The prime lending rate is a key rate in the economy: not only are the

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Idioms + Parallelism

• “not only A but also B” is the correct, idiomatic usage; A must be parallel to B.

A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A (“are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime”) and B (“on a growing number of consumer loans”) in the idiomatic construction “not only A but also B”; please remember, “not only A but also B” is the correct, idiomatic usage; A must be parallel to B.

B: Correct. This answer choice correctly maintains parallelism between A (“on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses”) and B (“on a growing number of consumer loans”) in the idiomatic construction “not only A but also B”.

C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A (“on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime”) and B (“a growing number of consumer loans”) in the idiomatic construction “not only A but also B”; please remember, “not only A but also B” is the correct, idiomatic usage; A must be parallel to B.

D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A (“the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime”) and B (“on a growing number of consumer loans”) in the idiomatic construction “not only A but also B”; please remember, “not only A but also B” is the correct, idiomatic usage; A must be parallel to B.

E: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A (“on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses”) and B (“a growing number of consumer loans”) in the idiomatic construction “not only A but also B”; please remember, “not only A but also B” is the correct, idiomatic usage; A must be parallel to B.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

B. llism: not only on x, but also on y.

guys..true that only option b supports parallism..but what confused me was "..tied to the prime are the interest rates.." is'nt that a passive construction??

No this is not a passive construction, just a different way of framing the sentence. To give an analogy.

Gone are the days of cheap gas.
The days of cheap gas are gone.

The voice here still remains active. Makes sense ?

was scared by ":"....what does it signify.....???

The colon is used to provide further explanation or to expand on something. The sentence before the colon must be able to stand alone.

Hope that helps!

I opted for E but i didnt notice the missing word 'on' at the end of the sentence ... It has to be option B...

I got this one wrong too. B doesn't sound pretty but it seems so simple when you know where to look.

The prime lending rate is a key rate in the economy: not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on a growing number of consumer loans, including home equity loans.

(A) not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on
Should have either "not only are... but also are..." or "not only on... but also on..."

(B) tied to the prime are the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also on


(C) the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also
Should have either "not only on... but also on..." or "not only x... but also y..." x and y is a noun. The y in this case would be "a growing number of consumer loans".

(D) not only the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also on
Should have either "not only x... but also y..." or "not only on... but also on..."

(E) the interest rates are tied to the prime, not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also
Same as D.

The prime lending rate is a key rate in the economy: not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on a growing number of consumer loans, including home equity loans.


This question tests the knowledge of idioms

not only x, but also y

The idiom must be used in such a way that whatever element comes very next to not only should also repeat after but also

Here only in Option B "on" repeats after not only and but also

(A) not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on
(B) tied to the prime are the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also on
(C) the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also
(D) not only the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also on
(E) the interest rates are tied to the prime, not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also

Official Explanation

Logical predication; Parallelism

The sentence tells us that the interest rates on two classes of loans are affected by the prime lending rate. The structure not only . . . but also . . . , consisting of two adverbial modifiers, conveys this.

The position of the two modifiers is crucial in order to know what each modifies. Furthermore, it is essential that the two things modified be parallel.

A. In this choice, not only are the interest rates . . . but also on is not parallel.

B. Correct. This choice uses a correctly parallel form not only on . . . but also on . . .

C. In this choice, the interest rates not only on . . . but also is not parallel.

D. In this choice, not only the interest rates on . . . are . . . is idiomatically incorrect: when not only begins an independent statement, the order of subject and verb in the not only part must be inverted as in not only are . . .

E. In this choice, the interest rates not only on . . . but also is not parallel.

The correct answer is B.

Well Passive construction is not actually wrong. Its not preferred but certainly not wrong

The sentence tells us that the interest rates on two classes of loans are affected by the prime lending rate. The structure not only... but also... consisting of two adverbial modifiers convey this. The position of two modifiers is crucial in order to know what each modifies. Furthermore, it is essential that the two things modified by parallel. Option B uses appropriate parallel structures.

The prime lending rate is a key rate in the economy: not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on a growing number of consumer loans, including home equity loans.

Not only X but also Y - Parallel form

(A) not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on

(B) tied to the prime are the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also on - Correct

(C) the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also

(D) not only the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also on

(E) the interest rates are tied to the prime, not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also

This question tests the idiom ‘not only X… but also Y’ and parallelism.
It is also important to understand where to place ‘not only…’ This depends on the meaning of the sentence.

Let’s scan the options:

(A) not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on

Option A places ‘not only’ incorrectly before ‘the interest rates which leads to illogical parallelism between ‘are’ and ‘on’. Eliminate.

(B) tied to the prime are the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also on

Option B correctly places the idiom and maintains parallelism.

(C) the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also

Option C uses the idiom correctly here. But the preposition ‘on’ is not followed in the second half. Eliminate.

(D) not only the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also on

Option D incorrectly places ‘not only…’ also breaks parallelism. Eliminate.

(E) the interest rates are tied to the prime, not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also

Option E does not maintain parallelism. Eliminate.

Option B is the best option.

Hope this helps!

Point to observe: The “not only” part contains an inverted sentence structure – an inverted sentence has the verb (are) before the subject (interest rates).

The sentence gives two reasons to explain how the prime lending rate is a key rate in the economy. The two reasons are:

1. The interest rates on most loans to small and mid-sized businesses are tied to the prime lending rate.
2. The interest rates on a growing number of consumer loans are also tied to the prime lending rate.

The sentence is incorrect since, in the “not only X but also Y” construction, X and Y are not parallel. While X is an independent clause, Y is a prepositional phrase.



A. not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on
Incorrect. For the error mentioned above.

B. tied to the prime are the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also on
Correct. We believe that many people reject this option since they find the structure “tied to prime are” incorrect. However, this structure is a perfectly valid inverted structure. Here, the subject is “the interest rates”, and the verb is “are tied”.

C. the interest rates not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also

Incorrect. In the “not only X but also Y” construction, X and Y are not parallel. While X has a verb “are tied” for the subject “the interest rates”, Y doesn’t have a verb. Besides, the preposition “on” is missing after “but also”.

D. not only the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also on
Incorrect. This option has the same error as the original sentence has. Also, when we have an independent clause after “not only”, the independent clause needs to be in the inverted sentence structure. In this option, the independent clause following “not only” is in the normal sentence structure.

E. the interest rates are tied to the prime, not only on most loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also
Incorrect. The absence of the preposition “on” after “but also” makes the elements non-parallel.

Please note that “including” is a preposition, not a verb-ing modifier. In this case, “including” modifies the preceding noun “consumer loans”.

I just follow not only but also construction, which takes the same format. Such as not only + verb... but also +verb.

(A) "not only" followed by verb but "but also" followed by the preposition "on" OUT.

(B) Not only followed by Prepositi "on" and but also followed by the preposition "on" Correct.

(C) Not only followed by the preposition ON but "but also" followed by a growing number. OUT.

(D) NOT ONLY followed by the interest but BUT ALSO followed by on OUT.

(E) NOT ONLY followed by on but BUT ALSO followed a growing OUT.

The answer is B

Hi Experts, GMATNinja AndrewN

Me again

I do understand that why (B) iss correct and why the others are wrong.
I also understand that “:” is not a key to eliminate each choice.

However, I do want to know that what “:” function?
I found a question that use “:” to provide examples. If we have “semi-colon ; “, we do know that it must be either a list or a new clause, but what if “colon :”

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