Last visit was: 26 Apr 2026, 19:38 It is currently 26 Apr 2026, 19:38
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
AmitArora456
User avatar
Joined: 29 Jun 2012
Last visit: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 1
GMAT Date: 10-18-2012
Posts: 1
Kudos: 0
"difference between" Vs "Differences in" 22 Sep 2012, 00:42
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
hi, I am confused in the following Sentences.Please Comment:

1. There is a difference between what you can do and what I can do.
2. There are differences between what you and I can do.
3. There are differences in what you and I can do.

Please explain which of the following is/are correct/ wrong and Why??

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
User avatar
KyleWiddison
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 30 Apr 2012
Last visit: 06 Jul 2016
Posts: 779
Own Kudos:
2,695
Given Kudos: 5
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 779
Kudos: 2,695
"difference between" Vs "Differences in" 24 Sep 2012, 19:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AmitArora456
hi, I am confused in the following Sentences.Please Comment:

1. There is a difference between what you can do and what I can do.
2. There are differences between what you and I can do.
3. There are differences in what you and I can do.

Please explain which of the following is/are correct/ wrong and Why??
Show more

Welcome to idioms! :) [Thankfully the GMAT is limiting the number of idiom based questions].

1 - Correct
2 - Incorrect
3 - Correct

With idioms there isn't much rationale. They are correct because that is how they are conventionally stated. My advice on idioms is to not worry about such small differences like the examples here. Place more focus on seeing meaning differences resulting from word choice.

1) I mistook you for my brother.
2) I mistook you to my brother.

The first sentence uses the correct idiom form "mistook for" and the meaning is clear. The second example uses an incorrect idiom "mistook to" and the meaning is strangely altered to mean that somehow I took you to the wrong location (you didn't want to go to my brother)!

Hope that helps.

KW
avatar
asdfghjklasdfghj
avatar
Joined: 16 Sep 2016
Last visit: 12 Mar 2017
Posts: 34
Own Kudos:
20
Given Kudos: 100
Posts: 34
Kudos: 20
"difference between" Vs "Differences in" 26 Feb 2017, 11:00
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
KyleWiddison
AmitArora456
hi, I am confused in the following Sentences.Please Comment:

1. There is a difference between what you can do and what I can do.
2. There are differences between what you and I can do.
3. There are differences in what you and I can do.

Please explain which of the following is/are correct/ wrong and Why??

Welcome to idioms! :) [Thankfully the GMAT is limiting the number of idiom based questions].

1 - Correct
2 - Incorrect
3 - Correct

With idioms there isn't much rationale. They are correct because that is how they are conventionally stated. My advice on idioms is to not worry about such small differences like the examples here. Place more focus on seeing meaning differences resulting from word choice.

1) I mistook you for my brother.
2) I mistook you to my brother.

The first sentence uses the correct idiom form "mistook for" and the meaning is clear. The second example uses an incorrect idiom "mistook to" and the meaning is strangely altered to mean that somehow I took you to the wrong location (you didn't want to go to my brother)!

Hope that helps.

KW
Show more


Ok and where is the difference in meaning between the second and the third sentence of the original question ?

Thanks !
User avatar
ccooley
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 04 Dec 2015
Last visit: 06 Jun 2020
Posts: 931
Own Kudos:
1,658
 [2]
Given Kudos: 115
GMAT 1: 790 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 790 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Posts: 931
Kudos: 1,658
 [2]
"difference between" Vs "Differences in" 07 Mar 2017, 11:21
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
asdfghjklasdfghj



Ok and where is the difference in meaning between the second and the third sentence of the original question ?

Thanks !
Show more

There's not much use in worrying about the meaning, since the second one is just grammatically incorrect. Specifically, it's incorrect due to parallelism. 'Between...and' is a closed marker. When you see a closed marker, you check for parallelism between the two elements right after the two parts of the marker:

There are differences between what you and I can do.

Since 'what you' and 'I can do' don't match, there's bad parallelism and the sentence is incorrect.

In the first example, the two elements do match:

There is a difference between what you can do and what I can do.

'what you can do' and 'what I can do' are grammatically alike, so it's good.

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
Moderators:
AbhishekP220108
506 posts
bhanu29
361 posts