Hi wanghewei,

This is a particular type of dummy it, used to change what would otherwise have been the subject of the sentence. Let's quickly take a look at why someone may use it:

1. The wording of the question confused me. ← This is fine, even though parents is plural.
2. It was the wording of the question that confused me. ← This is the same sentence, but the way it is constructed draws extra attention to the wording of the question. This could be used, for example, by a test taker to emphasize that it was the wording of the question (and nothing else) that confused him or her.

Don't worry too much about the difference between (1) and (2). The GMAT is extremely unlikely to test us on this. What is important is that we remember that there is no corresponding "plural" for this type of it, so we go with [it + singular verb] even when the noun on the other side is plural.

3. It was his parents who encouraged him to take the GMAT. ← This is fine.
4. They were his parents who encouraged him to take the GMAT. ← Trying to make the it in (3) plural somehow leads to an incorrect sentence.

5. ... it is primarily prescriptions that attract the customers... ← We ignore the fact that prescriptions is plural.

Remember not to apply this to other verbs:

6. It was his parents who were... ← The was is singular, but the were is plural (to go with parents).
7. It was his parents who was... ← This is incorrect.
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As the always-wise AjiteshArun indicated, the "it" in this case is one of those strange dummy pronouns that don't have a referent. In constructions such as "it is raining" or "it is wrong to laugh at small children when they put legos in their noses," the "it" seems to imply a general state of affairs and doesn't refer to another noun in the sentence.

Two things I want to emphasize in this situation: 1) these constructions are rare on the GMAT, so don't worry about them too much, and 2) when in doubt about a pronoun, look for other, more concrete issues to use as decision points. If there are four concrete errors, and the one remaining option contains a weird pronoun but no other identifiable problems, the latter will be the correct answer.

I hope that helps!
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Hi egmat

I cannot seem to understand why you have rejected option B on the basis of prepositional phrase? As per the "Usage of As" module in your course, As + prepositional phrases can be used to present comparison. The catch is of "ellipsis".

Quoting you:

B) As with the case of traditional pharmacies, online drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success: Incorrect. Since “as” has been used for comparison in this choice, it must be followed by a clause. But “with the case of traditional pharmacies” is a prepositional phrase and not a clause.

After adding ellipsis - As it is with the case of traditional pharmacies....

Also, I thought "it" is the placeholder (dummy) "it". Why is "it" referring to a clause?

Thanks.

Experts i have slight doubt GMATNinja VeritasKarishma egmat

It has 2 roles one as a pronoun and second as a placeholder

my doubt is why can't the pronoun act as a placeholder in option A?

I have the same query egmat GMATNinja daagh can you please share some details about this

As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful, since it is primarily prescriptions that attract the customers, who then also buy other health-related items.

(A) As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful "It" (some quality of traditional pharmacies) is being incorrectly compared to "on-line drugstores". Eliminate.

(B) As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success "As" is followed by a prepositional phrase and not a clause as is required, also being used to compare two nouns incorrectly. Eliminate.

(C) As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore Correct answer. Above errors are rectified and no new errors are introduced.

(D) As traditional pharmacies, so on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful Same error as in (B). Eliminate.

(E) Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore is prescriptions Incorrect comparison of "traditional pharmacies" and "cornerstone of...". Eliminate.

Hope this helps.
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As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful, since it is primarily prescriptions that attract the customers, who then also buy other health-related items.

Hi @AndrewN AjiteshArun: Please check my analysis below for B, C and D. I tried this question several times in last 2 days. Still I am not able to reach at the right answer.


Question1: Can we reject it on basis that Since and So are duplicate in meaning together? Is my approach right?
Since XXX , Online drug xxx
Since XX , so Online xx – since and so duplication


Question2: I think I am missing something in my approach to handle B and C. I improved SC efficiency by changing the strategy to seek an option that can provide clear and concise meaning literally. This one I faltered . Here is my analysis:
Need your expertise opinions.


Adding description of case: what case?
As with case of traditional pharmacies to rely on prescriptions to have success, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success
Meaning wise:
As traditional pharmacies rely on prescriptions to have success, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success
Comparison wise:
traditional pharmacies rely vs on-line drugstores rely
I choose B.
Note: I didn't want to reject B only because it is prepositional phrase with AS,I don't think i can remember such rules for long. So i kept reasoning based on meaning wise.


As the case is with traditional pharmacies, something is similar with online drugstore
Case = prescriptions are the cornerstone
Reading with whole meaning wise:
As prescriptions are the cornerstone is with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore
Comparison wise:
Case vs prescriptions
But what I am looking for comparison :
traditional pharmacies rely vs on-line drugstores rely
Hence I rejected C

AndrewN AjiteshArun: Please suggest where did I falter in B and C based on literal meaning strategy

Thanks!

Hello, mSKR. I am not sure I can answer your question to your satisfaction, based on the "literal meaning strategy" you wish for me to invoke. I did narrow this one down to (A) and (C) pretty quickly, but then I took a little extra time to qualify each answer choice, and I opted for (C). My take on the answers:


I do not like the double placeholders at all in it (in the underlined portion) and it (right after the underlined portion). The sentence is difficult to follow. I also wonder about the phrase to be successful, which sounds as if the prescriptions themselves are supposed to generate success, rather than the stores that peddle them. That is, if you wrap up the phrase into the single-word adjective successful and place it ahead of the noun it modifies, are we talking about successful drugstores or successful prescriptions? I have two doubts here on the whole, enough for me to seek a safer alternative.


In general, with should warrant caution, as it is used in many reasonable-sounding answers that end up being wrong. Here, as with is improper usage in the idiomatic construct as is the case. To be honest, I eliminated this one right away. But I felt even better about my decision when I saw have at the end instead of be. You can enjoy success, or you can be successful, but to have success? That sounds off, particularly when we had a perfectly reasonable alternative in the original sentence. Finally, to have success repeats the dual meaning issue we encountered at the tail-end of the previous answer choice. We still cannot say for sure whether drugstores or prescriptions are meant to have success.


Now the issues from before have been addressed. The proper idiom is used in the comparison, and successful has finally found a home. After the underlined portion, there is a special emphasis placed on prescriptions in the It is... prescriptions that construct. A simple since prescriptions attract would do, but it would not be as emphatic. Since the underlined portion identifies prescriptions as the cornerstone of pharmacies, the it is... that construct seems fitting. In short, I have no issues with this answer choice.


This is an improper usage of an as X, so [too] Y comparison. Something else needs to be attached to the first part to draw a comparison using as. Otherwise, like would be used to compare a noun to another noun: Like traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores... The open-ended to be successful only serves to further weaken the viability of this option.


Right idea, wrong execution. In this type of noun-to-noun comparison, similar entities need to be compared—pharmacies and the cornerstone are not similar entities. If we want to compare cornerstones (in a manner of speaking), we can invoke the case, as seen in other options. This should be another straightforward elimination.

I hope that helps you in some way, even if I more or less explained my own approach. Thank you for thinking to ask me, and as always, good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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I got this question right but wanted to verify if my reasoning for eliminating answer choices is correct. Can you please help? Appreciate the help!

MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful, since it is primarily prescriptions that attract the customers, who then also buy other health-related items.

(A) As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful "it" has no logical referent

(B) As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success meaning issue - it is illogical to say that "drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success"

(C) As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore logically compares how traditional pharmacies and online drugstore rely on prescriptions

(D) As traditional pharmacies, so on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful I think this is incorrect because it is a wrong use of the idiom as X so Y. we need something before "as traditional pharmacies" to make this logical.

(E) Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore is prescriptions incorrect comparison between traditional pharmacies and cornerstone of a successful online drugstore

Note:
as + PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE is acceptable if the intended comparison is crystal clear.

An OA in GMATPrep:
In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work.
Here, the two green in-phrases are parallel and thus serve the SAME FUNCTION: each serves to modify the following clause in blue.
Implied comparison:
In Hungary an overwhelming proportion of women work, as in much of Eastern Europe an overwhelming proportion of women work.
Since the intended comparison is crystal clear, this usage of as + PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE is correct.

B: As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions.
Here, the red portion contains a with-modifier, but not the blue portion does not.
As result, a reader can only guess what action in the red portion is performed with the case of traditional pharmacies.
Since the intended comparison is not crystal clear, eliminate B.
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- If it is allowed to ask here, can any one tell me the source of this question ? In other words, is this question from OG?

Thanks

Hello, deepakbarchha1. According to the question tags, this a GMAT Prep question. So, while it may not have appeared in the OG, it does seem to be an official question. If you cannot see the question tags above the question itself, you may have hidden them by accident. (I know I did when I was still unfamiliar with the site layout.)

- Andrew
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As used here with the noun "traditional pharmacies" is not correct. We need a clause for it to make sense.
e.g. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Use of "like" is expected here.
Like traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely ...
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Hi AndrewN KarishmaB

I eliminated option C as I initially thought that pharmacies are being wrongly compared to prescriptions. But having read the explanations and brainstorming a bit, I think because the sentence contains the words " As with the case..." , the comparison of prescriptions is not with pharmacies per se, but with something related to pharmacies. ( the supposed case that is mentioned). Is my understanding correct ?

Also, I see a lot of explanations saying that the pronoun "it" has no referent. I didn't even consider this split as "it" is being used a placeholder. Do we really need a clear referent of "it" ? I am not sure. Please confirm.

Hello Namangupta1997,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your queries, you are correct; "it" is indeed a placeholder pronoun here, meaning it does not need to directly refer to a noun.

Further, Option C does not directly compare "traditional pharmacies" to "a successful on-line drugstore"; it uses the adverbial phrase "As is the case with traditional pharmacies" to draw a comparison between how prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore, and how the same is true for traditional pharmacies, or, in other words, to convey that prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore, and they are also the cornerstone for traditional pharmacies.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Hello, Namangupta1997. Have you read my earlier post on this question? It touches on both of your queries. (I think you meant to say option B in the first part, since you mentioned with, but I am unsure.)

Also, GMATGuruNY has written a fine post on why with will not work in the sentence at hand.

Please let me know if you have further questions. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew
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In (C), a similarity is being established. Similarity between the case with traditional pharmacy and the case with online drugstore. That both cases are the same.
What is the case? It is that both rely on prescriptions to be successful.

As is the case with TP, the same is the case of online drugstores. This comparison is done correctly by option (C).

"As with the case of TP" is wrong. It needs something like "As happened with the case of TP, so happened with the case of OD". Here, what happened with the two cases would be same, not the two cases...

Now consider (A).
'it' can be a placeholder for something about TPs.
As it is with traditional pharmacies, so it is with on-line drugstores...
They have some similar quality.

But what (A) says is:
As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores ...
We are comparing a quality of TPs with ODs. This is incorrect comparison.

Now consider this:
As it is with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore too...
Here, 'it' stands for 'prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful traditional pharmacy' which is acceptable in spoken language but not so much in formal. GMAT prefers 'the case' instead of 'it'. The case can stand in for the situation.
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