Rules for not so much as and more than idioms..

[tg197817]

I came acroos one question when I gavce GMAT last month, I need help related to that.

I dont remember the exact question but remember the choices, so I need clarfication for this concept.

[deleted by moderator: please don't post any part of any question from an official GMAT]

My question is how to decide between "not so much X as Y " and "more Y than X"

I have never seen these types of choices anywhere in any forum but I came across this question in my first 10 questions. As my next exam is next week, I need help for the same as early as possible.

Please help me to clarify the usage..

Are there any rules for X and Y in more than and not so much as idioms..

[esledge]

This comes a little too close for our comfort to revealing a live GMAT question, so I've deleted the choices you remembered.

The general rule for these, as for many two-part idioms, is that X and Y must be parallel.

[mdy.mry]

In MGmat's SC guide, in Idioms Strategy, there are two exactly similar examples for AS...AS as follows, except for Not As...As and one with Not So ... As:
Right: Cheese is NOT AS great AS people say.
Suspect: Cheese is NOT SO great AS people say.

Why the second choice is suspicious while X and Y are exactly the same in the two sentences.

Thanks

[jnelson0612]

In MGmat's SC guide, in Idioms Strategy, there are two exactly similar examples for AS...AS as follows, except for Not As...As and one with Not So ... As:
Right: Cheese is NOT AS great AS people say.
Suspect: Cheese is NOT SO great AS people say.

Why the second choice is suspicious while X and Y are exactly the same in the two sentences.

Thanks

Idioms have their own little rules that we just have to learn and remember. The point here is that if you see the construction X is NOT AS Y AS . . . we should feel comfortable with that construction. If we see X is NOT SO Y AS . . . we should find that less preferable and hope to see the first construction instead. Parallelism is always necessary and important but just having two elements parallel will not make an idiom correct; we have to have the proper form of that idiom as well.