FOR INSTANCE vs FOR EXAMPLE vs SUCH AS

[elisabetta.portioli]

Recently I've found an interesting split in one of the MGMAT cat, I've never thought about before that SC problem.
In that SC problem there were three main splits:' For instance', 'for example', and 'such as'. Although I had a reasonable idea to discard the answer choice, which contains 'such as' because it was placed right after a semicolon. I was clueless about the difference between 'for instance' and 'for example', both placed in the sentence after a semicolon.

I'm looking forward to receive an expert's explanation!

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

"For example" and "for instance" are essentially identical.

Grammatically, they are used in exactly the same way as is "per esempio" in Italian.

[elisabetta.portioli]

Thanks Ron!

So, I guess that 'for instance' in one answer choice and 'for example' in another answer choice of the same problem, were there just as distraction. The real split in those answer choices was something else.

[jnelson0612]

Thanks Ron!

So, I guess that 'for instance' in one answer choice and 'for example' in another answer choice of the same problem, were there just as distraction. The real split in those answer choices was something else.

Exactly! The GMAT loves to put in those "red herring" splits.

[uae918]

"For example" and "for instance" are essentially identical.

Grammatically, they are used in exactly the same way as is "per esempio" in Italian.

Hi Ron,

I also came across a question with the split of "for example" and "such as". It was a paid GMAT Prep question so I'm not going to quote the question here.
I saw on a forum from another GMAT website saying that to use "for example" correctly in the GMAT questions, you have to put the actual example prior to the phrase "for example" and the instructor gave an example: "Over his lifetime, John has taken many tests. He recently took the GMAT, for example."

Can you please confirm this restriction of the use of "for example"? Thank you very much

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

That's an interesting sounding rule, and one I haven't heard before. I can only find one example of the use of 'for example' in an official GMAT problem, that's SC 813 from OG2020. From my experience, I can say that GMAT favors the phrase 'such as' - check out problems 900, 855, and 764 from OG2020.

It's worth remembering that GMAT doesn't publish the "rules" that it adheres to. Instructors (like me) analyze GMAT problems and try to see patterns in the phrases and grammatical constructions that they follow. There are many types of English, and I know that the way I speak and write English doesn't always line up with the way that GMAT uses English. They tend to write sentences that are somewhat conservative, rather formal, and very precise in meaning. However, take heart that you're not being expected to memorize a bunch of random rules: if you focus on the meaning of the sentence, the modifiers, verb tenses, and comparisons, the grammar of subject-verb and pronouns, and the construction of parallel phrases, then you'll be able to eliminate incorrect answer choices.