Last visit was: 20 Nov 2025, 02:11 It is currently 20 Nov 2025, 02:11
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
marinerindrajeet
User avatar
Joined: 12 Feb 2018
Last visit: 23 May 2018
Posts: 2
Given Kudos: 4
Posts: 2
Kudos: 0
Either or parallelism confusion 28 Feb 2018, 23:06
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
IfAmerica allows China and Russia to establish regional hegemonies, either consciously or because its politics are too dysfunctional to muster a response, it will have given them a green light to pursue their interests by brute force.

This is an extract from the economist.please explain the parallel structure of either x or y in this sentence.

Sent from my SM-G935F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
User avatar
nishantd88
User avatar
Joined: 29 Mar 2011
Last visit: 29 May 2021
Posts: 282
Own Kudos:
377
Given Kudos: 16
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Finance
Schools: Insead Sept19 Intake (M$)
GMAT 1: 750 Q50 V40
WE:Management Consulting (Consulting)
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: Insead Sept19 Intake (M$)
GMAT 1: 750 Q50 V40
Posts: 282
Kudos: 377
Either or parallelism confusion 01 Mar 2018, 10:08
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
marinerindrajeet
IfAmerica allows China and Russia to establish regional hegemonies, either consciously or because its politics are too dysfunctional to muster a response, it will have given them a green light to pursue their interests by brute force.

This is an extract from the economist.please explain the parallel structure of either x or y in this sentence.

Sent from my SM-G935F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Show more
As per the rule, in 'either X or Y', X and Y should be parallel, i.e. they should stand for similar entities.

In the given sentence, X and Y are the causes why America may allow China and Russia to establish regional hegemonies.
America may allow it consciously or they may allow it because they cannot muster a response. So both X and Y are explanations as to why Russia and China may be allowed to establish regional hegemonies.
User avatar
marinerindrajeet
User avatar
Joined: 12 Feb 2018
Last visit: 23 May 2018
Posts: 2
Given Kudos: 4
Posts: 2
Kudos: 0
Either or parallelism confusion 01 Mar 2018, 17:55
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
So basically these 2 are acting as adverbs.i thought it should come grammatically parallel.

Sent from my SM-G935F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
User avatar
EducationAisle
User avatar
Joined: 27 Mar 2010
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,891
Own Kudos:
3,579
Given Kudos: 159
Location: India
Schools: ISB
GPA: 3.31
Expert
Expert reply
Schools: ISB
Posts: 3,891
Kudos: 3,579
Either or parallelism confusion 01 Mar 2018, 19:43
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi marinerindrajeet, normally you would not see this kind of structure on GMAT.

In the construct Either X or Y, X and Y have to be grammatically similar.

Here, X is a phrase while Y is a dependent clause. This is not grammatically similar.

Of course, GMAT does occasionally throw curveballs, but they are (thankfully) very rare.
User avatar
ccooley
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 04 Dec 2015
Last visit: 06 Jun 2020
Posts: 931
Own Kudos:
1,642
 [2]
Given Kudos: 115
GMAT 1: 790 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 790 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Posts: 931
Kudos: 1,642
 [2]
Either or parallelism confusion 08 Mar 2018, 13:25
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
marinerindrajeet
IfAmerica allows China and Russia to establish regional hegemonies, either consciously or because its politics are too dysfunctional to muster a response, it will have given them a green light to pursue their interests by brute force.

This is an extract from the economist.please explain the parallel structure of either x or y in this sentence.

Sent from my SM-G935F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Show more

A good approach is to try breaking the parallel structure into two pieces. Then, fit each piece back into the sentence, and make sure that it fits correctly. If each piece fits separately, and the two pieces have basically the same grammatical role (here, they're modifiers), the parallelism is good.

Here's what that would look like here:

1. If America allows China and Russia to establish regional hegemonies, consciously, it will have given them a green light to pursue their interests by brute force.
2. If America allows China and Russia to establish regional hegemonies, because its politics are too dysfunctional to muster a response, it will have given them a green light to pursue their interests by brute force.

Those are both good sentences, so you're almost certainly good with the parallelism.
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 18,832
Own Kudos:
986
Posts: 18,832
Kudos: 986
Either or parallelism confusion 14 Nov 2022, 13:35
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
Moderators:
miag
189 posts
u1983
Current Student
710 posts
MikeScarn
Current Student
275 posts