bouquet with ordinary grape juice’s bouquet.

therefore we can eliminate options B and C

(A) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with that of ordinary grape juice.
Is the correct option!

(D) Comparing the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is like comparing the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with ordinary grape juice.
there is a comparison error in this option, we cannot compare the bouquet of a wine with grape juice
we can compare wine with grape juice or the bouquet of wine juice with the bouquet of grape juice

(E) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare a fine wine’s bouquet with ordinary grape juice’s bouquet.

in the option in the first part of the sentence we use the structure X of Y therefore its parallel to have that pattern follow in the rest of the sentence
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This question is checking the concept of idiom:
To compare x to y is to compare a to b; Thus, leaving only options A and E
In option E: fine wine and ordinary grape juice can't take possessive "s", i.e. fine wine's bouquet. Thus, A seems correct.

Hello, I eliminated quickly the answers and was struggling between answer A and E as the only difference is at the end with apostrophe s or not. Can someone explain why E is wrong please? thanks!

Can any expert explain this? GMATNinja daagh

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(A) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with that of ordinary grape juice. (Correct)

(B) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is comparing the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with that of ordinary grape juice.

(C) Comparing the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with that of ordinary grape juice.
-wrong comparison is made between the exquisite bouquet of a wine with grape juice
-demonstrative pronoun 'that of' should be inserted

(D) Comparing the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is like comparing the exquisite bouquet of a fine wine with that of ordinary grape juice.
-demonstrative pronoun 'that of' should be inserted

(E) To compare the lightning-fast genius of playwright Tom Stoppard with the pedestrian efforts of some of his contemporaries is to compare a fine wine’s bouquet with ordinary grape juice’s bouquet.
-Compared to a, this sentence just seems awkward, does someone have a specifically grammatical reason for why a is preferred?
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Unfortunately, I’m not an expert. However, I believe this is one of those examples in which Choice E is not necessarily grammatically incorrect, but the parallel structure of A is “better.”

Part 1 is comparing X of Y to A of B. To then switch over to using the possessive “ ‘s “ is “less parallel”, even if it is not entirely wrong.

At least, that’s what I’m taking away from this example.

Hopefully someone will weigh in.

A is clearly parallel as compared to E, just a query, wouldn't "that" create an issue in A? (ambiguity)

I was thinking the same thing.....


If you substitute in the antecedent, it sounds like we’re comparing the “exquisite bouquet of fine wine” to the “bouquet of ordinary grape juice.”

It seems to me that referring to ordinary grape juice as a “bouquet”, exquisite or otherwise, is not what the author intended.

One is great, the other sucks. Labeling the one that sucks a “bouquet” just doesn’t seem to match what the author intended.


Manhattan GMAT’s and Veritas Prep’s questions seem to be more “GMAT like.” When choosing which sentences to practice, I believe there are more than enough 700 level questions from those 2 companies to fulfill the study requirements.



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Whats the source of this question?

I think A is a little ambiguous. It could mean that we compare the "exquisite bouquet of a fine wine" with the "exquisite bouquet of ordinary grapejuice", and that doesnt make sense.

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This was a clear case of parallelism. "To compare .... is to compare .... " - it was the first point of filtering where i was left with option A and E. Further in both the options , the first part and second part of the comparison need to be parallel.

genius of Noun is not parallel with Noun's bouquet. Hence this makes A the correct option for me

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