Alcohol not only causes automobile accidents but also the injuries, es

Alcohol not only causes automobile accidents but also the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe.


Ideally the correct sentence should be : X not only [Verb + noun] but also [Verb+ noun]. However, the above incorrect construct is X not only [Verb + noun] but also [ noun].

A. the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe
--> Incorrect : Same incorrect construct as original sentence

B. there may be more severe injuries, especially to the spinal cord
--> Incorrect : Same incorrect construct as original sentence

C. may increase the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord
--> Correct: X not only [Verb + noun] but also [adverb+Verb+ noun]. Notice that it is okay to have an adverb in the later part of the sentence as long as the parallelism is maintained.

D. the injuries to the spinal cord especially may be more severe
--> Incorrect : Same incorrect construct as original sentence

E. the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may increase
--> Incorrect : Same incorrect construct as original sentence

Ans: (C)

Alcohol not only causes automobile accidents but also the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe.

Here the structure is not only (verb) (subject), so we should have the same structure after 'but also'
So, A,B,D,and E are out

Ans-C


A. the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe

B. there may be more severe injuries, especially to the spinal cord

C. may increase the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord

D. the injuries to the spinal cord especially may be more severe

E. the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may increase

Not only X but also Y , where X is a verb , "causes" in this case , hence Y also needs to be a verb.


A. the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe : " the injuries" is not a verb parallel with "causes", eliminate.INCORRECT.

B.there may be more severe injuries, especially to the spinal cord : but also y, format is missing, no verb to parallel " causes".INCORRECT.

C. may increase the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord: Not only causes but also may increase, parallel and correct.CORRECT.

D. the injuries to the spinal cord especially may be more severe : "the injuries" not parallel to causes.INCORRECT.

E. the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may increase : "The severity of injuries" not parallel with causes. INCORRECT.

Alcohol not only causes automobile accidents but also the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe.

Not only X, but also Y takes similar parallel structures as elements. Since X is "causes...", Y must also start with a verb. Only C adheres to that rule and hence is correct.

Alcohol not only causes automobile accidents but also may increase the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord.

Alcohol not only causes automobile accidents but also the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe.

Subject verb pair is missing; Parallelism error identified [ not only......, but also...]
Present tense used, Pronoun, Modifiers , Comparison , Idiomatic seem okay.

A. the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe

1. Parallelism error - "not only" must parallel to "but also"
2. Verb error - "injuries" is not a verb.

- Incorrect

B. there may be more severe injuries, especially to the spinal cord

1. Parallelism error - "not only" must parallel to "but also"
2. Subject verb pair error - verb of subject"alcohol " is missing.

- Incorrect

C. may increase the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord

1. Removes the parallelism error, now "not only" parallel to " but also"
2. subject verb pair also exists.

- Correct

D. the injuries to the spinal cord especially may be more severe

1. Parallelism error - "not only" must parallel to "but also"
2. Subject verb pair error - verb of subject"alcohol " is missing.

- Incorrect


E. the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may increase

1. Parallelism error - "not only" must parallel to "but also"
2. Subject verb pair error - verb of subject"alcohol " is missing.

- Incorrect

Alcohol not only causes automobile accidents but also the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe.


A. the injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may be more severe - (A) effectively introduces the following structure: Alcohol not only causes....but also the injuries,..., may be more severe. this does not make sense.

B. there may be more severe injuries, especially to the spinal cord - (B) introduces the following structure: Alcohol not only causes ....but also there may be more severe injuries.. This does not make any sense.

C. may increase the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord - has no error. Hence, (C) is the right answer choice.

D. the injuries to the spinal cord especially may be more severe - (D) introduces the idea that the 'spinal cord' may be more severe; this does not make any sense.

E. the severity of injuries, especially to the spinal cord, may increase - (E) introduces the following structure: Alcohol not only causes....but also the severity of injuries... How can something cause the severity of injuries? you can increase the severity of an injury, not cause it.

Here's the official explanation provided by the GMAC for this question:

This sentence refers to two unfortunate types of occurrences; automobile accidents and injuries. It uses the construction not only … but also. Because not only is placed after the subject and modifies causes automobile accidents, a coherent completion of the structure needs another verb or verb phrase that has the same subject. The original version illogically completes the structure with a separate clause.

Option A: Because the portion of the sentence following but also is a grammatically complete structure with its own subject and predicate, it functions as an independent clause, but the absence of a comma after accidents makes it unclear whether this is how it is intended. Since not only immediately precedes a verb, but also must also immediately precede a verb or verb phrase rather than a noun phrase.

Option B: With this structure, the sentence offers two separate facts; that alcohol causes accidents and that there may be more severe injuries. Since the two topics are put together in a single sentence, it is rhetorically odd that the sentence does not say what the connection is. Because the portion of the sentence following but also is a grammatically complete structure with its own subject and predicate, it functions as an independent clause, but the absence of a comma after accidents makes it unclear whether this is how it is intended. Since not only immediately precedes a verb, but also should also immediately precede a verb or verb phrase.

Option C: C Correct. This sentence structure makes alcohol is the single subject of both verbs, causes and may increase. This structure directly and efficiently expresses the causal relationship between alcohol and the two effects and indicates that those effects are also causally related to each other.

Option D: Because the portion of the sentence following but also is a grammatically complete structure with its own subject and predicate, it functions as an independent clause, but the absence of a comma after accidents makes it unclear whether this is how it is intended. Since not only immediately precedes a verb, but also should also immediately precede a verb or verb phrase rather than a noun phrase. The placement of especially and the absence of punctuation make the sentence ambiguous: does it mean especially to the spinal cord, especially injuries to the spinal cord, or especially may be more severe?

Option E: Because the portion of the sentence following but also is a grammatically complete structure with its own subject and predicate, it functions as an independent clause, but the absence of a comma after accidents makes it unclear whether this is how it is intended. Since not only immediately precedes a verb, but also should also immediately precede a verb or verb phrase rather than a noun phrase. This sentence structure does not clearly tell why the increase is mentioned in relation to the information, in the first part of the sentence, about alcohol.

The correct answer is C.

Please note that I'm not the author of this explanation. I'm just posting it here since I believe it can help the community.