First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-

the two comparable elements of the original sentence are "found" and "that resembles". As originally expressed, these elements are not structured similarly - for "that resembles" to be correct, the earlier parallel element of the sentence would have to state "that is found." Eliminate A.

b. Parallel elements: "found" and "that, resembling" - Not parallel = Eliminate
c. Parallel elements: "found" and "resembling" - Parallel = Keep
d. Parallel elements: "that is found" and "it resembles" - Not parallel = Eliminate
e. Parallel elements: "that is found" and "resembling" - Not parallel = Eliminate

Hence C

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

You are asked to complete the second modifier:

A. found in the Philippines and that resembles
Not parallel : "found" (modifier) "resembles" (verb)
D. that is found in the Philippines and it resembles
Not parallel, and moreover in a parallel list like this one, if the subject is the same, repeating the subject (and IT resembles) is considered redundant.

B. found in the Philippines and that, resembling
E. that is found in the Philippines, resembling
Those are not parallel as well "found/is found" and "resembling". ( and the comma + ing modifier is not used correctly)

C is parallel, and reminds us that the GMAT considers those modifiers perfectly parallel:
found in the Philippines and resembling
Another Official Question about this concept: scientists-have-recently-discovered-what-could-be-the-9394.html

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 in...and that resembles a..." is not parallel
One is verb-ed modifier and other is a verb

B. found in the Philippines and that, resembling
"resembling" tags the preceding verb/action which alters the meaning

C. found in the Philippines and resembling
NOTE: Verb-ed and Verb-ing modifiers are parallel to each other. Hence both "found" & "resembling" correctly modify Lina's sunbird and are parallel hence RIGHT ANSWER choice

D. that is found in the Philippines and it resembles
"found" & "resembles" not parallel

E. that is found in the Philippines, resembling
"resembling" incorrectly used modifier. It modifies the preceding verb which is not correct

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

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


This question primarily concerns parallel construction: the two comparable elements of the original sentence are
"found" and "that resembles". As originally expressed, these elements are not structured similarly - for "that
resembles" to be correct, the earlier parallel element of the sentence would have to state "that is found." Since the
original sentence contains a provable error, eliminate answer choice A and ANY OTHERS ANSWER CHOICES THAT
REPEAT THE ORIGINAL ERROR.

Hi! This is because found in the Philippines is a phrase, while that resembles... is a clause.

From a parallelism perspective, a phrase is not grammatically similar to a clause.

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 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)

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that Lina's sunbird is a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Philippines and resembling a hummingbird.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Verb Forms + Parallelism

A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "found in the Philippines" and "that resembles a hummingbird"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.

B: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "found in the Philippines" and "that...has shimmering metallic colors on its head"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.

C: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "and resembling a hummingbird", conveying the intended meaning - that Lina's sunbird is a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines and as a separate action, it resembles a hummingbird. Further, Option A correctly maintains parallelism between "found in the Philippines" and "resembling a hummingbird".

D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "found in the Philippines" and "it resembles a hummingbird"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.

E: Trap. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "resembling a hummingbird"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "resembling" in this sentence) incorrectly implies that Lina's sunbird is a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines and as a result, it resembles a hummingbird; the intended meaning is that Lina's sunbird is a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines and as a separate action, it resembles a hummingbird; please remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “resembling” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

Additional Note: In Option C, "found" and "resembling" are parallel because they are both participles acting as modifiers on the noun "animal"; "found" is the past participle, and "resembling" is the present participle.

To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participles for Cause-Effect Relationships" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Hi Rakesh, your analysis is correct. Following are the two modifiers, joined by and:

i) found in the Philippines - Past Participial Phrase
ii) resembling a hummingbird - Present Participial Phrase

Since both of these are Participial Phrases, they are considered grammatically parallel. Hence, this construct is fine.


With option D, the parallel parts are:
i) that is found in the Philippines - Dependent Clause
ii) it resembles a hummingbird - Independent Clause

In general, an Independent Clause is not considered grammatically parallel to a Dependent Clause. On that note, following structure in D would have been valid:

.....a four-and-a-half-inch animal that is found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird..

The parallel parts in this sentence are:
i) that is found in the Philippines - Dependent Clause
ii) that resembles a hummingbird - Dependent Clause

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses these issues with Paralleliism, its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

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.

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.

"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).

Hello adkikani /Arpit,

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal (Clause 1)
that is found in the Philippines (pronoun that is modifying animal)
and it resembles a hummingbird, (and suggests parallelism with it refers back to animal and is found and resembles are verbs for subject - animal) . Hope pronoun is not ambiguous here
has
shimmering[/color] metallic colors on its head,
a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts,
in the center of its breast; and a red eye. (cont. of clause 1)


You have identified the first SV pair correctly. However, the second SV pair that you have identified is not correct. The subject for the verb is found is that and not animal.

Please bear in mind that more often than not the relative pronoun modifier acts as the subject of the dependent clause it starts. For example:

1. The book that is kept on the desk belongs to me.

2. My friend has a vintage car that needs immediate repair.

In the above mentioned example sentences, that is the subject for the verbs is kept and needs in respective sentences even if that in sentence 1. refers to The book and to a vintage car in sentence 2.

Now let's talk about Choice D of the official question at hand.

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal

that is found in the Philippines and
it 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, in the first parallel list, that is found in the Philippines is a dependent clause and it resembles a hummingbird is an independent clause. Structurally, these two entities are not parallel.

If we replace it with that in the second parallel entity, then the choice would be correct.

There is no issue with the usage of and in Choice D because there are two lists in the sentence as you can see in the sentence structure above.

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

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