Febinroy wrote:
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for highlighting the examples. I agree with the above examples comma+and construct can be used to join elements.
But I think there is a hard rule on the GMAT that independent clauses be joined either by "
,+ coordinating conjunction(FANBOYS) or by a
semicolon.
Correct me if I am wrong.
Thank you
Hello again,
Febinroy. I think you may be getting your parts of speech confused. Specifically, there is no independent clause within the three-element list in the original sentence. If we pick it up from
factors, we can parse the elements thus:
Quote:
factors such as inadequate food supplies, harsh weather, and an inability to adapt to the changing environment
Element 1, phrase—inadequate food supplies (adjective, adjective, noun)
Element 2, phrase—harsh weather (adjective, noun)
Element 3, phrase—an inability to adapt to the changing environment (noun, noun, adjective, noun)
The infinitive form of a verb, in this case
to adapt [to], is a noun, not a verb. For example, in the sentence
He wants to play,
to play is a noun telling us
what he wants. Likewise,
adapt answers to
what the dinosaurs lacked an ability.
Moreover, independent clauses can be joined by colons (:) or em dashes (—), depending on the context of the sentence:
Leonardo da Vinci was a polymath: in addition to being a painter, he was also an engineer, anatomist, cartographer, and, although he lacked rigorous mathematical training, a scientist, forming theories on light diffraction, wavelengths of sound, and the behaviors of flowing liquids, theories that were hundreds of years ahead of their time.I would urge you to relax your
hard rule mindset, particularly when it comes to punctuation. And if my word is not good enough, spend some time reading through posts by
GMATNinja in the dedicated
Ask Me Anything About GMAT SC and Grammar thread. I know how tempting it can be to put everything into a box like there is some mathematical rule, but language and punctuation conventions behave a bit differently.
As always, good luck with your studies.
- Andrew
_________________
Please use
official questions from the Official Guide or Verbal Review to practice for the Verbal section.