woman reviewing GMAT idioms

100 Most Common GMAT Idioms (Organized Alphabetically)

There are many different types of questions on the sentence correction section of the GMAT; however, idioms are arguably one of the most important concepts to memorize as it encompasses a large portion of that section of the exam. Therefore, below is a list of idioms that are on the GMAT that you should memorize. I first start with the commonly mistaken idioms and then include a comprehensive list of all those most common idioms on the exam.

IDIOM LIST:

A

account for
accuse of
acquaint with
afflicted with
agree to something
agree with someone
aiming to do something
aim at something
amount to
angry at
appear to
apply to
argue with
as __ as
associate with
assure A that B
attend to [someone or something]
attribute A to B

B

based on
believe A to be B
between A and B
both A and B

C

capable of
center on
choice of
choose from
choose to
collaborate with
compare with/to
composed of
concerned with
consider (without as)
consider to be
consist of
consistent with
contrast A with B
correspond to
correspond with
cost of something
cost to someone
be credited with
be given credit for

D

deal with
defend against
define as
depend on
descend from
a descendant of
differ from
different from
distinguish A from B
distinguish between A and B

E

either A or B
extend to
extent of
expect A to be B

F

forbid A to do B
from A to B

I

identical with
in contrast to
in order to
in violation of
independent from
indifferent to
infected with
instead of
in search of

J

just as + clause, so (too) + clause

L

less than
likely to

M

meet with
mistake A for B
move away from
more A than B

N

a native of
be native to
neither A nor B
not A but B
not only A but also B (also observe parallelism)

O

on account of
opposed to
[the] opposite of

P

persuade A to do B
preferable to
Prefer A to B
prejudiced against
prevent A from doing B
prior to
prohibit A from doing B
protect against
provide A with B

R

range from A to B
regard as
rather than
replace with
require to
require that A be B
required of
[the] responsibility to
responsible for
result from
result in
[a] result of

S

sacrifice A for B
[the] same as
separate from
so + adj. + as to
so + adj./adv. + that + clause
subject to
substitute A for B
superior to
suspicious of
sympathy for
sympathize with

T

target at
think of A as B
type of
the -er, the -er
try to

U

use as
[the] use of

V

view as
vote for

W

whether (preferably without
‘or not’)
willing to
worry about

COMMON WRONG IDIOMS:

Less vs Fewer
Less = non-countable
Fewer = countable

More vs Greater
More = non-countable
Greater = countable

Due To vs Because Of
Due To = nouns
Because = verbs

Between vs Among
Between = compare two groups
Among = compare three or more groups

Such As vs Like
Such as = examples
Like = comparison for nouns

Like vs As
Like = comparison for nouns
As = comparison for verbs

Whether vs If
Whether = alternatives
If = conditional

I vs Me vs Myself
I – subject
Me – object
Myself – object when you refer to something you do yourself

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