Hoozan wrote:
GMATNinja GMATNinjaTwo
egmat While I was reading this particular SC question I had a few thoughts and doubts regarding Parallelism. Please could you help me get a better understanding with the following
When it comes to parallelism we got to keep a few things in mind
(1) All the elements in the list refer to the one subject
(2) All the elements are in the same structure. In other words, all are
nouns, or verbs, or modifiers, or clauses
(3) The correct marker is used to maintain the list
e.g. He went from X to Y - correct
He went from X and Y - incorrect
Doubts:-
(a) When the elements have to follow the same "structure" does this mean that I can gave a verb-ed modifier parallel to verb-ing modifier (considering they both are modifiers) Or do they both HAVE TO not only be modifiers But also be either verb-ing modifiers or verb-ed modifiers
Similarly if I say
The bird uses its wings to attack, to defend and for flying --> Here all the elements begin with a preposition. Now is it a preference where I would like to see "to attack, to defend and to fly" Or is this a deterministic error because they all have to follow the SAME PREPOSITION
(b) The tense used is irrelevant right?
e.g. He ate the banana and is now eating the apple
Here "ate" and "is eating" are both verbs of different tenses
(c) I have the idiom Both X and Y. If I need to talk about Z I will need to use a separate marker so can I say
e.g. He ate both A and B and C
--> Here the first "and" belongs to the idiom "both X and Y" while the second "and" is used to introduce a third element "C"
He ate both A and B as well as C
--> I read somewhere (or I guess in one of your posts) that "as well as" and "and" don't have much of a difference other that the "level of importance given to the element
when I say A and B and C ---> All the elements have the same weight-age.
But when I say A and B as well as C ---> Here C has less weight-age over A and B
(d) Is there a difference in the following
He ate both A and B, and C --> here we have ",and"
He ate both A and B and C --> here we have "and without comma"
Phew, great questions!
Quote:
(a) When the elements have to follow the same "structure" does this mean that I can gave a verb-ed modifier parallel to verb-ing modifier (considering they both are modifiers) Or do they both HAVE TO not only be modifiers But also be either verb-ing modifiers or verb-ed modifiers
You can definitely have a verb-ed modifier parallel to a verb-ing modifier (and
here's another example of two parallel modifiers that don't look the same).
And you can also have a parallel list of prepositional phrases. For example:
"The police found evidence (1) on the weapon, (2) inside the car, and (3) under the floorboards."
Disclaimer: that doesn't mean that using a parallel list of prepositions will ALWAYS be correct. As explained in
this post, the question isn't "can this particular grammatical structure be correct?" Instead, you want to ask yourself, "is the structure in this particular answer choice the best and clearest way to express a reasonable meaning for the sentence?"
Quote:
(b) The tense used is irrelevant right?
Right, verbs in a parallel list do NOT need to have the same tense. For example:
"I (1) eat bananas, (2) ate strawberries yesterday, and (3) will eat grapefruit tomorrow."
Quote:
(c) I have the idiom Both X and Y. If I need to talk about Z I will need to use a separate marker so can I say... But when I say A and B as well as C ---> Here C has less weight-age over A and B
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here, but I will use this as an opportunity to restate that there are painfully few absolute rules that ALWAYS apply on GMAT SC.
Sure, "as well as" can be used to express different levels of importance, but I can't give you any black and white rules about when you should and should not use that phrase. Your best bet is to review questions that use that construction and compare the use of "as well as" to the structures in the other options.
Quote:
(d) Is there a difference in the following
He ate both A and B, and C --> here we have ",and"
He ate both A and B and C --> here we have "and without comma"
In general, both/and connects two items, not three:
"I both (1) ate cheese and (2) drank wine." - Fine
"I both (1) ate cheese and (2) drank wine and (3) smoked cigars." - Not fine
"I both (1) ate cheese and (2) drank wine, and later that night I smoked a cigar." - Also fine. Here, the ", and" is NOT part of a parallel list. Instead, it is used to link two complete thoughts.
Again, this is something best analyzed on a case by case basis, and it's hard to come up with a finite list of universal "rules".
Some of that might not be very satisfying, but I hope it helps!
_________________
24 Apr 2020, 01:10
close
