Last visit was: 19 Nov 2025, 04:41 It is currently 19 Nov 2025, 04:41
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
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.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2   3 
Sub 505 Level|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Parallelism|                                 
User avatar
GMATNinja
User avatar
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 7,445
Own Kudos:
69,783
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:
GMAT Club Tests Forum Quiz
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Posts: 7,445
Kudos: 69,783
Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused 11 Sep 2021, 06:15
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
PRNDL
Is it okay to write

" not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by "

I think that the missing "caused" after "but" should be an error
Show more
You're on the right track! In this case, whatever follows "not" should be parallel to whatever follows "but." In your example, "caused" is not parallel to "by," so that construction would not be correct.

In (C), you can see a properly parallel construction: "stomach ulcers are caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach."

I hope that helps!
User avatar
Crytiocanalyst
User avatar
Joined: 16 Jun 2021
Last visit: 27 May 2023
Posts: 950
Own Kudos:
208
Given Kudos: 309
Posts: 950
Kudos: 208
Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused 11 Sep 2021, 06:35
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
freetheking
Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.
Show more



(A) not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but
by in the end would provide the right meaning therefore out

(B) not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but are by
are introduction is unncessary and is not conveying the right meaning therefore out

(C) caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by
The parallelism and the meaning is perfect therefore let us hang on to it

(D) caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but
Similar reasoning as A

(E) caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but are by
Similar reasoning as B

Therefore IMO C
User avatar
kevsaf95
User avatar
Joined: 24 Mar 2020
Last visit: 30 Oct 2023
Posts: 16
Own Kudos:
5
Given Kudos: 54
Location: Peru
GMAT 1: 700 Q49 V36
GPA: 3.8
Products:
My Reviews
GMAT 1: 700 Q49 V36
Posts: 16
Kudos: 5
Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused 31 Oct 2022, 20:54
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi,
When I read this sentence in option A & B, it seemed fine to me.

"Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused by stress ...."

However, when I read this, it sounded wrong and incorrect:

"Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are caused not by stress ..."

I'm a non-native speaker. Could someone please clarify if both are ok and why?

Greetings,
Kevin


EducationAisle
iMyself
But, my question is: WHY not B. B makes parallelism to me!
B. NOT (tag)+CAUSED (verb)+by+something....................BUT (tag)+ARE (verb)+by+Something
Indicate parallelism to each other.
Hi iMyself, the short answer is that caused is not used as a verb here, but as a participle.

An easier way would be to do a XYZ Analysis (as per our book Sentence Correction Nirvana). With B, the structure would be:

Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but are by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.

So, the structure is: C Not X but Y, where C is the structure of the sentence outside the XY deconstruct.

C: Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are
X: caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods
Y: are by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach

Since C is outside the XY deconstruct, C must make sense with both X and Y.

i) Is C making sense with X?

Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods. - Seems fine.

ii) Is C making sense with Y?

Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are are by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach - Clearly not correct (are is repeated twice).

Since C is not making sense with Y, B is incorrect.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses the framework of XYZ deconstruct, its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
Show more
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 08 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,020
Own Kudos:
8,563
 [1]
Given Kudos: 57
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,020
Kudos: 8,563
 [1]
Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused 31 Oct 2022, 22:57
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
kevsaf95


The purpose of saying "caused not" is to set up a larger structure: "not by X but by Y." That whole piece modifies "caused." If we didn't have all that structure, then putting "not" after the verb would sound like the English of a past era: "Fear not!" "Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room!" We certainly don't talk that way these days!

If we started with "not caused," then we'd need to complete the structure with something like "but rather caused by . . . " In other words, by putting the verb ("caused") after NOT, we'd end up having to repeat it for parallelism. That's not ideal.
User avatar
egmat
User avatar
e-GMAT Representative
Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,108
Own Kudos:
32,884
 [1]
Given Kudos: 700
GMAT Date: 08-19-2020
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,108
Kudos: 32,884
 [1]
Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused 01 Nov 2022, 00:27
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hey kevsaf95

Happy to help!


To add to what DmitryFarber has said, I completely understand why you find the incorrect version better than the correct one. This is because, in spoken English, we seldom apply the strict rules of parallelism.

A few more cases in point:

a. Peter not only lost his bag but also his wallet. (Incorrect)
b. John is criticized for either being too slow or too fast. (Incorrect)


The takeaway from this is that we're dealing with a special category of connectors called "Correlative Conjunctions". The name is not important. What're important are that this connector has two parts and that the words that follow each part must be parallel. So, the correct versions of the two examples above are:

c. Peter lost not only his bag but also his wallet.
d. John is criticized for being either too slow or too fast.

Here is a list of correlative connectors for future reference:

1. If, then;
2. not only, but (also);
3. both, and;
4. not, but;
5. either, or;
6. neither, nor;
7. no sooner, than;
8. hardly, when;
9. scarcely, when;
10. though, yet;
11. although, yet; etc.

(The last two entities are growing increasingly archaic day by day. This is why we often find 'though' and 'although' being used without a 'yet' in the same sentence.)


Finally, coming to the question at hand:

Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.

As you can see, we're dealing with the connector 'not, but' in this question. This is why choice C is the best of the given choices.

For us to place 'not' before 'caused', we would have to repeat 'caused' after 'but'. And we'd get:

e. ... stomach ulcers are not caused by x, y, or z, but caused by p.

Needless to say, this is a rather awkward sentence with unnecessary repetition.



I hope this helps improve your understanding.


Happy Learning!


Abhishek
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 18,832
Own Kudos:
986
Posts: 18,832
Kudos: 986
Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused 09 Dec 2023, 17:45
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
   1   2   3 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7445 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts
miag
188 posts