Lesson: Parallelism - Part I

Comment on Parallelism - Part I

In the very first example given in this video,Maria enjoys swimming,hiking,jogging, and to ride a bicycle,it says that swimming hiking etc is expressed in gerund form. Isn't swimming hiking jogging ,in the faulty sentence,expressed in present participle form??
gmat-admin's picture

In English, the present participle has the same form as the gerund. The difference is in how the word is used. When used with an auxiliary verb ("is walking"), it serves as a verb and is the present participle. When used as an adjective ("a walking contradiction") it is also a participle. However, when used as a noun ("walking is good for you"), it is a gerund. In this instance, swimming, hiking, jogging are acting as nouns (i.e., activities that Maria enjoys).

Thank you.Your site is great and helps me so much in my preparation.
gmat-admin's picture

Glad you like it!

Honestly,You guys rock. No words to express my gratitude for giving these lessons as freebie. crystal clear on explanations . I have subscribed to few GMAT prep courses for fee but prefer to stick to your free classes. They are so much better than the paid ones.Keep the good work going.Cheers
gmat-admin's picture

Thanks for the kind words!

The last sentence is in the conjunction section.
If after neither has noun + preposition phrase, then after nor has only noun, are they still parallel?
Thank you so much for very useful videos.
gmat-admin's picture

I believe you're referring to the sentence that starts at 7:45.

Both parts of this sentence feature prepositional phrases. Keep in mind that "from" and "of" are both prepositions.

So, we have "Neither the scowls FROM her neighbors nor the reluctance OF her husband..."

For more information on prepositional phrases, see: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1156 (starting at 0:30)

Hi Brent,
I have this general problem of not able to figure out at first go which technique to apply for sentence correction questions, as there are so many rules and struggle sometimes. What's your advice in case i stumble on a difficult sentence during my prep?

Do i look at the solutions to get the thought process going for some questions and then start answering?
gmat-admin's picture

If you're having problems determining which rule(s) a question is testing, I suggest that you identify the differences among the answer choices.

For example, if one answer choices says "... Joe READ the book..." and another answer choice says "... Joe HAD READ the book...", then it's likely that there might be an issue with verb tense.

Hello Brent,

First of all, I would like to thank you for your lessos!

I have a doubt in 6:45, if I use "not only Felix applied extra deodorant, but also he polished his teeth" is it parallel?
gmat-admin's picture

It's parallel, but it's ambiguous.

"not only Felix applied deodorant..." suggests that people other than Felix applied deodorant. In other words, Felix isn't the only person who applied deodorant.

So, we need to place "Felix" before the correlative to avoid that ambiguity.

Brent,

Thank you for your prompt reply and for all the great lessons. English for me is a foreign language, but your lessons make it easy to understand. I hope I got +700 in the GMAT Test.

Hi Brent,

I believe below stmt is not parllel- its from new yorker, please share your view

stmt 1) The Clean Power Plan would not only have cut carbon emissions by almost nine hundred million tons a year but also, according to E.P.A. figures, prevented more than thirty-five hundred premature deaths and ninety thousand asthma attacks annually.

I think "can and probably" (below stmt 2) suggests same meaning so its redundant- please suggest

stmt 2)This argument can, and probably should, be taken one step further. - Use of can and probably
gmat-admin's picture

I don't think sentence #1 is parallel either. I'd prefer something like:

The Clean Power Plan not only WOULD HAVE cut carbon emissions by almost nine hundred million tons a year but also, according to E.P.A. figures, WOULD HAVE prevented more than thirty-five hundred premature deaths and ninety thousand asthma attacks annually.

For sentence #2, I don't think "can" and "probably should" are redundant.
For example, I CAN eat spiders, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I PROBABLY SHOULD eat spiders :-)

Hi Brent,

Sometimes I struggle to identify is a word noun or adjective or adverb. Can you help with any link to practice identification of noun and adjective, and which can be used interchangeably.

Thanks for your continuous help

Thanks, these links are helping me.

Hello Brent :)
I have questions with the sentence structure inside this lecture

1. [ jeremy claims that naomi's beliefs are superstitious and detrimental to society ]

superstitious and detrimental are adjectives. I figured out that "naomi's beliefs" would be noun and subject while "to society" would be prepositional phrase starting with 'to'. Since adjective modifies only noun or pronoun it seems like "superstitious and detrimental" might modify "belief" If noun modifier has to touch the noun it modifies, it seems like belief and superstitious are not together. verb 'are' is between them. What am i getting wrong? and what does 'to society' modifies ?


2. [ while preparing Pablo's latte, Beverly brewed espresso, steamed milk, and told jokes. ]
"while preparing pablo's latte" is a prepositional phrase modifying Beverly? does it gives information of what Baverly is doing? This is noun modifier and seems like it is vital in this sentence, am i right?


3. [Either Larissa will buy a bookcase or she will sell her books]
I thought buy and sell would be a verb and didn't pay much attention on will. is "will buy" all together a verb? future tense verb?

Thank you Brent. Sorry i have tons of questions haha :(
gmat-admin's picture

Hi Celan,

I'm happy to help!

1) TO SOCIETY is, indeed, a prepositional phrase, and prepositional phrases can behave as adjectives or adverbs.

In this case, TO SOCIETY modifies the word DETRIMENTAL by telling us more about HOW Naomi's beliefs are detrimental.

2) There isn't a straightforward answer regarding how to categorize "while preparing Pablo's latte." Some people call it a subordinating conjunction, because the word SHE is implied (as in "while SHE WAS preparing Pablo's latte,...."). Others call it a prepositional phrase.

What really matters is that this phrase is telling us more HOW she performed the other tasks. So, I'd say the phrase is acting as an adverb modifying BREWED, STEAMED and TOLD.

I wouldn't say that this phrase is vital. If we eliminate it, we get "Beverly brewed espresso, steamed milk, and told jokes." This is a complete/informative sentence. It's just missing a little color.

3) I call WILL BUY and WILL SELL verb phrases, where WILL is a helping verb in both cases.

As far as tense goes, WILL BUY and WILL SELL are in the simple future tense. More about that here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1176

Thank you! your explanation was awesome !!
Only one i still want to know :)


1. [ jeremy claims that naomi's beliefs are superstitious and detrimental to society ]

"superstitious" and "detrimental" are adjectives. what do they modify? Since they are adjectives which can only modify noun or pronoun, seems "beliefs" is the best option. Then shouldn't noun and noun modifier touch each other? For me "are" seems as a verb inside the relative clause starting with that. This verb "are" is separating adjectives from touching what they modify. please tell me what i am getting wrong :)
gmat-admin's picture

"superstitious" and "detrimental" are both adjectives modifying the noun BELIEFS

In this case, the two adjectives are "linked" by the linking verb "are" - More on linking verbs here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1151

Hi Brent,

You already said that the prepositional phrase "to society" is an adverb that modifies both adjectives "detrimental" and "superstitious".

But what about this correct version of the sentence:

Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are superstitions and detriments to society.

Now "to society" must be an adjective that modifies two nouns "superstitions" and "detriments"

And I have a big problem with seeing prepositional phrases as adverbs that answer the question "how something was or is done"

1)I did something well. ("well" explains how I did it) - I understand this HOW
2)I did something on the sofa (here I can say WHERE I did it but not HOW)
3)I did something to my friend ( here I can say that I did something "TO WHOM?" TO somebody. More information about the recipient of the action I performed)
4)I did something with my friend ( here I can say that I did something "WITH WHOM?" WITH somebody. More information about the companion with whom I performed the action)

5)It is bad for my health (It doesn't make sense for me to ask the question "HOW bad?" in order to explain the role of the prepositional phrase "for my health") the only question I can ask is "for WHOM or for WHAT?")
6)It is very bad for my health. (the adverb "very" answers the question "HOW bad?" easily, but the prepositional phrase that must work as an "adverb" does not work for my ear with the question "HOW".

I have a similar problem with seeing prepositional phrases as adjectives:

A)She is a sister to me ( "to me" must be an adjective but I can't find a question that makes it an adjective)
B) This is a disaster for my country ( "for my country" must be an adjective but I can't find a question that makes it an adjective)


Do you have a different perspective on this,

Thank you in advance?

gmat-admin's picture

I'm not 100% sure I follow all of your questions.

I'll start by saying that a verb modifier can do more than provide extra information about HOW the action was performed.

A verb modifier can answer other questions such as: WHERE, WHEN, HOW, HOW OFTEN, WHY, HOW LONG, HOW LIKELY, TO WHAT DEGREE, etc.
See 1:00 at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1163

Also recognize that an ADVERB can also modify an ADJECTIVE

So, for example:
5)It is bad for my health
"for my health" tells us more about the adjective BAD.

A)She is a sister to me
"to me" tells us more about HOW she is a sister

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Thank you for your time Brent,

Unfortunately, I don't see how in the sentence "She is a sister to me" the prepositional phrase "to me" answers the question "HOW she is a sister", the only question that pops up in my head to somehow connect "to me" to "sister" is "to WHOME?"

Let's take another sentence.

"He is also the best friend to my other friend."

Best friend to whom? → "to my other friend". Makes sense to me.
HOW he is the best friend? → "to my other friend". Doesn't make sense to me.

Maybe the problem is that I am not a native speaker, and I don't hear it in my head as a natural answer to the question HOW?.

BTW, I know that Adverbs can also modify an adjective, but in the sentence above: "She is a sister to me", the word "sister" is a noun and not an adjective, as far as I know. "Bob is a King" we are linking through the linking verb "to be" the pronoun "Bob" and "king". So my conclusion is that prepositional phrase "to me" in the sentence "She is a sister to me" is an adjective.

What do you think?
gmat-admin's picture

When it comes to modifiers, I think a better question to ask is "Which word does this modifier provide more information about?"

For example, in the sentence "Joe has a green truck," GREEN provides more information about TRUCK.

Now start with the sentence "She is a sister"
Tell me more about the sister. Is she a BIG sister? Is she a GOOD sister? Is she ED'S sister? etc.
So, if we have "She is a sister TO ME," we are learning more about what kind of sister she is. As such, TO ME functions as an adjective.

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

I won't be honest if I say that this concept is still unintuitive for me, but at least a know the direction at which you are pointing.

He is the best friend to my brother. (tell me more about him being a best friend? He is not just a best friend, but a best friend to my brother)

I did something to my friend. (tell me more about "something", was it just something or was it "something" to a specific person, who happens to be your friend.

Do you think my interpretation is better now,

Thank you for your patience Brent,
gmat-admin's picture

Here's another way to look at it:

Start with the complete sentence: He is. (subject + verb = complete sentence)

Add a few words to get: He is the friend.
In other words, HE = FRIEND

Add more words: He is the best friend.
BEST tells us more about FRIEND. What kind of friend? A BEST friend.

He is the best friend to my brother.
TO MY BROTHER tells us more about FRIEND (What kind of best friend? A best friend TO MY BROTHER.
-------------------------------------------

I did something. (complete sentence)

I did something to my friend. TO MY FRIEND tells us more about SOMETHING.

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Yes, I think it is now more clear to me.

Thank you for your time Brent

Hi Brent,

Is the following sentence structure correct?

"Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are just superstitions and are thus detrimental to society."

gmat-admin's picture

That sentence is fine.

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Brent,

For me "Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are just superstitions and are thus detrimental to society." is not a parallel sentence.

are just superstitions
verb + adverb + noun

are thus detrimental
verb + adverb + adjective

For me this is a correct sentence:

Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are just superstitions and are thus detriments to society."
or
Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are just superstitious and are thus detrimental to society."

What do you think?
gmat-admin's picture

"Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are just superstitions and are thus detrimental to society."
The above sentence is parallel in that it as the structure "Naomi's beliefs ARE X and ARE Y"

In both parts, we're told more about Naomi's beliefs.
In the first part, we're told that Naomi's beliefs = superstitions
In the second part, we're told that Naomi's beliefs are detrimental

Yes, one word is a noun, and the other is an adjective, but they both tell us more about Naomi's beliefs.
I don't think the GMAT would take issue with that structure.

Also notice the word THUS (aka THEREFORE). It suggests some kind of conclusion based on the first part of the sentence (Naomi's beliefs are just superstitions).

I hope that helps.

Cheers,
Brent

I understand, thank you,

But by saying that do you mean that:

Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are superstitions and detrimental to society. (NOT parallel)
noun ≠ adjective

Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are superstitions and are detrimental to society. (PARALLEL)
are + description = are + description

What do you think,

Thank you in advance
gmat-admin's picture

I believe the elements are parallel. More importantly, I believe the GMAT test-makers would be okay with the sentence "Jeremy claims that Naomi's beliefs are superstitions and are detrimental to society."

For the Felix and his grooming example, can we write,

"Not only did Felix apply extra deodorant, he also polished his teeth." Basically, dropping "but".
gmat-admin's picture

In almost all cases, the GMAT will pair NOT ONLY with BUT ALSO

In addition, we need the part after "not only" to be parallel with the part after "but also"

In your sentence, we don't have that parallelism: "Not only DID FELIX APPLY extra deodorant, he also POLISHED his teeth."

Cheers,
Brent

Got it. Thanks, Brent.

Hi Brent,

Just a question on the sentence "jeremy claims that naomi's beliefs are superstitious and detrimental to society".

I understood how and why you corrected the sentence to make the terms supertitious and detrimental parallel, but I was also kind expecting to see a "that" before detrimental since we are talking about a relative clause. Why am I wrong? Thank you so much
gmat-admin's picture

Good question.

SUPERSTITIOUS and DETRIMENTAL are two words that describe Naomi's beliefs. We can say that these two words are "attached" to the noun BELIEFS.

On the other hand, THAT is "attached" to the verb CLAIMS.
So, the structure here is "Jeremy claims THAT Naomi's beliefs have certain characteristics" (they are both superstitious and detrimental).

If Jeremy wanted to make more than one claim, then we'd need another THAT.

For example, Jeremy claims THAT Naomi's beliefs are superstitious and detrimental, and THAT Naomi is a great tennis player.

Here, the structure here is "Jeremy claims THAT one thing about Naomi is true, and THAT another thing is true.")

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Perfect!
I was considering this but I decided to check if my point of view was right before continuing...
Tks a lot!

Hi Brent! On the sentence "The answer choices.... preceded by circles, rather than by letters" , why doesn't the comma before rather break the construction? Wasn't the right approach "X rather than Y" instead of "X, rather than Y". I guess I don't know how punctuation signs affect or not that whole list of constructions. Any guidance will be appreciated!
gmat-admin's picture

You're referring to the sentence that starts at 6:50 in the above video.

At the risk of providing an answer akin to "that's just the way it is," I will say that this is how the GMAT handles this construction.

I wouldn't worry about this concept; it's not something that will make or break your answer to a Sentence Correction question on test day.

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Brent,

I understand the concept of Vital information, but I have a confusion understanding the usage of commas as shown in this vedios. For example,

1) Example of Neither X nor Y, does not have a comma after X But, Example of Just as X so Y , X rather than Y, and Not only X but also Y do.

Could you explain the usage of comma in correlative conjunctions.


Thanks in Advance :-)
Ankur
gmat-admin's picture

I wouldn't invest much energy into this feature, since you will not encounter a GMAT question that depends on the comma placement in a correlative conjunctions.

Even the test-makers are inconsistent with this.

For example, the Official Guide features the following two sentences:

1) "Lebsock, meanwhile, attempts not only to write the history of women in one southern community, but also to redirect two decades of historiographical debate as to whether women gained or lost status in the nineteenth century as compared with the eighteenth century." (comma)

2) "These questions measure your ability not only to comprehend a passage but also to evaluate it critically." (no comma)

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Brent, I dont know if you've covered this Q in some other section, but i just couldnot understand the explanation given in OG for the following question:

Sunspots, vortices of gas associated with strong electromagnetic activity, are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on the Sun’s poles or equator.

(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on
(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun
(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at
(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at
(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun's surface, which have never been sighted on

OA - Option A. I didnot pickup the right answer
I felt 'sighted at' is better than 'sighted on' . And how is the world is that parallel! i just could not get that
gmat-admin's picture

Question link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/sunspots-vortices-of-gas-associated-with-stro...

While there is some parallelism at play here, there are additional reasons to eliminate B, C, D and E.

ceilidh.erickson provides a great solution here (3rd post): https://www.beatthegmat.com/q17-og13-restudy-t163164.html

Let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on her solution.

Cheers,
Brent

At 06:30->
I hope this sentence variation too is wrong -> "Not only did Felix applied extra deodrant, but also polished his teeth."

If wrong then, is it because of "did" or because of "Felix(Subject)" inside the Correlative phrase (Not Only ___But also___)?
gmat-admin's picture

That sentence is incorrect, because the parts that follow NOT ONLY and BUT ALSO are not parallel.

We have: Not only DID FELIX apply extra deodorant, but also POLISHED his teeth.
In other words: Not only VERB NOUN VERB extra deodorant, but also VERB his teeth.

One way to achieve parallelism is as follows:
Felix not only APPLIED extra deodorant, but also POLISHED his teeth.
Here APPLIED and POLISHED are both verbs in the simple past tense.

Cheers,
Brent

WoW that is almost like a math rule that has to be equal on both sides.

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