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555-605 Level|   Parallelism|         
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AjiteshArun
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 24 Aug 2020, 23:50
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Hi AjiteshArun, the mentioned links are not working. I have selected E but the doubt still persists regarding the usage of second 'by'.
Thanks,
Ankush
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Hi nkshmalik1,

Those links are to the last and the second to last posts on this thread dated "25 Mar 2019" (16:45 and 20:06 IST). Have you already gone through those posts?
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 05 Feb 2021, 18:54
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VeritasKarishma mam
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Kindly explain whether the second "by" is mandatory to be used here and why is Option D incorrect. Also isn't the ellipsis rule applicable here wherein there is no need to repeat the preposition
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 08 Feb 2021, 23:37
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VeritasKarishma mam
GMATNinja sir
Kindly explain whether the second "by" is mandatory to be used here and why is Option D incorrect. Also isn't the ellipsis rule applicable here wherein there is no need to repeat the preposition
Show more

The first element of the list is long and has a sub list. It is much better to repeat the 'by' while starting the second element to show that it is a part of the outside list, not the sub list.
There are few "mandatory" rules in grammar. We need to look for the BEST option.
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 05 Jun 2021, 21:32
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sayantanc2k
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and financial Services -----last one in the list ------> eliminate A,B
by providing..............and by staying............ --------> Parallel
IMO E

What is problem with D? Consider a simpler example:

By eating healthy and sleeping plenty, I improved my health.

Is the preposition by required before the second gerund as well?

To answer this question, let us recollect the Once in twice out rule:

The parallel structure here is X and Y: If we consider the preposition by inside the parallel structure, we must use by two times. In such case by should be used both in X and in Y.

However we could also consider that the preposition by is outside the parallel structure. In such case we would use by only once. It would cover both X and Y.

This ambiguity often occurs with AND structure because we cannot determine where the parallelism starts, whether the preposition is inside or outside. However, for two-part structures such as NOT ONLY.... BUT ALSO, it is easy to determine whether the preposition is outside or inside and such ambiguity does not occur.
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I get your point. Since, there Is ambiguity here. How do we pick the correct answer here?
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 08 Aug 2021, 03:35
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Need expert inputs.

Which one is correct?
"By doing A,B, and C, and eating Y,..." OR "By doing A,B, and C, and by eating Y,..."

I chose D because of the comma, which is not present in E. Please advise if this was a correct move.
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 08 Aug 2021, 03:45
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I would have preferred the option E :

... and financial advice and by staying....

If there had been a comma before "and by staying" :

... and financial advice, and by staying....

Experts could you help in it. Whether comma would not helped break from the previous list :

.. mortgages, home improvement loans, automobile loans, and financial advice

Otherwise, "and financial advice and by staying" looks in aberration.
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 08 Aug 2021, 17:25
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If and is used as a conjuction to join two independent clause "," before and is a must. Since, the second part is not an independent clause ", and" is incorrect hence option "D" is incorrect.

You only left with option E which is structurally correct.

Pls share your opinion. This is how I see this particular question.

Posted from my mobile device
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 28 Aug 2021, 10:22
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AjiteshArun
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The parallel structure here is X and Y: If we consider the preposition by inside the parallel structure, we must use by two times. In such case by should be used both in X and in Y.

However we could also consider that the preposition by is outside the parallel structure. In such case we would use by only once. It would cover both X and Y

to quote an example

by eating healthy and sleeping well, I maintain my health.


please help
The correct option gives us the following sentence:

By providing such services as (mortgages, home improvement loans, automobile loans, and financial advice) and by staying within the metropolitan areas, Acme Bank has become one of the most profitable savings banks in the nation.

You're right in saying that the second by is not necessary, but it helps show that we are looking at the second item of the main list. Otherwise, the reader could read the sentence like this:
By providing such services as X and Y... (where X is a list of 4 items)

You'll face this problem in any long sentence, or in any sentence in which there are elements that could confuse the reader. You should err on the side of caution and prefer any option that clarifies what the parallel elements are.
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AjiteshArun

If we use "by" again, is this not another interpretation -
By providing such services as X and By Y, Acme Bank....
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 28 Aug 2021, 11:35
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ag28
AjiteshArun

If we use "by" again, is this not another interpretation -
By providing such services as X and By Y, Acme Bank....
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Hi ag28,

You could read it like that, but the most likely interpretation, given that X is a noun, is that by staying is parallel to the first element with a by before it (by providing).
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 18 Feb 2022, 02:01
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shouldn't option(E) has a comma before "and by staying" since the statement forms an independent clause?
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 18 Feb 2022, 04:31
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Srsingh96
shouldn't option(E) has a comma before "and by staying" since the statement forms an independent clause?
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Hi Srsingh96, comma is generally used when "and" is used to join two independent clauses.

However, following is not an independent clause:

By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, automobile loans, financial advice

In fact, this is not even a clause; it is just a prepositional phrase.
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 18 Feb 2022, 05:51
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Srsingh96
shouldn't option(E) has a comma before "and by staying" since the statement forms an independent clause?
Show more

Hello Srsingh96,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "by staying within the metropolitan areas" is not part of an independent clause; it is the second half of the modifying phrase that acts upon the clause "Acme Bank has become one of the most profitable savings banks in the nation"; "By providing..." and "by staying..." are two parallel actions, linked by "and", that are undertaken by "Acme Bank".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 30 May 2022, 23:46
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I struck between D and E. whether GMAT tests for punctuation?
Because (D) "and financial advice, and staying" comma separates sentence but in (E) "and financial advice and by staying" after "financial advice" immediately comes "and".
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 31 May 2022, 06:11
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FazliddinKD
I struck between D and E. whether GMAT tests for punctuation?
Because (D) "and financial advice, and staying" comma separates sentence but in (E) "and financial advice and by staying" after "financial advice" immediately comes "and".
Show more

Hello FazliddinKD,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the use of the comma is incorrect in Option D; due to the inclusion of the comma, Option D incorrectly uses the "comma + conjunction ("and" in this case)" construction to join the dependent clauses "By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, automobile loans, financial advice" and "staying within the metropolitan areas"; remember, the "comma + conjunction" construction is used to join an independent clause to a dependent clause; here, as the two dependent clauses are acting upon the same noun - "Acme Bank" - they must be joined with bare conjunction.

To understand the concept of punctuation on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~9 minutes):



We hope this helps.
All the best!
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 18 Nov 2022, 13:29
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SC# 1
Quote:
By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, automobile loans, financial advice and staying within the metropolitan areas, Acme Bank has become one of the most profitable savings banks in the nation.

(A) financial advice and staying
(B) financial advice and by staying
(C) and financial advice, staying
(D) and financial advice, and staying
(E) and financial advice and by staying
Show more
^^ The correct choice is
Show Spoiler
E

The following questions is also from official one.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/by-devising- ... l#p1699983

SC# 2
Quote:
By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, in 1797-1798 Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure for the weight of the earth.

(A) By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, in 1797-1798 Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him

(B) In 1797-1798, by devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him

(C) Henry Cavendish devised an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employed uncommonly precise measurements, and in 1797-1798 was able

(D) Having devised an instrument from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employment of uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish in 1797-1798 was able

(E) By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish was able in 1797-1798
Show more
^^ The correct choice is
Show Spoiler
E

Hello,
According to SC# 2, why did we not pick choice D in SC# 1? Can you clarify experts, please? This questions just make me crazy!
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 01 Dec 2022, 04:52
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Why is by providing and by staying necessary. For e.g
People never have and never will vote in favor of the referendum. ( In this sentence we would read as people never have have and people never will, there is no need for us to write people twice) Thus why is it necessary to write "by" twice ?
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 09 Dec 2022, 12:11
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Manyaparmar4444
Why is by providing and by staying necessary. For e.g
People never have and never will vote in favor of the referendum. ( In this sentence we would read as people never have have and people never will, there is no need for us to write people twice) Thus why is it necessary to write "by" twice ?
Show more
There are no clear cut "rules" for this sort of thing, unfortunately. Is it absolutely necessary to write "by" twice? Maybe not. But comparing (D) and (E), the extra "by" makes the parallelism clearer and easier to follow -- without it, the reader might think that we're still listing "services".

In (E), we clearly have one comma-separated list of services and one NON-comma-separated list of modifiers ("by providing..." and "by staying..."):

    By providing such services as X, Y, and Z and by staying within the metropolitan areas, Acme Bank has become one of the most profitable savings banks in the nation.

Does that mean that (D) is absolutely WRONG and in violation of a rule of some sort? Nope. There are very few rules that apply universally on GMAT SC, and the exam isn't asking us to figure out whether individual answer choices are wrong -- it's asking us to pick the best of the options we're given. In this case, (E) is just better.

I hope that helps!
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By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, 10 Jul 2023, 07:38
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sayantanc2k
and financial Services -----last one in the list ------> eliminate A,B
by providing..............and by staying............ --------> Parallel
IMO E
Show more
[/quote][/quote]

What is problem with D? Consider a simpler example:



Hey sayantanc2k, I read your explanations usually to understand GMAT Verbal questions.
here is my observation that made me choose between D & E
(D) and financial advice, and staying - in this the comma before "and staying" is used which as i understand should not be used if there are only two things in a list
(E) and financial advice and by staying - in E the comma is not used and by using by the parallelism become more clearer

I am no expert just learning from your explanations please correct me if i am wrong
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