In the next few weeks, both the Federal Trade Commission and

Question

In the next few weeks,  both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department is planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting  reports about online privacy.

A) both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department is planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting
B) the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are both planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting
C) the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department both are planning to release independent, but possibly conflicting
D) both the Federal Trade Commission as well as the Commerce Department are planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting
E) both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting

daagh · Accepted Answer

1. ‘ Both ’ is part of the co-relative conjunction both X and Y; so  and  is integral in this context. 2.  Both  should modify the FTC and the CD and nothing else; Best to keep it at the head 3. “ but ”, is required only when the second arm has to differ from the first arm. 4. SV agreement

A) both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department is planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting ---  SV number agreement problem. Gone 
 
B) the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are both planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting ….  Placement of  both  is wrong … looks like it is modifying planning  
C)the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department both are planning to release independent, but possibly conflicting ……   use of but without a marked contrast is questionable; an independent report can be conflicting naturally.  
D) both the Federal Trade Commission as well as the Commerce Department are planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting …  both … as well as – wrong idiom.  
E) both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting …  all the above errors addressed and fixed. Right choice.

subhajeet · Answer

Hi, Thanks for the explanation. I was just wondering if in the last option (E), in place of "and possibly conflicting", if the choice read "but possibly conflicting", then would it had been wrong.

daagh · Answer

Use of  but conflicting  instead of  and conflicting  will be wrong for the same reasons as for C IMO

immaculatesahai · Answer

E correctly uses the correlative conjunction "Both X and Y". E clear winner.

Phoenix72 · Answer

Ans- E.
Nice explanation by daagh.

sl750 · Answer

Choice E uses the idiom both x and y correctly

getgyan · Answer

In the next few weeks,  both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department is planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting  reports about online privacy.
A. both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department is planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting,
B. the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are both planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting,
C. the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department both are planning to release independent, but possibly conflicting,
D. both the Federal Trade Commission as well as the Commerce Department are planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting,
E. both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting,

getgyan · Answer

Aditi and Ankush

Please do not post just the answer. Your explanations and thought process are very valuable asset to this forum and to everyone reading it.

By the time you will get up from bed tomorrow, these posts will be deleted by the moderator.

:-D

methevoid · Answer

My 2 cents in Red below -

First to observe is the S-V agreement and than the modification done by word - both.

anshunadir · Answer

AND  needs plural verb while  AS well AS  needs singular verb. eliminate A,D.
B. Placement of both is incorrect. Eliminate.
between C and E, placement of both is better in E. Moreover, C uses  Independent, but Conflicting .
Hence E wins.

Transcendentalist · Answer

Can someone explain why "both the" is correct and "..are both planning " and " ..both are planning" incorrect..

blueseas · Answer

BOTH ...==>This is always followed by AND
As the correct idiom is BOTH X and Y...
 X and Y are to be parallel.
 in the question other options are missing AND and parallelism

hope it helps

daagh · Answer

Of course, it has been accepted that the answer is E. 
But to take this discussion to the next level, may I open up another discussion on the use of commas in this topic.

1. What is the role of the comma at the end of the choices? Is it required or is it a transcription error?

2. More importantly, there are two items only in the list namely,' independent' and 'possibly conflicting’ – Do we need to use a comma between these two adjectives?

3. Will an edited version as given in --- both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are planning to release independent and possibly conflicting reports about online privacy. --- make a better choice?

Just for discussion

sallysea · Answer

Merged topics. Please, search before posting questions!

mdacosta · Answer

is the answers to this listed anywhere?

VerbalBot · Answer

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In the next few weeks, both the Federal Trade Commission and

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