SENTENCE CORRECTION - PARALLELISM

1. they contended that the committee was biased but that it should not be disbanded. CORRECT.

Y = that it should be disbanded

X = that the committee was biased

PARALLEL.

2. New data indicate that the stock market jumped and the unemployment rate decreased. CORRECT.

Y = the unemployment rate decreased

X = the stock market jumped

PARALLEL.

3. I think that children learn responsibility by taking care of pets and that cats make the best pets. CORRECT.

Y = that cats make the best pets.

X = that children learn responsibility

PARALLEL.

4. I think that children learn responsibility by taking care of pets and cats make the best pets. IS THIS SENTENCE CORRECT? Please explain in detail.

Y = cats make the best pets

X = children learn responsibility ...

Here, will the word "that" count across both elements?

1. She argues that the agency acts with reckless abandon and with disregard for human life and property. CORRECT?

2. She argues that the agency acts with reckless abandon and that the agency acts with disregard for human life and property. CORRECT?

3. She argues that the agency acts with reckless abandon and disregard for human life and property. CORRECT?

Here, will the "with" count across the 2 elements?

Possibly. The two parallel elements are shown in green. Since they match (they're both independent clauses), the parallelism is good. However, see the sentence two below this one for some notes on why it might be considered ambiguous. I'd say pick this one if you don't have another, better option.



Probably not correct, but not because of parallelism. The verb tense seems strange to me - 'I pay low taxes' is in the present tense, which implies that you're currently paying low taxes (or that you usually pay low taxes). 'I want to retire' is in the present tense, but it's talking about the future. I think 'where I would/will pay low taxes' would be more logical. I've put that into your other sentences.



Not correct, but not because the parallelism is wrong. The problem is that the parallelism is ambiguous. 'I would pay low taxes' could be parallel to either 'I want to retire' or 'I can relax'.



Correct. The parallel elements are shown in green.



This is incorrect because it isn't an open marker. 'Both X and Y' is a closed marker. To analyze a closed marker, look at what's between the two markers. In this case, it's the phrase 'those who are popular'. Every other element on the list has to match that exactly. However, 'who are not as well-liked' doesn't match 'those who are popular', since the word 'those' is missing.



'that' counts across both elements, so again, it isn't technically wrong, but it could be considered ambiguous (see above).