MGMAT SC Guide Doubt

First, a bit on linking verbs. Unlike most verbs that describe the action of the subject, linking verbs "link" the subject to the object, with the object describing what the subject is or providing information on the subject's condition. For this linking to make sense, the subject and the object need to be structurally and logically parallel. [See the linking verb examples from the strategy guide].

Using the verb "to be" can be a bit complicating, however, because "to be" is the most common linking verb but "to be" is also an essential building block of the progressive tenses and the passive voice. When "to be" is part of the progressive tenses and the passive voice, the verb "to be" is NOT acting as a linking verb, therefore you do not have to think about making the subject parallel with the object (like you would in the case of a linking verb).

In general, I wouldn't worry too much about parallelism with linking verbs as it's a subtle form of paralellism and not frequently tested.

KW

[While writing this post I had to fix parallelism issue involving a linking verb. Originally I had written "The verb 'to be' can be a bit complicating". The subject 'verb' isn't really parallel with the object 'a bit complicating'. By changing to "Using the verb", the subject and object become more parallel - using the verb & a bit complicating.]