Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 17:17 It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 17:17
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
555-605 Level|   Modifiers|   Parallelism|                     
User avatar
gmexamtaker1
Joined: 16 Jul 2018
Last visit: 13 Feb 2023
Posts: 210
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 261
Products:
Posts: 210
Kudos: 79
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
CrackverbalGMAT
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 03 Oct 2013
Last visit: 16 Nov 2025
Posts: 4,844
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 225
Affiliations: CrackVerbal
Location: India
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,844
Kudos: 8,945
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
GMATNinja
User avatar
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 7,445
Own Kudos:
69,778
 [2]
Given Kudos: 2,060
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Posts: 7,445
Kudos: 69,778
 [2]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
Nums99
Joined: 12 Jan 2019
Last visit: 18 Mar 2022
Posts: 88
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 211
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Technology
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi @e-gmat, GMATNinja

One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.

We generally do not use 'should' along with subjunctive that right?

How is it accepted in this case by GMAT? When can we use 'should' with subjunctive + that?
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 08 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,020
Own Kudos:
8,563
 [3]
Given Kudos: 57
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,020
Kudos: 8,563
 [3]
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Nums99
This isn't the subjunctive. "Contends" just means "asserts," so we can read it just as if the sentence was "Someone says that a large drop . . . " or "One view is that a large drop . . . "

In other words, "that" is doing what it most commonly does after a verb: introducing a brand new clause with its own subject and verb. The subjunctive is a rarer case specifically used for things like demands and advice.
User avatar
Tanvay
Joined: 07 Oct 2020
Last visit: 26 Jul 2022
Posts: 56
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 16
Posts: 56
Kudos: 16
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.


(A) lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation,

(B) a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation,

(C) a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation,

(D) interest rates being lowered, along with fears about inflation,

(E) interest rates and fears about inflation being lowered, with


D, E being x
A -- there is no "a" parallel
Confused between B & C - B is better
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,193
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,193
Kudos: 4,758
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Tanvay
One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.


(A) lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation,

(B) a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation,

(C) a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation,

(D) interest rates being lowered, along with fears about inflation,

(E) interest rates and fears about inflation being lowered, with


D, E being x
A -- there is no "a" parallel
Confused between B & C - B is better

Hello Tanvay,

We hope this finds you well.

To provide a bit of clarity, here, Option C is incorrect because the construction of the phrase ", along with fears about inflation,", incorrectly implies that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to a lowering of interest rates and lead to fears about inflation; the intended meaning, as conveyed by Option B, is that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to a lowering of interest rates and lead to a lowering of fears about inflation.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
mcepeci
Joined: 21 Aug 2018
Last visit: 30 Jun 2025
Posts: 20
Posts: 20
Kudos: 0
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
A lowering of interest rates (not a reduction in oil prices) can cause inflation so shouldn't a modifier make more sense even though it is not as parallel as option B. Please let me know.
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 08 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,020
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 57
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,020
Kudos: 8,563
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
mcepeci

Don't try to apply too much economic knowledge here. We're not given the option to say what you're asking for, so we can't pursue that. We'd need the answer to say something like "a lowering of interest rates, leading to increased inflation."

The sentence is trying to say that when we have a drop in prices, both interest rates and fears of inflation decrease, so our job is just to find an answer that conveys this clearly and grammatically.
User avatar
KarishmaB
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 16,265
Own Kudos:
76,982
 [1]
Given Kudos: 482
Location: Pune, India
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 16,265
Kudos: 76,982
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
ps_dahiya
One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.


(A) lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation,

(B) a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation,

(C) a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation,

(D) interest rates being lowered, along with fears about inflation,

(E) interest rates and fears about inflation being lowered, with


The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 10th Edition, 2003

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 201
Page: 685
The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition, 2005

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 132
Page: 659

Responding to a pm:

a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.

Is the highlighted 'of' necessary? Yes, it is needed for clarity.

We have to look at what is parallel to what and how the list makes sense.

It is logical that a large drop in oil prices will
- lead to lowering of 'interest rates'
- lead to lowering of 'fears about inflation'
- lead to a rally in stocks and bonds
- lead to a weakening of the dollar

This is how the list is presented in the correct option.
.. will lead to
- a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation,
- a rally in stocks and bonds,
- and a weakening of the dollar.

We need the second 'of' to show that 'fears about inflation' is parallel to 'interest rates'. So there is a sub list of two elements in the first element of the list.
If we remove the 'of,' 'fears about inflation' would seem to be a part of the main list. We don't know whether 'of' is common to both.

.. will lead to
- a lowering of interest rates and
- fears about inflation,
- a rally in stocks and bonds,
- and a weakening of the dollar.

Also, an 'and' after the first element will not make sense.
avatar
Guest96
Joined: 11 Jan 2021
Last visit: 10 Oct 2025
Posts: 69
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 404
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Social Entrepreneurship
GPA: 4
WE:Analyst (Internet and New Media)
Posts: 69
Kudos: 19
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
ps_dahiya
One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.


(A) lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation,

(B) a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation,

(C) a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation,

(D) interest rates being lowered, along with fears about inflation,

(E) interest rates and fears about inflation being lowered, with

MartyMurray KarishmaB

In Option (B), can gerund be parallel to std. noun phrases?
I could not do PoE well, as I thought there was a rule that gerunds can only be parallel to gerunds, not other noun phrases.

Here is the parallel list:
"a lowering of interest rates" (gerund)
"a lowering of fears about inflation" (gerund)
"a rally in stocks and bonds" (std. noun phrase [non-gerund])
"a weakening of the dollar" (gerund)

The only way I was able to get it correct is because I found that none of the options has a gerund, gerund, gerund, and gerund structure.

I know that gerunds can't be parallel to infinitives, relative clauses, and present participial phrases, but are there any other things gerunds can't be parallel to?
User avatar
MartyMurray
Joined: 11 Aug 2023
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 1,630
Own Kudos:
6,116
 [2]
Given Kudos: 173
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V51
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V51
Posts: 1,630
Kudos: 6,116
 [2]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
SlowTortoise
ps_dahiya
One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.


(A) lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation,

(B) a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation,

(C) a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation,

(D) interest rates being lowered, along with fears about inflation,

(E) interest rates and fears about inflation being lowered, with
In Option (B), can gerund be parallel to std. noun phrases?
I could not do PoE well, as I thought there was a rule that gerunds can only be parallel to gerunds, not other noun phrases.

Here is the parallel list:
"a lowering of interest rates" (gerund)
"a lowering of fears about inflation" (gerund)
"a rally in stocks and bonds" (std. noun phrase [non-gerund])
"a weakening of the dollar" (gerund)

The only way I was able to get it correct is because I found that none of the options has a gerund, gerund, gerund, and gerund structure.

I know that gerunds can't be parallel to infinitives, relative clauses, and present participial phrases, but are there any other things gerunds can't be parallel to?
Notice that the noun phrase "a rally ..." and the gerund phrase "a weakening ..." are not in the underlined portion of the sentence. So, it's impossible to have a gerund, gerund, gerund or a noun, noun, noun structure. You'll always have a mix of types of phrases that includes at least one noun phrase and one gerund phrase. So, it's pointless to look for a choice that produces a list with uniform elements since it's impossible for a choice to do so.

Now, regarding your question, parallelism is mostly about logic. Once exception is the convention that a gerund and an infinitive are not parallel since logically, a gerund and an infinitive can serve basically the same purpose. So, if only logic mattered, a gerund and an infinitive in a list would be parallel.

In most cases, however, what matters most is logic. So, in this case, since "a lowering," "a rally," and "a weakening" are logically similar words that name decreases or increases, the list "a lowering ..., a rally ..., and a weakening" is logically rather sound and thus can be considered correctly parallel.
   1   2 
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7445 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts
188 posts