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egmat
adkikani

Hi GMATNinja
I am totally confused with modifiers in option C/D, I am unable to get to OA: C
I selected option D with below understanding:
a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippine is my first independent clause with that as a subject and is found as verb
Moving on
and it resembles it correctly refers to 4.5 inch animal (no pronoun ambiguity here) and with it as subject and resembles as verb, this also forms
another independent clause (IC)
Both ICs are correctly joined by AND as connector since there are only two elements in this list. I feel meaning wise and grammatically this option sounds good.
Further as you mentioned in your post the underlined portion is part of a modifier, and I have no idea why we would stick a full, independent clause inside that modifier
are you considering that is found in the Philippines as modifier? Further in option C, can found act as verb-ed modifier which modifies Lisa's sunbird by jumping over animal? Note here there is no helping verb associated with found
WR,
Arpit

Hi E-


Hello adkikani /Arpit,

Thank you for the query. This is in response to your PM. :)

Let's begin from the beginning. The meaning of the sentence is pretty clear and easy to understand. The sentence presents a lot of information about this bird named Lina's sunbird.

Let's take a look at the structure of this sentence:

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal
    found in the Philippines and
    that resembles a hummingbird,

has
    shimmering metallic colors on its head;
    a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast;
    and a red eye.



As you can see, there are two SV pairs in the sentence. The SV pair Lina's sunbird has makes the IC and the SV pair that resembles makes the DC.

Since found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird modify a four-and-a-half-inch animal = Lina's sunbird, they form a parallel list, evident by the connector and. But this list is not grammatically parallel because found in the Philippines is verb-ed modifier while that resembles a hummingbird is a clause. They both have the same function in the sentence, i. e., they both modify the same noun entity. But a phrase modifier cannot be parallel to a clause modifier. Hence, the original sentence is incorrect.

Now, let's take a look at the sentence with the correct answer choice C:

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal
    found in the Philippines and
    resembling a hummingbird,
has
    shimmering metallic colors on its head;
    a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and
    a red eye.


Per this choice, both the modifiers found in the Philippines and resembling a hummingbird form the perfect list. Both the modifiers are phrases.

It is true that found in the Philippines is a verb-ed modifier and resembling a hummingbird is a verb-ing modifier and hence, they do not look similar. But "looks" do not matter. Both the modifiers perform the same function in this sentence, i. e., they both modify the same noun entity and appear as phrases. Therefore, these two noun modifiers are perfectly parallel.

You can perform the same analysis with all the other answer choices to spot the errors with the remaining three answer choices.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi egmat,

Need your help to understand this solution.

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird, has shimmering metallic colors on its head; a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and a red eye.

(A) found in the Philippines and that resembles
(B) found in the Philippines and that, resembling
(C) found in the Philippines and resembling
(D) that is found in the Philippines and it resembles
(E) that is found in the Philippines, resembling


Sentence structure -

First discovered more than 30 years ago, [ Modifier modifying Subject]
Lina's sunbird,
a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird, [Noun + Noun Modifier]
has
shimmering metallic colors on its head;
a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and a red eye. [This is the list]

I understand that C is correct and better answer for this sentence.

1) My question is generic, Can we place two modifier next to each other.

2)
First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines, resembling
has shimmering metallic colors on its head;
a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and a red eye.

Whether this sentence structure can be considered correct? And As what is the best way to eliminate E.

Thanks
Sudhanshu
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SudhanshuSingh, check out the explanation here for some insights on answer choice (E). In this particular sentence, we certainly could put two modifiers next to each other, but if those modifiers are parallel to each other -- in other words, if they logically modify the same thing -- then they should ideally be separated with an "and", as they are in answer choice (C).

I hope this helps!
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How come Option C doesn't have a parallelism error " found and resembling" ?
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How come Option C doesn't have a parallelism error " found and resembling" ?
Hi Shrey, this is because found is used as a past participle here, while resembling is used as a present participle.

Both past participles and present participles are adjectives and hence, considered grammatically similar to each other. For this reason, participles are also considered grammatically similar to adjectives.

For example, following is correct sentence:

Fans of the club, impatient and hoping for their club to win, were disappointed.

Impatient (adjective) is grammatically similar to hoping for their club to win (present participle)

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses participles, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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GMATNinja , Can't the "that" in A be said as a parallel element to a noun modifier "a four and a half inch animal"?
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Hi Vishal, for that to be parallel to another element, the sentence should have been modified as:

Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird
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Hi guys,

Would it be correct if the sentence were phrased this way :

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird, has shimmering metallic colors on its head...


In this case, the 2 'that' clauses are a part of a larger modifier - each clause having its own subject (that) and verb ( found and resembles).
The main subject Lina's sunbird has its verb - 'has shimmering'.
IMO the noun phrase modifier ' four-and-a-half-inch animal' would not need a verb or would it ?

Thanks
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ankitprad
Hi guys,

Would it be correct if the sentence were phrased this way :

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird, has shimmering metallic colors on its head...


In this case, the 2 'that' clauses are a part of a larger modifier - each clause having its own subject (that) and verb ( found and resembles).
The main subject Lina's sunbird has its verb - 'has shimmering'.
IMO the noun phrase modifier ' four-and-a-half-inch animal' would not need a verb or would it ?

Thanks
Hi ankitprad,

Just a quick note: found is not a verb here (is found is the verb). Has shimmering is not the main verb (has alone is the verb and shimmering is an adjective). The rest seems to be fine. :)

The appositive a four-and-a-half-inch animal that... should not include a verb.
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Hello experts , regarding answer choices A and B , the way I conducted the parallelism test was the following Lina's sunbird(found in the philippines and that resembles) so , Lina's sunbird found in the philippines and Lina's sunbird that resembles a hummingbird..., I can't understand why we don't have a parallelism , don't both parts make sense? (I applied the same approach on answer choice B) Is it because we have "found" instead of "that is found"? could somebody shed some light on my confusion ? (is there something wrong on the parallelism test that I have conducted? )
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UNSTOPPABLE12
Hello experts , regarding answer choices A and B , the way I conducted the parallelism test was the following Lina's sunbird(found in the philippines and that resembles) so , Lina's sunbird found in the philippines and Lina's sunbird that resembles a hummingbird..., I can't understand why we don't have a parallelism , don't both parts make sense? (I applied the same approach on answer choice B) Is it because we have "found" instead of "that is found"? could somebody shed some light on my confusion ? (is there something wrong on the parallelism test that I have conducted? )
Hi UNSTOPPABLE12,

Ignore Lina's sunbird. Focus only on "a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Philippines and resembling a hummingbird" (the portion between the two commas).

We shouldn't look at the X and Y in X and Y separately. If the X is in the non-underlined portion, we must make the Y as similar as possible, and if the Y is in the non-underlined portion of the sentence, we must try to make the X as similar to Y as possible. In this case, of course, both are in the underlined portion, but our task remains the same: to ensure that X and Y are similar to each other.

... found in the Philippines and resembling...found and resembling are both participles (describing animal)
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sunbird(found in the philippines and that resembles)
Yes you are right that these indeed are the parallel elements here.

found in the philippines is a participial phrase, while that resembles... is a relative clause.

In general, a phrase is not considered grammatically similar to a clause. As Ajitesh has pointed out, the intent should be to make the parallel elements as closely grammatically similar, as possible.
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First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird, has shimmering metallic colors on its head; a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and a red eye.

(A) found in the Philippines and that resembles "found" and "that resembles" are not parallel. Eliminate.

(B) found in the Philippines and that, resembling "found" and "that resembling" are not parallel. Eliminate.

(C) found in the Philippines and resembling Correct answer. Here, "found" and "resembling" play the role of adjectives and are hence parallel.

(D) that is found in the Philippines and it resembles "that is found" is not parallel to "it resembles". Also, "a four-and-a-half-inch animal...it resembles" does not make sense. Eliminate.

(E) that is found in the Philippines, resembling While there is no obvious grammatical error, "resembling a hummingbird" should modify Lina's sunbird. Here, it is awkwardly placed after another modifier. This option may be considered but in the presence of the much cleaner option (C), we should eliminate this.

Hope this helps.
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GMATNinja
I understand //ism but out of curiosity - why in some cases is animal followed by "that" whereas in others we don't use "that". As in what is the true purpose of that?
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GMATNinja
I understand //ism but out of curiosity - why in some cases is animal followed by "that" whereas in others we don't use "that". As in what is the true purpose of that?
"That" can do a couple of different things in a sentence -- check out this article or this video for lots of fun with the "that."

In this context, we have a subject ("Lina's sunbird") and then a bunch of stuff describing -- or modifying -- this subject.

In (A), we have, "Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal [...] that resembles a hummingbird..." So, the word "that" is just introducing a modifier to give us more information about the "animal."

Similarly, in (D) and (E), we have "Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines..." Again, "that" is just introducing a modifier to give us more info about the noun that comes right before the word "that."

The problem with all of these options is that only one of the parallel pieces has a "that" modifier. (C) fixes these issues by consistently using adjectives to start both of the parallel pieces.

I hope that helps!
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SudhanshuSingh, check out the explanation here for some insights on answer choice (E). In this particular sentence, we certainly could put two modifiers next to each other, but if those modifiers are parallel to each other -- in other words, if they logically modify the same thing -- then they should ideally be separated with an "and", as they are in answer choice (C).

I hope this helps!

Hi GMATNinja VeritasKarishma @EduactionAisle

I have a question on differences between C and E

Quote:
C) found in the Philippines and resembling
E) that is found in the Philippines, resembling

The difference between these two is how the modifiers are attached in the sentence. C attaches those using "and", so isn't C implying that found and resembling are different things. Or maybe to put it in better way, that both found and resembling have equal weightage. While in option E, "resembling hummingbird" is just giving us additional information about sunbird?

How do we decide which one is better between these two options.

Appreciate your time and response on this one.
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GMATNinja
SudhanshuSingh, check out the explanation here for some insights on answer choice (E). In this particular sentence, we certainly could put two modifiers next to each other, but if those modifiers are parallel to each other -- in other words, if they logically modify the same thing -- then they should ideally be separated with an "and", as they are in answer choice (C).

I hope this helps!

Hi GMATNinja VeritasKarishma @EduactionAisle

I have a question on differences between C and E

Quote:
C) found in the Philippines and resembling
E) that is found in the Philippines, resembling

The difference between these two is how the modifiers are attached in the sentence. C attaches those using "and", so isn't C implying that found and resembling are different things. Or maybe to put it in better way, that both found and resembling have equal weightage. While in option E, "resembling hummingbird" is just giving us additional information about sunbird?

How do we decide which one is better between these two options.

Appreciate your time and response on this one.

"found in the P" and "resembling a Hummingbird" are two different characteristics of "a four-and-a-half-inch animal" (which renames "Lina's sunbird").
They need to be parallel and given equal weightage.

We want to say this:
Lina's sunbird is found in the P.
and
Lina's sunbird resembles a Hummingbird.

"resembling..." is not modifying the previous clause "that is found in the P".
So it makes sense to go with (C).
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VeritasKarishma
RohitSaluja
GMATNinja
SudhanshuSingh, check out the explanation here for some insights on answer choice (E). In this particular sentence, we certainly could put two modifiers next to each other, but if those modifiers are parallel to each other -- in other words, if they logically modify the same thing -- then they should ideally be separated with an "and", as they are in answer choice (C).

I hope this helps!

Hi GMATNinja VeritasKarishma @EduactionAisle

I have a question on differences between C and E

Quote:
C) found in the Philippines and resembling
E) that is found in the Philippines, resembling

Hi @VeritasKarishma, thanks for your response

Quote:
"found in the P" and "resembling a Hummingbird" are two different characteristics of "a four-and-a-half-inch animal" (which renames "Lina's sunbird").


How do we determine whether they need to be given equal weightage or not?
The difference between these two is how the modifiers are attached in the sentence. C attaches those using "and", so isn't C implying that found and resembling are different things. Or maybe to put it in better way, that both found and resembling have equal weightage. While in option E, "resembling hummingbird" is just giving us additional information about sunbird?

How do we decide which one is better between these two options.

Appreciate your time and response on this one.

"found in the P" and "resembling a Hummingbird" are two different characteristics of "a four-and-a-half-inch animal" (which renames "Lina's sunbird").
They need to be parallel and given equal weightage.

We want to say this:
Lina's sunbird is found in the P.
and
Lina's sunbird resembles a Hummingbird.

"resembling..." is not modifying the previous clause "that is found in the P".
So it makes sense to go with (C).
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