![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Ryunosuke-Akutagawa-232x300.jpg\" "\\"Ryunosuke-Akutagawa\\"")
Concision is one of the goals of parallel structure.\u00a0 Consider the following monstrosity of a sentence.<\/p>\nConcision is one of the goals of parallel structure.\u00a0 Consider the following monstrosity of a sentence.<\/p>\n
1a) After I get my next paycheck, I am seriously thinking about buying a jet ski, I am seriously thinking about treating my friends to dinner, and I am seriously thinking about putting some money away in savings.<\/p>\n
Obviously, that sentence is screaming for the simplification that parallel structure brings:<\/p>\n
1b) After I get my next paycheck, I am seriously thinking about buying a jet ski, treating my friends to dinner, and putting some money away in savings.\u00a0 (Whew!)<\/p>\n
Notice the words in 1a that were eliminated in 1b: the repeated phrase \u201cI am seriously thinking about.\u201d\u00a0 The repetition of that phrase is precisely what makes 1a sound hideously redundant.\u00a0 These words, the words that would be repeated in each piece of the parallel structure, are called the common words.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the guiding principles of parallelism, one might even say the very point itself, is to streamline by eliminating repetitions of the common words.\u00a0 A common GMAT Sentence Correction wrong answer choice is of the form<\/p>\n
[common words] A, B, and [common words]C<\/p>\n
When A, B, and C are not single words, but rather long complicated phrases, it can be confusing to track the overall structure, and in its typical incorrect SC choices, the GMAT loves to \u201cinterrupt\u201d the parallel structure by repeating some or all of the common words further down the list.\u00a0 This can be particularly tricky if the parallel structure begins before the underlined section and ends within the underline section.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an example from the OG (one of the 20 new questions in the OG 13):<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
79)\u00a0Ryunosuke Akutagawa<\/a>\u2018s knowledge of the literatures of Europe, China and\u00a0that of Japan were instrumental in his development as a writer, informing his literary style as much as<\/strong>\u00a0the content of his fiction. The parallel structure in this sentence is among the three cultural regions cited: Europe, China, and Japan.\u00a0 The common words are \u201cknowledge of the literatures of\u201d, and these words apply equal to all three terms.\u00a0 Notice that, in answer choices (A) and (B), the GMAT supplies us with the classic mistake structure described above.\u00a0 We have [common word] Europe, China, and [common word] Japan.\u00a0 What\u2019s particularly confusing is that the words \u201cthat of\u201d is a very typical GMAT SC turn of a phrase, often appearing in correct answer choices.\u00a0\u00a0 Here, though, (A) & (B) have the classic mistake structure.\u00a0 I\u2019ll discuss the rest of this question at the end of this post.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is the rule that adds nuance to the previous principle.\u00a0 When each of the three parallel elements is a single word, as is the case in the above sentence about Ryunosuke Akutagawa, then it\u2019s appropriate to drop all repeated common words.\u00a0 Often, though, especially on the GMAT SC, the parallel elements are not single words but rather long complicated phrases or clauses.\u00a0 In that case, repeating a single common word, such as a preposition, can be crucial as a \u201csignpost\u201d for the parallel structure.\u00a0 One of the more inspiring examples of this comes from a talented young writer of another hemisphere:<\/p>\n We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.<\/p>\n In these famous words, the brilliant writer Thomas Jefferson alerts us to the parallel structure simple by introducing each new element with the word \u201cthat.\u201d\u00a0 That single word univocally illuminates the parallel structure of the sentence.\u00a0 Another even loftier example:<\/p>\n In the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle; and his head and his hair were white as white wool,\u00a0white<\/em>\u00a0as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;\u00a0and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters, and he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.<\/p>\n In this richly poetic passage from the\u00a0Book of Revelation<\/em>\u00a0(RSV, 1:13-16), the repeated word \u201cand\u201d acts as the signpost which guides us through the complex parallel structure.\u00a0 Admittedly, the word \u201cand\u201d is an unlikely choice as the single repeated word on GMAT SC, and divine eschatological revelation is an exceedingly unlikely topic, but I hope this gives you a sense of the diversity of possibilities for this grammatical structure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because of the balance of the previous two principles, every writer has a certain amount of discretion about how many of the common words are repeated, especially when there are only two term.\u00a0 Some parallel structures \u201cbundle\u201d the parallel items with a set of preceding signal words: for example, \u201cboth X and Y\u201d, \u201cneither J nor K\u201d, \u201cnot only P but also Q\u201d (right there are three of the GMAT\u2019s favorite parallelism templates!)<\/p>\n The rule for this situation is a little more complex.\u00a0 Any common word that is not repeated must precede the first word of the signal words.\u00a0 Any word that appears after the first signal word must also appear after the second signal word.\u00a0 One outside is correct, and both inside is also correct, but an inside\/outside combination is incorrect.\u00a0 For example, consider this faux sentence completion question.\u00a0 (I felt a somewhat less exemplary theme was in order after the foregoing examples!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3) The senator bought a Valentine\u2019s Day card\u00a0for both his wife as well as for his mistress.<\/strong> <\/p>\n The first thing we have to know: the correct structure recognized by the GMAT is \u201cboth Aand\u00a0B.\u201d\u00a0 The GMAT views the structures \u201cboth A and also B\u201d and \u201cboth A as well as B\u201d as redundant and incorrect.\u00a0 Knowing this, we can immediately eliminate (A) & (B) & (C).\u00a0 Choice (B) would have been perfect without the word \u201calso\u201d, but as is, it\u2019s wrong.\u00a0 Choice (D) falls foul of the bundling rule: the first \u201cfor\u201d is before the word \u201cboth\u201d, which should make it apply equally to both, but then a second \u201cfor\u201d crops up in front of \u201chis mistress.\u201d\u00a0 One outside, one inside: the classic mistake format for this particular structure.\u00a0 Only (E) gets everything correct: it has the proper \u201cboth \u2026 and\u201d structure, and the word \u201cfor\u201d appears twice, once in front of each term.\u00a0 Another correct choice would have been \u201cfor both his wife and his mistress\u201d, but that was not offered among these five answer choices.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I promised I would resolve that question from the OG.\u00a0 From parallelism, we have already eliminated (A) & (B), as discussed above.\u00a0 The subject of the sentence, \u201cknowledge\u201d, is singular, so the verb must be singular: \u201cwas\u201d, not \u201cwere.\u201d\u00a0 That eliminates (E).\u00a0 This leaves (C) and (D), which have many similarities.\u00a0 One difference is the ending.\u00a0 (C) ends simply with \u201cand\u201d, correctly completing the \u201cboth \u2026 and\u201d structure.\u00a0 (D) avoids the word \u201cboth\u201d, and instead ends with \u201cas much as.\u201d\u00a0 The phrase \u201cas much as\u201d is a comparative phrase\u00a0 \u2014\u2013 \u201cthe teacher like me as much as she like you!\u201d \u2014 but in this context, we are not performing a comparison.\u00a0 The two items in question are Akutagawa\u2019s literary style and the content of his fiction.\u00a0 These both were informed by his vast knowledge of literature, but there\u2019s nothing in the sentence that suggests a comparison is in order.\u00a0 (D) also has that awkward phrase \u201cas it informed\u201d, instead of the shorter and more direct \u201cinforming\u201d in (C).\u00a0 For these reasons, (D) is incorrect, and (C) is by far the best answer choice.<\/p>\n This post was written by Mike McGarry, GMAT expert at\u00a0Magoosh<\/a>, and originally posted\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Concision is one of the goals of parallel structure.\u00a0 Consider the following monstrosity of a sentence. 1a) After I get my next paycheck, I am seriously thinking about buying 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\nA. that of Japan were instrumental in his development as a writer, informing his literary style as much as
\nB. that of Japan was instrumental in his development as a writer, and it informed his literary style as well as
\nC. Japan was instrumental in his development as a writer, informing both his literary style and
\nD. Japan was instrumental in his development as a writer, as it informed his literary style as much as
\nE. Japan were instrumental in his development as a writer, informing both his literary style in addition to<\/p>\nBut Keep Some Common Words<\/h2>\n
Bundling<\/h2>\n
\nA. for both his wife as well as for his mistress.
\nB. for both his wife and also his mistress.
\nC. both for his wife as well as for his mistress.
\nD. for both his wife and for his mistress.
\nE. both for his wife and for his mistress.\n<\/ol>\nAn Addendum on the Ryunosuke Akutagawa question<\/h2>\n