After all the recent political changes, the Syrians are figuring out

you cannot use each other when referring to more than two people..you use one another..
A,D can be eliminated on this basis

I will go with C.

PoE:
1) Each other- Used for 2 people
One another- Used for more than 2
In this case, as Syrians have to be a lot of people, 'One another' should be used.
therefore, A and D are out.

2) Them vs Themselves
'...figuring out how to create that city for them/themselves'
As here, the act of creation is being talked about by the Syrians and for the Syrians, they would be doing it for 'themselves' and not for 'them'.
Therefore, E is out

3) Between B and C:
As per the intended meaning, there are two different aspects of creation of the city
a. politically and socially, and
b. with bricks and mortar
You cannot create the city politically and socially with bricks and mortar. Both of these are independent and therefore, should be independently specified. C does that.

B. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.

C. to one another and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.

Hence i choose C

Please correct me.

Structures do not have to be exactly the same in order to be parallel. Rather they have to be similar and relate logically to the rest of the sentence in which they appear.

In this case, the prepositional phrase "with bricks and mortar" is used adverbially to modify "create the city."

So the phrase works logically with the rest of the sentence.

It is also a good match for what precedes "as well as," since "with bricks and mortar" works adverbially, and what appears before "as well as," "politically and socially," is essentially two adverbs.

So, the parallel elements associated with "as well as" are "politically and socially" and "with bricks and mortar."

After all the recent political changes, the Syrians are figuring out again how they relate to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning - figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.

to each other -> Seems as if there are only two persons
One another -> Seems more than two persons are involved

A. to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
The building process is to be done -> Politically, socially and with Bricks and mortar -> All of them are adverbs modifying the verb "create"

B. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
The building process is to be done -> Politically, socially and with Bricks and mortar -> All of them are adverbs modifying the verb "create"

C. to one another and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar. - Correct

D. to each other and to the city they have always live in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically, socially, and with bricks and mortar

E. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for them, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.
The three adverbs should be a list

I am not an expert, but still giving it a shot.
how to create that city, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.

this is what I think "as well as with bricks and mortar" is modifying.
how to create that city politically and socially (as well as).
how to create that city with bricks and mortar.

Hi Nitesh, parallelism is maintained.

The structure is:

figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.

Prepositional phrase on RHS (with bricks and mortar) is parallel to Prepositional phrase on LHS (for themselves, politically and socially).

Note that it doesn't have to be the same preposition.

A. to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
Also Both is used with comma politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.

B. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
Same as A

C. to one another and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.
Correct

D. to each other and to the city they have always live in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically, socially, and with bricks and mortar
Live is incorrect with have
E. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for them, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.
'For them' refers to 3rd party, it seems to say that they are building the city for somebody else.

Hello Experts,

I am confused on the use of "as well as with bricks and mortar" in the option C. what is modified by "as well as with bricks and mortar". How does this phrase add to the intended meaning of the sentence?

Thanks Anuj!!

Nitesh, you are overly focused on parts of speech in your assessment of parallel structure. You have to consider logic and the functions of sentence elements.

The fact that "for" and "with" are both prepositions does not mean that "for themselves, politically and socially" and "with bricks and mortar" are parallel elements. You have to determine which elements have similar functions, not just contain similar parts of speech.

In this case, the two elements that have similar functions are "politically and socially" and "with bricks and mortar," as both of those elements modify "create the city for themselves."

I think its B.
More than 2 Syrians so we have to use one another. So its B, C or E. C& E wrongly used as well as. => B

My answer is B.

I think the meaning is changed when the phrase "as well as" is used for bricks and mortar. Elim C,E
Elim D for "they have always line in."
I think in which they have lived is better than the city they have always lived in.
That leaves B as the most concise answer.

Modifiers can't end with preposition. Therefore, choices A, C and D ("city they have lived in" ) are out. "as well as with bricks and mortar" in E) changes meaning and therefore incorrect.
B) should be the answer.

After all the recent political changes, the Syrians are figuring out again how they relate to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning - figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.

A. to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
"each other" is used for 2 people. If more than 2: use one another.

B. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
Correct.

C. to one another and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.
"as well as" doeasnot contribute any meaning. So wrong.

D. to each other and to the city they have always live in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically, socially, and with bricks and mortar
"each other" is used for 2 people. If more than 2: use one another.

E. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for them, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.
"as well as" doeasnot contribute any meaning. So wrong.

After all the recent political changes, the Syrians are figuring out again how they relate to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning - figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.

A. to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar - "each other" is used for 2 people. If more than 2 then use 'one another'.

B. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar - Correct.

C. to one another and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar - "as well as" does not go well with meaning.

D. to each other and to the city they have always live in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically, socially, and with bricks and mortar - 'Each other' must be 'one another'. 'Live' must be 'lived' (Is it typographical mistake as I think GMAT does not put such errors or is it ?)

E. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for them, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar - "as well as" is redundant. 'Them' must be 'themselves'.

I'll go with C.

Ruled out B as follows:

In (B) “with bricks and mortars” at the end. The sentence shows that they are figuring out two things: how to create the city “politically and socially” and create it physically “with bricks and mortar”.

B means: they are building it “politically and socially” with bricks and mortar

A & D are out because of "Each other"

[quote="souvik101990"]After all the recent political changes, the Syrians are figuring out again how they relate to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning - figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.

A. to each other and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
Both usage is wrong here as it would imply that The Syrians are figuring out how to create that city for themselves with bricks and mortar. And they are figuring out politically and socially.
whereas the intended meaning is they are figuring out on how to create the city by two aspects.
they are

politically and socially,...............both aspects combined together compound noun
with bricks and mortar.

B. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, both politically and socially, with bricks and mortar.
same errors as in A repeats here.

C. to one another and to the city they have always lived in without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.

D. to each other and to the city they have always live inwithout quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for themselves, politically, socially, and with bricks and mortar
live in is incorrect as it should in past tense
politically, socially, and with bricks and mortar are not parallel as all three are not in same sense.

E. to one another and to the city in which they have always lived without quite fully owning – figuring out how to create that city for them, politically and socially, as well as with bricks and mortar.
them deviates the sentence from the intended meaning and creates an ambiguity in meaning as to whether it refers to Syrians or someone else.

Can someone explain me whether it is wrong to use
in which they have always lived instead of they have always lived in.
As I felt they cannot modify city and in which will do so correctly.

Its a tough one!! each other is used when two people are involved and one another when more than 2. So A and D is out. Confused between B and C. Will go with C. Ron Purewal in one of his videos said ( COMMA + WITH is normally an adverbial modifier, modifying the entire preceding clause) so with should be incorrect. "C"