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baithak
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OG question for MIke 11 Oct 2016, 11:19
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As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.

A. they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell
B. they can also pilfer valuable information that includes business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and selling
C. also pilfering valuable information including business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, selling
D. but also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans to sell
E. but also pilfering valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans and selling

Hi Mike

Can you please comment on the use of not only structure in choice A. Choice A omits But, which i think can be omitted if we use the semicolon as is illustrated in some grammar books. Dose not the absence of but creates a run-on?

Choice A should have been written as follows
As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts ; they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.


Thanks
B
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mikemcgarry
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OG question for MIke 11 Oct 2016, 15:43
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baithak
As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.

A. they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell
B. they can also pilfer valuable information that includes business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and selling
C. also pilfering valuable information including business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, selling
D. but also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans to sell
E. but also pilfering valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans and selling

Hi Mike

Can you please comment on the use of not only structure in choice A. Choice A omits But, which i think can be omitted if we use the semicolon as is illustrated in some grammar books. Dose not the absence of but creates a run-on?

Choice A should have been written as follows
As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts ; they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.


Thanks
B
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Dear baithak,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, when you post an SC question, please underline. I underlined for you in this question. This is simply a courtesy that makes things so much easier on anyone reading the question. This, of course, is SC #799 in the OG 2017.

It's funny. Version (A), the OA, does NOT need a semicolon. Ordinarily, if we had [independent clause #1] and right after that, with no conjunction, another independent clause beginning with "they also do X," then yes, we would need to separate the clauses with a semicolon. By contrast, in this case the "not only" in the first clause creates such rhetorical expectation that we absolutely know a contrast is coming, and even without the "but," the phrase "they also do X" after a comma is perfectly fine.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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nahid78
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OG question for MIke 23 Mar 2017, 08:02
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mikemcgarry
baithak
As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.

A. they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell
B. they can also pilfer valuable information that includes business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and selling
C. also pilfering valuable information including business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, selling
D. but also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans to sell
E. but also pilfering valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans and selling

Hi Mike

Can you please comment on the use of not only structure in choice A. Choice A omits But, which i think can be omitted if we use the semicolon as is illustrated in some grammar books. Dose not the absence of but creates a run-on?

Choice A should have been written as follows
As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts ; they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.


Thanks
B
Dear baithak,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, when you post an SC question, please underline. I underlined for you in this question. This is simply a courtesy that makes things so much easier on anyone reading the question. This, of course, is SC #799 in the OG 2017.

It's funny. Version (A), the OA, does NOT need a semicolon. Ordinarily, if we had [independent clause #1] and right after that, with no conjunction, another independent clause beginning with "they also do X," then yes, we would need to separate the clauses with a semicolon. By contrast, in this case the "not only" in the first clause creates such rhetorical expectation that we absolutely know a contrast is coming, and even without the "but," the phrase "they also do X" after a comma is perfectly fine.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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I am sorry to say that still combination of "not only" and "they can also" isn't clear to me. Moreover, Why sell can not be parallel to pilfer?

If you don't mind could you please explain these issues any further?
Thanks in advance...

-Nahid
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mikemcgarry
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OG question for MIke 24 Mar 2017, 17:19
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nahid78
I am sorry to say that still combination of "not only" and "they can also" isn't clear to me. Moreover, Why sell can not be parallel to pilfer?

If you don't mind could you please explain these issues any further?
Thanks in advance...

-Nahid
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Dear nahid78,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

1) First, here's a blog article that may help you.
GMAT Idioms: Correlative Conjunctions

One common correlative conjunction pair on the GMAT is the "not only A but also B" structure. This is an intensifying combination: it is similar in meaning to "both A and B," but even more so, the "not only ... but also" form combines two elements that the reader wouldn't necessarily expect to go together. If someone is, for example, a medical doctor and a pro soccer player, we wouldn't expect those two roles to be occupied by the same person. We would highlight this exceeding of our expectations by saying "He is not only a medical doctor but also a pro soccer player."

Because grammar is NOT mathematics, this basic form admits of a few variations, all with the same meaning:
(a) not only ... but also
(b) not only ... also
(c) not only ... but
All of those can be correct, and all have the same meaning.

2) In this SC problem, the verbs "pilfer" and "sell" ARE in parallel.

Does this make sense?
Mike :-)