The 19-year-old pianist and composer performed his most recent work al

It might be effective to distinguish two different applications of comma + and:

1. In a list: the usage is optional, but GMAT questions almost always have a comma.

Comma + and can be used for ANY list having three or more itmes.

I crossed the street, running, panting, and dodging the traffic..... Correct.
I crossed the street, running, panting and dodging the traffic...... Correct

2. to separate two independent clauses: the usage is mandatory.

I went home, and then I slept.... correct (two independent clauses are I went home and then I slept - comma is required)
I went home, then I slept... wrong
I went home and slept.... correct ( two verbs are added, not two clauses - comma is not to be used)
I went home, and slept..... wrong

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that the pianist and composer performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, and in doing so won prestigious awards in both London and Tokyo; he also hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Tenses + Idioms

• “both A as well as B”; remember, “both A and B" or "A as well as B" are the correct usages; A and B must be parallel and comparable.
• Habitual actions are best conveyed through the simple present tense.
• The simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “hoping” and “winning” in this case) after the comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present continuous tense verb “is hoping” to refer to a habitual action; remember, habitual actions are best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature. Further, Option A incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “both A as well as B”; remember, “both A and B" or "A as well as B" are the correct usages; A and B must be parallel and comparable.

B: Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “hoping to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago”; the use of the “comma + present participle (“verb+ing” – “hoping” in this case)” construction incorrectly implies that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year because he hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago; the intended meaning is that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, and as a separate action he hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago; remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “hoping” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. Additionally, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between A (“in London”) and B (“Tokyo) in the construction “both A and B”; remember, “both A and B" or "A as well as B" are the correct usages; A and B must be parallel and comparable.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “having won prestigious awards”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year because he had already won prestigious awards; the intended meaning is that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, and in doing so won prestigious awards. Moreover, Option C further alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “hoping to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago”; the use of the “comma + present participle (“verb+ing” – “hoping” in this case)” construction incorrectly implies that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year because he hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago; the intended meaning is that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, and as a separate action he hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago; remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “hoping” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. Further, Option C fails to maintain parallelism between A (“in London”) and B (“Tokyo”) in the construction “both A and B”; remember, “both A and B" or "A as well as B" are the correct usages; A and B must be parallel and comparable.

D: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase “winning prestigious awards…”, conveying the intended meaning – that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, and in doing so won prestigious awards. Moreover, Option D uses the clause “and he hopes…”, conveying the intended meaning – that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, and as a separate action he hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago. Further, Option D correctly uses the simple present tense verb “hopes” to refer to habitual action. Additionally, Option D correctly uses the idiomatic construction “both A (“London”) and B (“Tokyo”)”, maintaining parallelism between A and B.

E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “having won prestigious awards”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year because he had already won prestigious awards; the intended meaning is that the pianist performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, and in doing so won prestigious awards. Further, Option E fails to maintain parallelism between A (“in London”) and B (“Tokyo”) in the construction “both A and B”; remember, “both A and B" or "A as well as B" are the correct usages; A and B must be parallel and comparable.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Comma Plus Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

For B, hoping is behind the “COMMA AND” which should be followed by an independent clause and “hoping to continue composing…” is not a clause, so I eliminate B. Am I right?
OR It is ok that COMMA AND is not followed by an independent clause. The OG says that hoping is parallel with winning. It seems that the COMMA AND is a conjunction.
THANKS in advance.

Comma + and can be used for ANY list having three or more itmes.

I crossed the street, running, panting, and dodging the traffic..... Correct.

This is called a serial comma and is optional, though in GMAT we see frequent use of it.

Here is another question.
Over the next few years, increasing demands on the Chattahoochee River, which flows into the Apalachicola River, could alter the saline content of Apalachicola Bay, which would rob the oysters there of their flavor, and to make them decrease in size, less distinctive, and less in demand.
(A) which would rob the oysters there of their flavor, and to make them decrease in size,
(B) and it would rob the oysters there of their flavor, make them smaller,
(C) and rob the oysters there of their flavor, making them decrease in size,
(D) robbing the oysters there of their flavor and making them smaller,
(E) robbing the oysters there of their flavor, and making them decrease in size,

For C, OG says"The comma before the conjunction and signals that an independent clause will follow and, but a verb phrase follows instead."
I thought it was a strict rule for Comma + and ( now, it seems not?)

Both X and Y is correct Idiom. A and E are out.

'And' preceded by ',' requires 'independent sentence'. B and C are out.

D is the answer

hi experts, I read it in GMATCLUB forums as above,

while in this case, it is correct, am I missing something ?

The 19-year-old pianist and composer performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, winning prestigious awards in both London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and he hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago.
would you please clarify further,

he stands for The 19-year-old pianist and composer ,
please clarify it.

thanks a lot
have a nice day

zoezhuyan, I don't see any contradiction between the material you quoted above and the usage in D. In both cases, two independent clauses are separated by ", and." This is correct usage. The fact that "he" refers back to the original subject does not prevent that second clause from being independent. It could stand alone as a sentence. (So could the sentence I just wrote, even though it starts with a pronoun that refers back to the previous sentence!)

Hi Dmitry,

i think i know where my fault

would you please help to confirm for another question,
when two independent clause connect by "comma + and", should keep these two subjects the same people or thing ?

thanks a lot
have a nice day
>_~

No, the subjects don't have to be the same. Both of the sentences below are fine:

Carlsen has published a new novel, and it is a good one. (Here, "it" refers to the novel, which is the object--not the subject--of the previous clause.)
The storm felled several electrical lines, and many residents have been without power for over 48 hours.

I am not able to spot the parallel elements in the correct sentence.

Are they - performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year....and he hopes (in which case how can 'performed', a participle, be parallel with 'he', a pronoun?)

Can someone please clarify?

Hi ameyaprabhu ,

The two parallel elements in this sentence are

1. The 19-year-old pianist and composer performed ...
2. he hopes to continue composing ...

These two are joined together by "comma, and".

I hope that makes sense.

Why is answer choice B wrong?IMO its right

Hello ameyaprabhu,

I understand that your query has already been answered< However, here I present my two cents on the same.

There are two parallel lists in this sentence as we see in the correct answer choice as follows:

1. The 19-year-old pianist and composer performed... and he hopes...

2. both London and Tokyo. Since the sentence uses the idiom both X and Y, and Y must be logically and grammatically to each other.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hello Saumya2403,

I will be glad to help you out with one.

Following are the errors in Choice B:

1. Parallelism Error leading to Meaning Error

To understand this error, let’s look at the sentence this choice forms:

•The 19-year-old pianist and composer performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year,
•winning prestigious awards both in London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age,
•and hoping to continue composing •now that he has returned to Chicago.



As you can see above, this choice coveys whatever the musician hopes to do in the form of a verb-ing modifier, making it parallel with the verb–ing modifier winning. Because of this construction, the meaning that comes out is that the musician hopes to carry on with composing music because he performed internationally- as though it were a result of his performances. This certainly is not the intended meaning.

2. Modifier Error

As per the intended meaning, the modifier now that he has returned to Chicago adds to the meaning of the previous action, giving us a reason for the musician’s hope. However, this choice gives the action of hope in the form of the verb–ing modifier hoping, which in this case becomes a result of the musician’s performances. Because of this construction, the modifier now that he has returned to Chicago does not make sense anymore – we already have another reason for the hope.

3. Parallelism Error

The expression both X and Y form a dual parallelism marker, implying that whatever construction follows both has to follow and too for the sentence to be parallel. However, as you can see below, in Choice B, both is followed by a preposition in but and is not:


…winning prestigious awards
•both in London
•and Tokyo…

The correct construction could be either of the following two:


…winning prestigious awards in
•both London
•and Tokyo …

OR


…winning prestigious awards
•both in London
•and in Tokyo …


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

I am confused between B and D
In B, winning and hoping are parallel
In D, London and Tokyo are parallel
Then why option D is correct?
Can someone please explain me.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Meghna, the usage of present participle phrase (for example hoping... in option B) is justified only when there is some relationship that the participle phrase has with the main clause of the sentence.

In this case,

i) Pianist and composer performed last year
ii) Now he hopes to continue composing

So, these are two separate activities and hence, the use of present participle is not justified here.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Participial phrases, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.