Parallelism

Lesson 3

www.gmatdudes.com 1
 Parallelism
Parallel structures must be:

⮚Grammatically similar:

✔Incorrect: I study AND working.

✔Correct: I study AND work.

⮚Logically sound:

✔Incorrect: I eat hamburgers AND tables.

✔Correct: I eat hamburgers AND pizza.

www.gmatdudes.com 2
Common Parallel Structures

Structure Example
Verb AND verb Study AND work

Noun AND noun The dog AND cat

Modifier AND modifier Smart AND pretty

Clause AND Clause I study, AND she works.

Infinitive AND infinitive To study and work

Gerund AND gerund Eating and drinking

www.gmatdudes.com 3
Parallel Markers

• The most common markers are

the F-A-N-B-O-Y-S.

• Be careful with AND, BUT and

OR.

www.gmatdudes.com 4
Question 1

From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship

determined the way in which the Ojibwa society
organized its labor, provided access to its resources,
and defined rights and obligations involved in the
distribution and consumption of those resources.

A. and defined rights and obligations involved in

the distribution and consumption of those
resources
B. defining rights and obligations involved in their
distribution and consumption
C. and defined rights and obligations as they were
involved in its distribution and consumption
D. whose rights and obligations were defined in
their distribution and consumption
E. the distribution and consumption of them
defined by rights and obligations
www.gmatdudes.com 5
Question 2

Minnesota is the only one of the contiguous forty-eight

states that still has a sizable wolf population, and
where this predator remains the archenemy of cattle
and sheep.

A. that still has a sizable wolf population, and where

B. that still has a sizable wolf population, where
C. that still has a sizable population of wolves, and
where
D. where the population of wolves is still sizable;
E. where there is still a sizable population of wolves
and where

www.gmatdudes.com 6
 Parallel Idioms
Signal Examples
Both X and Y Both the GMAT and the GRE require a lot
of preparation.
Either X or Y Either the GMAT or the GRE is accepted for
an MBA.
Neither X nor Y Neither the GMAT nor the GRE is necessary
to do an MBA.
Not X but Y I will take not the GRE but the GMAT.
Not only X but also Y I enjoy studying not only for the GMAT but
also for the GRE.
From X to Y You need to study from chapter 1 to
chapter 9 of Sentence Correction.
Between X and Y Between the GRE and the GMAT, the latter
is more widely accepted.

www.gmatdudes.com 7
Question 3

The Federal Reserve Board's reduction of interest rates on

loans to financial institutions is both an acknowledgment of
past economic trends and an effort to influence their future
direction.

A. reduction of interest rates on loans to financial

institutions is both an acknowledgment of past economic
trends and an effort
B. reduction of interest rates on loans to financial
institutions is an acknowledgment both of past economic
trends as well as an effort
C. reduction of interest rates on loans to financial
institutions both acknowledge past economic trends and
attempt
D. reducing interest rates on loans to financial institutions is
an acknowledgment both of past economic trends and an
effort
E. reducing interest rates on loans to financial institutions
both acknowledge past economic trends as well as
attempt www.gmatdudes.com 8
Question 4

The prime lending rate is a key rate in the economy: not only
are the interest rates on most loans to small and medium-
sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on a growing
number of consumer loans, including home equity loans.

A. not only are the interest rates on most loans to small and
medium-sized businesses tied to the prime, but also on
B. tied to the prime are the interest rates not only on most
loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also on
C. the interest rates not only on most loans to small and
medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also
D. not only the interest rates on most loans to small and
medium-sized businesses are tied to the prime, but also
on
E. the interest rates are tied to the prime, not only on most
loans to small and medium-sized businesses, but also

www.gmatdudes.com 9
Advanced Parallelism: Past and Present Participles

A Past Participle can be parallel to a Present Participle.

✔The food, spoiled AND disgusting, was eaten by the dogs.

www.gmatdudes.com 10
Question 5

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird,

a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Philippines
and that resembles a hummingbird, has shimmering
metallic colors on its head; a brilliant orange patch,
bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and
a red eye.
A. found in the Philippines and that resembles
B. found in the Philippines and that, resembling
C. found in the Philippines and resembling
D. that is found in the Philippines and it resembles
E. that is found in the Philippines and that,
resembling

www.gmatdudes.com 11
Advanced Parallelism: Complex Gerunds // Action Nouns

Complex Gerund: The + Verb-ing:

✔The drinking of…

Action Noun: Noun derived from a

verb:
✔Consume: consumption
✔Reverse: reversal
✔Retire: retirement

www.gmatdudes.com 12
Question 6

Building on civilizations that preceded them in coastal Peru, the

Mochica developed their own elaborate society, based on
cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish
and shellfish, and exploiting other wild and domestic resources.
A. based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the
harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting
B. based on the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans,
the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of
C. and basing it on the cultivation of crops like corn and beans,
harvesting fish and seafood, and the exploiting of
D. and they based it on their cultivation of crops such as corn
and beans, the harvest of fish and seafood, and exploiting
E. and they based it on their cultivating such crops like corn
and beans, their harvest of fish and shellfish, and they
exploited

www.gmatdudes.com 13
Question 7

The cottontail rabbit population in Orange County,

California, has increased unchecked in recent years as
a result of the removal of the native fox population
and the clearing of surrounding woodlands.

A. years as a result of the removal of

B. years as a result of removing
C. years, resulting from the removing of
D. years, which is a result of removing
E. years, which is a result of the removal of

www.gmatdudes.com 14
Logical Parallelism: Lists with AND
Elements: Words or phrases

✔Element 1 AND element 2.

✔Element 1, element 2, AND element 3.

Main Clauses: S + V

✔Main clause 1, AND main clause 2.

www.gmatdudes.com 15
Question 8

Promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions approved by the

board of directors at its May meeting will be reported in the July 15
issue of the company paper.
A. Promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions approved by
the board of directors at its May meeting will be reported in the
July 15 issue of the company paper.
B. Promotions, retirements, and other actions which have been
approved at the May meeting of the board of directors along with
deaths, will be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper.
C. To be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper are the
promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions which were
approved at the board of directors' May meeting.
D. Meeting in May, the promotions, retirements, and other actions
approved by the board of directors, including obituaries, will be
reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper.
E. The July 15 issue of the company paper will report on promotions,
retirements, and other actions approved by the board of directors
at its May meeting; the paper will also include obituaries.

www.gmatdudes.com 16
Question 9

Manifestations of Islamic political militancy in the first period of religious

reformism were the rise of the Wahhabis in Arabia, the Sanusi in Cyrenaica,
the Fulani in Nigeria, the Mahdi in the Sudan, and the victory of the Usuli
"mujtahids" in Shiite Iran and Iraq.
A. Manifestations of Islamic political militancy in the first period of religious
reformism were the rise of the Wahhabis in Arabia, the Sanusi in
Cyrenaica, the Fulani in Nigeria, the Mahdi in the Sudan, and
B. Manifestations of Islamic political militancy in the first period of religious
reformism were shown in the rise of the Wahhabis in Arabia, the Sanusi
in Cyrenaica, the Fulani in Nigeria, the Mahdi in the Sudan, and also
C. In the first period of religious reformism, manifestations of Islamic
political militancy were the rise of the Wahhabis in Arabia, of the Sanusi
in Cyrenaica, the Fulani in Nigeria, the Mahdi in the Sudan, and
D. In the first period of religious reformism, manifestations of Islamic
political militancy were shown in the rise of the Wahhabis in Arabia, the
Sanusi in Cyrenaica, the Fulani in Nigeria, the Mahdi in the Sudan, and
E. In the first period of religious reformism, Islamic political militancy was
manifested in the rise of the Wahhabis in Arabia, the Sanusi in
Cyrenaica, the Fulani in Nigeria, and the Mahdi in the Sudan, and in
www.gmatdudes.com 17
Answer Key
1) A
2) E
3) A
4) B
5) C
6) B
7) A
8) E
9) E

www.gmatdudes.com 18