Either you transfer the data that was demanded or file a report explai

Can somebody explain why "either you" in the starting is wrong?? Thanks!

Either......or..... is a parallelism marker.

Whatever follows "EITHER" should also follow "OR"

if "YOU" follows "EITHER" then "YOU" should also follow"OR"

Either you transfer the data or you..... is correct.
Similarly, You either transfer the data or..... is correct.

Since, the part starting from "OR" is not underlined, therefore we have to take our cue from there.

In the non underlined part "YOU" does not come after "OR" so in the underlined part we have to make the necessary modification i.e. move "YOU" before "EITHER". Now, the parallelism is complete and sentence structure is correct.

The question checks our knowledge of the idiom Either X or Y
We need to make sure that the construction of X and Y is same.

Since you in not included in the portion after OR, we need to exclude you from the Either portion too.
By this, we can strike out options A, D and E

Since we are talking about a specific data we need to use that. Moreover, data is a plural word, hence we need were.
Only option C prevails.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-



Choice A: This answer choice suffers from a break in parallelism; as the idiom "either...or" is a parallelism marker, the word following both "either" and "or" respectively must be parallel. In the sentence constructed by utilizing this answer choice, "either" is followed by the noun "you" and "or" is followed by the verb "file"; therefore, parallelism is not maintained. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B: This answer choice displays subject-verb disagreement between "data" and "was"; remember, "data" is actually the plural form of the word "datum". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice C: This answer choice maintains parallelism and subject-verb agreement. Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Choice D: This answer choice repeats the parallelism error found in Option A. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice E: This answer choice repeats the parallelism error found in Options A and D. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Either-Or and Neither-Nor on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS, RESTRICTIVE VS NON RESTRICTIVE MODIFIERS, CORRELATIVE IDIOMS


Either you transfer the data that was demanded or file a report explaining why you did not submit the overall annual figures


(A) Either you transfer the data that was demanded ------ Either (clause) or (verb) -- not parallel. Also "data" is a plural noun. The singular form would be "datum" - therefore "was demanded" is wrong.

(B) You either transfer the data, which was demanded, ----- "which", a non restrictive modifier, incorrectly implies that the noun "data" does not need to be identified. However, the information provided in the modifier "was demanded" is essential. . Also "data" is a plural noun. The singular form would be "datum" - therefore "was demanded" is wrong.

(C) You either transfer the data that were demanded ------ CORRECT

(D) Either you transfer the data, which was demanded ------ Either (clause) or (verb) -- not parallel. Additionally, "which" is wrong because it is non restrictive. . Also "data" is a plural noun. The singular form would be "datum" - therefore "was demanded" is wrong.

(E) Either you transfer the data, which were demanded ------ Either (clause) or (verb) -- not parallel. Additionally, "which" is wrong because it is non restrictive.

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