Hi All,

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


On reading the sentence carefully, we know that this sentence presents a comparison. The intended comparison is between traditional pharmacies and online drugstores. The point of comparison is that just like traditional pharmacies, online drugstores also depend upon the success of prescriptions for the said reason.
Since there is a comparison in this sentence, we can use either “LIKE + Noun” or “AS + Clause”. Let’s run the POE.



POE

A) As it is with traditional pharmacies, online drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful: Incorrect. Pronoun “it” is referring to the entire clause “online drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful”. This is incorrect because a pronoun can only refer to a noun or a pronoun.

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.

C) As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful online drugstore: Correct. “As” is followed by a clause. Also, this choice maintains the parallelism by using “is” and “are”. What is the case with traditional pharmacies? It is that prescriptions are the cornerstone for their success. Hence, the comparison is parallel here.

D) As traditional pharmacies, so online drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful: Incorrect. “As” is not followed by a clause.

E) Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful online drugstore is prescriptions: Incorrect. This choice presents illogical comparison. Here “traditional pharmacies” have been compared to “the cornerstone”. Also, use of “so” is not correct.



1. In comparisons, “like” must be followed by a NOUN.
2. In comparisons, “as” must be followed by a CLAUSE.
3. Pronouns can only refer to nouns and other pronouns.
4. Comparison should always be logical.

Hope this helps. Thanks.
Shraddha
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Pronouns + Comparisons + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• A comparison must always be made between similar elements.

A: This answer choice suffers from a pronoun error, as the pronoun “it” lacks a clear and logical referent.

B: This answer choice incorrectly compares the prepositional phrase “with the case of traditional pharmacies” to the clause “on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success”; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements.

C: Correct. This answer choice avoids the pronoun error seen in Option A, as it uses no pronouns. Further, Option C correctly compares the clause “is the case with traditional pharmacies” with the clause “prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore”.

D: This answer choice incorrectly compares the noun “traditional pharmacies” to the clause “on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful”; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements.

E: This answer choice incorrectly compares “traditional pharmacies” to “the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore”; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful, since it is primaritly 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

B. As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success

C. As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the conrnerstone of a successful on-line drugstore

D. As traditional pharmacies, so on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful

E. Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore is prescriptions

Hi All-- some important notes about how to use the word AS correctly:

1) As+subject+verb
This structure is used only in comparisons and only after the verb of comparison.
Ex. She sings as an angel does (meaning 'in the same way that') (Note: This is equivalent to, "She sings like an angel.")

2. As+verb+subject (Yes, the order matters!)
Ex. She sings, as does her mother (meaning she sings, and her mother does too). (Note: This is NOT a comparison!)

3. As+noun (No Verb)
Ex. As a mother of 5, Sue was often fatigued (meaning that Sue is a mother of 5). (Note: This sentence is NOT a comparison.)

4. Just as A, so B
Use this structure when comparing items that do different verbs!
Ex. Just as cats instinctively play with moving objects that are not real prey, so monkeys instinctively care for offspring of another species.

Now back to the answers...

A. As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful
As was noted before, "as it is with..." implies that 'something' is with... But the pronoun "it" has not noun to which it refers written in the sentence.

B. As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success
"As with the case" is a prepositional phrase, that is, it is a descriptive phrase. It is also a subject-modifier, i.e., its a description that opens the sentence and, thus, describes the subject after the comma. But the sentence does not mean to say that drugstores are "with the case". That just does not mean anything.

C. As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the conrnerstone of a successful on-line drugstore
"As is the case" means that prescriptions are the cornerstone for pharmacies, and this is the case with online-drugstores too.

D. As traditional pharmacies, so on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful
The idiom needed for this structure is "Just as...
" (See explanation above.)


E. Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore is prescriptions

This sentence literally means that the cornerstone is like pharmacies, since "Like pharmacies" is the subject modifier.

For more on comparisons, checkout Sentence Correction Lesson VI at gmaxonline!
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can someone explain this please ? it says that C is the OA

C. As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore

for me, 2 problems :

1) is C correct ? can we say "as is..." ? Maybe "as it is the case..." is ok but "as is" seems incorrect
2) "as it is the case. with X, Y...", no ? I think we are tlaking about Pharmacies first, we should compare with Drugstore then, not with prescriptions. Or "the case" is a word that accounts for "prescriptions" ?

please help here

not so easy...i am so french, it's terrible @!!@
this language will never enter my head

thanks for your lesson Master Christoph

im not sure but ill try to explain

I think the sentence is trying to say that "like traditional pharmacies, online drugstores rely on prescriptions"

d- wrong cuz as is used to compare clauses. There needs to be a verb. To correct the sentence use "like"
e-faulty comparison
b-faulty comparison
a- it ambigous

'C' is the best of the rest!

A - 'it' has no reference.
B - 'As with the case of traditional pharmacies' - is wrong
C - keep it...
D - 'as' usage is wrong. 'as' needs a clause
E - Wrong comparison. traditional pharmacies being compared with the cornerstone.

For D to be correct, it must have been "As traditional pharmacies do,"

As is the case, as in B, is incorrect

C is the best... As is the case is correct

C.
the idiom in D is not complete. E is wrong comparision. A and B are also wrongly compared. left with C only.

A. As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful ==> Use of "it" is unclear....

B. As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success ==> "prescriptions to have success" is awkward/unidiomatc

C. As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore ==> Correct! correctly conveys the message that prescriptions are important to online pharmacies

D. As traditional pharmacies, so on-line drugstore rely on prescriptions to be successful ==> I don't think "as...so" is idiomatic, sounds awkward

E. Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore is prescriptions ==> Incorrect comparison of "traditional pharmacies" with "the cornerstone"

A. As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful.
As it is... wrong usage in this case...

B. As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success. As with the case wrong usage in this case..,also rely on to have success wrong usage..

C. As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore. As is the case the correct usuage

D. As traditional pharmacies, so on-line drugstore rely on prescriptions to be successful . As traditional pharmacies ......, so do online drug stores, would have been correct.

E. Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore is prescriptions. [color=blue][color=blue][color=blue]Pharmacies are being compared to the USP of a successful online drugstore.

IMO B

As it is with traditional pharmacies, online 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, online drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful
what does it refer to??
B. As with the case of traditional pharmacies, online drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success
C. As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful online drugstore
Wrong modifier use and wrong idiom (idiom is As...is...so)
D. As traditional pharmacies, so online drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful
Idiom must be As is so....
E. Like traditional pharmacies, the cornerstone of a successful online drugstore is prescriptions
Like must be used to compare like things....use of like here is wrong.

Let's deconstruct the sentence:

As it is with traditional pharmacies-The author here is trying to compare something with "it is" of the traditional pharmacies

on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful, OK so we are comparing dependence of success of both on-line and traditional pharmacies on prescriptions. Cool!

since it is primarily prescriptions that attract the customers, who then also buy other health-related items. Reason behind why prescriptions are important.

So, the author wants to say that- for an online pharmacy to be successful, it has to rely a lot on prescriptions. And this dependence on prescriptions for success is no different in the case of traditional pharmacies.

Let's look at the options:

a) As it (what does "it" refer to? It is not a placeholder either, but we cannot elimate just because of it, lets look for more errors )is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful This is nonsensical. The Author intends to say that for the store to be successful, prescriptions are important. prescriptions to be successful does not make sense.

b) As with(there is some problem with "as with" I am not sure what it is ) the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success "To have success" is awkward

c) As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the conrnerstone of a successful on-line drugstore- good. The intended meaning and comparison with the traditional pharmacy is aptly done.

d) As traditional pharmacies(as traditional pharmacies what? As followed by noun acts as a function, we need a comparison here), so on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful (as discussed above, prescriptions to be successful is distorting the intended meaning.

e) Like traditional pharmacies(we are not comparing traditional pharmacies, but we are comparing the dependence on prescriptions), the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore is prescriptions

"Since" has two main usage:

1) It could mean "from then till now": Since 1990, the prices have increased.
In this case the meaning of the sentence is : the action "prices have increased" started in the past and its effects/consequences are still visible in the present.
In this case Present Perfect is the correct tense to express the meaning.

2)It could stand for "because": Since you're already here, you might as well stay.
In this sentence "since" is used as conjunction, not as an adverb (as above). The above concept does not apply here.

Hope it's clear

after going through the threads i have to say that "as is the case with..." is an idiomacit expression and no other comparison or parallelism problems..
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"as is the case with" is an idiom. we can use this idiom to make comparision the advantage of this idiom is that the parallel pattern is not required and we can be more flexible in using any word forms.

but this problem is more about grammar than meaning while it is meaning and logic which is focus of sc part.

Thanks a lot. These rules are really helpful.

Intent: We are comparing practices, between two places, namely a traditional pharmacy and an on-line drugstores

With that in mind, eliminate E, because it using like, which is used for nouns.

(A) As it is with traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful
Incorrect comparison, it is with X, Y

(B) As with the case of traditional pharmacies, on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to have success
Incorrect comparison, As with the case of X, Y

(C) As is the case with traditional pharmacies, prescriptions are the cornerstone of a successful on-line drugstore
Correct answer, As is the case with X, prescriptions(is the case here) for Y

(D) As traditional pharmacies, so on-line drugstores rely on prescriptions to be successful
Rhetorical construction, as X so Y, no idiom as such.
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Hello

Can somebody please explain how to work with this little thing "As is the case with". I've stumbled across the phrase on RonPurewal online videos. I suppose that it compares clauses. But the use of this marker in the sentence above seems to be a bit different from the use in this sentence: https://gmatclub.com/forum/there-are-hopeful-signs-that-we-are-shifting-away-from-our-heavy-relia-39343.html

I will highly appreciate your advice

aragonn, GMATNinja, sudarshan22, GMATNinjaTwo, hazelnut, generis

Thanks