Question:
Which sentence correctly follows parallel structure?
Which sentence correctly follows parallel structure?
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When you see a list of items connected by a conjunction like "and," "or," or "but," quickly check the grammatical form of each item. A common GRE trick is to mix forms (e.g., a noun, an adjective, and a verb). The correct answer will have a consistent form for all items.
Updated On: Oct 6, 2025
- The job requires attention to detail, strong analytical skills, and to communicate effectively.
- The job requires attention to detail, strong analytical skills, and effective communication.
- The job requires attention to detail, strong analytical skills, and effective communicating.
- The job requires being attentive to detail, strong analytical skills, and effective communication.
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The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Parallel structure (or parallelism) means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This often applies to items in a list or series, which should be in the same grammatical form (e.g., all nouns, all verbs, all prepositional phrases).
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The sentence lists three requirements for a job. For the structure to be parallel, all three items in the list should have the same grammatical form. Let's analyze each option:
(A) The job requires attention to detail (noun phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and to communicate effectively (infinitive phrase).
The structure is noun phrase, noun phrase, infinitive phrase. This is not parallel.
(B) The job requires attention to detail (noun phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and effective communication (noun phrase).
The structure is noun phrase, noun phrase, noun phrase. All three elements are grammatically consistent. This sentence is parallel.
(C) The job requires attention to detail (noun phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and effective communicating (gerund phrase).
The structure is noun phrase, noun phrase, gerund phrase. This is not parallel.
(D) The job requires being attentive to detail (gerund phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and effective communication (noun phrase).
The structure is gerund phrase, noun phrase, noun phrase. This is not parallel.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Option (B) is the only sentence where all items in the series are in the same grammatical form (noun phrases), thus correctly following the principle of parallel structure.
Parallel structure (or parallelism) means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This often applies to items in a list or series, which should be in the same grammatical form (e.g., all nouns, all verbs, all prepositional phrases).
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The sentence lists three requirements for a job. For the structure to be parallel, all three items in the list should have the same grammatical form. Let's analyze each option:
(A) The job requires attention to detail (noun phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and to communicate effectively (infinitive phrase).
The structure is noun phrase, noun phrase, infinitive phrase. This is not parallel.
(B) The job requires attention to detail (noun phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and effective communication (noun phrase).
The structure is noun phrase, noun phrase, noun phrase. All three elements are grammatically consistent. This sentence is parallel.
(C) The job requires attention to detail (noun phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and effective communicating (gerund phrase).
The structure is noun phrase, noun phrase, gerund phrase. This is not parallel.
(D) The job requires being attentive to detail (gerund phrase), strong analytical skills (noun phrase), and effective communication (noun phrase).
The structure is gerund phrase, noun phrase, noun phrase. This is not parallel.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Option (B) is the only sentence where all items in the series are in the same grammatical form (noun phrases), thus correctly following the principle of parallel structure.
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