In his experiments with gravity, Isaac Newton showed how the

Question

In his experiments with gravity, Isaac Newton showed how the motion of each planet in the solar system results from the combined gravitational pull of the Sun and  of all the other planets, each contributing according to their  mass and distance from the others.

A.of all the other planets, each contributing according to their
B.of all the other planets, with each of them contributing according to their
C.all the other planets, each of which contributing according to its
D.all the other planets, each contributing according to its
E.all the other planets, each of which contribute according to their
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The answer is supposed to be D. I eliminated A, B, E because of "their" doesn't match "each". C is then ruled out because each of which is wordy. 

My question is: the "of" before "all the other planets" is understanding? is it okay to say "of all the other planets, each contributing according to its"? Thanks!

b14kumar · Answer

Example: "This is done because of the combined effort of X and Y." I think it's not proper to say that: "This is done because of the combined effort of X and of Y" We can say that: "This is done because of the effort of X and of Y". :?:

Any thoughts?? Regards, Brajesh

sumitsarkar82 · Answer

Well it is D here.... 

 Even I wanted to ask this question....

When do we repeat words like of, that, can etc..... before and after a conjunction like and... 

ps_dahiya ... u2lover any ideas.....

Gauss · Answer

yes in this case D seems the most logic even if I do not like much the form each.....its...., but I would like to have further explanations about this discussion tx....

ps_dahiya · Answer

From https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/parallelism.htm An article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term. Taking the same example: "This is done because of the efforts of X and Y." :yes

"This is done because of the efforts of X and of Y" :yes

I think Brajesh is right in this one: "This is done because of the combined effort of X and of Y" :no

"This is done because of the combined effort of X and Y" :yes

But if there is a choice that omits the second preposition of article then prefer that one. If there are moe than two items in a list then either omit the article or preposition from all except first or repeat before each item. GMAT prefers concise choices. I remember one exception to this. I could not find that but it was something like this which is X, which is Y and which is Z. But above stated rule should be safe. Any comments????

haas_mba07 · Answer

This needs "all the other planets" not "of all ..."

Going by SV agreement, we need a "its" and not "their", as its refers to "each of" the sun as well as the planets.

Narrow choices: C, D

Of C/D, D is a better choice, as C is wordy.

D.all the other planets, each contributing according to its

scgmat · Answer

Well it is D here.... Even I wanted to ask this question.... When do we repeat words like of, that, can etc..... before and after a conjunction like and... ps_dahiya ... u2lover any ideas..... From https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/parallelism.htm An article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term. Taking the same example: "This is done because of the efforts of X and Y." :yes

"This is done because of the efforts of X and of Y" :yes

I think Brajesh is right in this one: "This is done because of the combined effort of X and of Y" :no

"This is done because of the combined effort of X and Y" :yes

But if there is a choice that omits the second preposition of article then prefer that one. If there are moe than two items in a list then either omit the article or preposition from all except first or repeat before each item. GMAT prefers concise choices. I remember one exception to this. I could not find that but it was something like this which is X, which is Y and which is Z. But above stated rule should be safe. Any comments???? I think your explaination is great. Thanks! GMAT will not allow two correct choices to appear in one problem so one of them must be "seemingly" correct and a dead giveaway is usually given to that choice. At first glance, you don't how to choose between with of and without of. As you read on, you'll see that "their" betrays its ancestor in A and B. My conclusion is A would be correct if "their" was replaced by "its".

maverick7 · Answer

can somebody explain why it's not E :?:

?

GMATT73 · Answer

Notwithstanding the change in meaning, if E were to be gramatically correct it would have to read: ....all the other planets, each of which contribute s  according to  its  

It`s the wrong S-V agreement + wrong singular/plural pronoun referent

GMBA85 · Answer

When do we repeat words like of, that, can etc..... before and after a conjunction like and...

Can anyone answer this?

In his experiments with gravity, Isaac Newton showed how the

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