A private house in New York City is a building owned by an individual

Case of parallelism here?
list of 3 qualities tht describe private house in NY.
i deconsructed the sentence to
A private house in New York City is X, A private house in New York City Y,A private house in New York City Z
option a imples as if the individuals have less than 8 units.
in b the items in the listare not parallel (that x own,with fewer than, no space)
whn the decontruction is applied to option c it reads as follows:
A private house in New York City is a building with fewer than eight units
A private house in New York City no commercial space
A private house in New York City is owned by an individual or individuals
as u can see the second item makes no sense.

same can be applied to D and e.

option E makes complete sense.

A private house in New York City is one that has fewer than eight units
A private house in New York City is owned by an individual or individuals
A private house in New York City has no commercial space

If we are prudes, even E, the only one with some semblance of //ism, can be faulted; After all, the first and third verbs are in active voice, while the second one is in passive voice. As per strict norms, this can be termed un//. Still that is the best of the bads.

+1 E

(A) Wrong meaning: Here, you understand that the owner has fewer than 8 units, not the house.
(B) The same as in A. Well, not the same, but similar.
(C) Not parallel.
(D) Not parallel.
(E) Correct.

Agree "individual or individuals" is redundant and awkward. No point doing this one.

hmm .. C and E has the same pattern but in different order ...
to me C looks more structurally complete ... is a building with fewer than eight units, no commercial space, and is owned by an individual or individuals

I am still not able to get whats wrong with A? Why "less" cant be used?

Can anyone explain me the difference of the usage of "less" in these following sentences and the specific usage in this question -

It's less than twenty miles to Dallas.
He's less than six feet tall.
Your essay should be a thousand words or less.

In each of these sentences, "less" is used for countable nouns miles, feet and words respectively. Why "units" in this question can't take "less"?

I think usage of having and also this question is pure parallelism issue. so try and negate answer through that approach instead of getting hooked to one answer.

950. A private house in New York City is a building owned by an individual or individuals having less than eight units and no commercial space.

(A) a building owned by an individual or individuals having less than eight units and no commercial space
Misplaced modifier , sounds as if Individuals having xyz.
(B) one that an individual or individuals own with fewer than eight units and no commercial space
Misplaced modifier , sounds as if Individuals own with xyz.
(C) a building with fewer than eight units, no commercial space, and is owned by an individual or individuals
incorrect parallelism
(D) one that has fewer than eight units, no commercial space and it is owned by an individual or individuals
incorrect parallelism
(E) one that has fewer than eight units, is owned by an individual or individuals, and has no commercial space
(E) is correct.

Use of ......"a building......"......is awkward.
"fewer than" is used because "buildings" are countable noun.
(D) has no connecting/auxiliary verb ,......".... no commercial space " .

(E) WINS

How do we explain parallelism in E
Doesn't "is" breaks the parallelism

Hi Vaibhav,
This is the sentence with choice E:

A private house in New York City is one that has fewer than eight units, is owned by an individual or individuals, and has no commercial space.

This choice tells us three things about a private house in NYC. It:
a. has fewer than eight units,
b. is owned by an individual or individuals, and
c. has no commercial space.

All the entities in this list is parallel because “has” in this choice is not a present perfect tense verb. It is a simple present tense ver. “Has”, ”have”, and “had” act as perfect tense only when they are followed by another verb. For example:
1. Ria has exhibited many of her paintings across the country.
2. I have finished my project on time.
3. Joe had slept when Amy arrived.

In all above example, we have perfect tense verb in different tenses. “Has”, “have”, and “had” are followed by verbs - “exhibited”, “finished”, and “slept” respectively.

Now analyze these set of examples:
1. Ria has many paint brushes.
2. I have my notes ready.
3. Joe had pizza for dinner.
The first two sentences are written in simple present tense while the last one is in simple past tense. It is so because in none of the sentence, “has”, “have”, “had” are followed by any verb. They are acting as any other helping verb “is/ab/are/was/were.” Same is the case with the usage of “has” in choice E of this NYC private house sentence. All the entities are written in simple present tense and hence are perfectly parallel.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Explanation:

A- …individuals having less than units… - wrong modification; the individuals will not have the units but the building will have. Moreover, the noun ‘units’ is a countable noun and requires a quantity word ‘few’ and not ‘less’.

B-…own with fewer than… - the word ‘with’ is not required here. ; moreover; one – singular…own – plural.

C-…a building…., no space…, and is owned by an individual or individuals…. – does not give clear meaning. The last part seems irrelevant and unconnected in its intent. The choice, unlike choice E, lacks list parallelism.

D-...has fewer…., no...space…, and it is… - not parallel.

E-CORRECT: ….has fewer…., is….and has – list parallelism.


All the best

I reached E by PoE - based on meaning alone.


(A) a building owned by an individual or individuals having less than eight units and no commercial space -- implies that individuals have le than eight units.
(B) one that an individual or individuals own with fewer than eight units and no commercial space -- Same as A
(C) a building with fewer than eight units, no commercial space, and is owned by an individual or individuals - ||ism error? A,B, and is C
(D) one that has fewer than eight units, no commercial space and it is owned by an individual or individuals - ||ism error? A, B, and it is C
(E) one that has fewer than eight units, is owned by an individual or individuals, and has no commercial space - relatively better? has A, is B, and has C

This is how a legal definition is structured since the ownership of housing can be established both solely and jointly. It is necessary to clarify that ownership type does not disqualify the building from being private housing.

ExpertsGlobal5 - Can you pls review below analysis ?

A private house in New York City is a building owned by an individual or individuals having less than eight units and no commercial space.

(A) a building owned by an individual or individuals having less than eight units and no commercial space
(B) one that an individual or individuals own with fewer than eight units and no commercial space
(C) a building with fewer than eight units, no commercial space, and is owned by an individual or individuals
(D) one that has fewer than eight units, no commercial space and it is owned by an individual or individuals
(E) one that has fewer than eight units, is owned by an individual or individuals, and has no commercial space

Option A is wrong for modifier reason. having is modifying individuals
Option B is wrong for modifier reason. fewer than 8 units modifies individuals
Option C & D is wrong as elements are not parallel.
Option E is correct as all the elements are parallel.
one that has fewer than eight units, one that is owned by an individual or individuals, and one that has no commercial space

Hello PanpaliaAnshul,

We hope this finds you well.

Having reviewed your explanation, we believe we can say that your analysis is largely correct.

Kudos.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

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