Sentence Correction

Hi experts, Do I need the second "with":

The caravan travels not only with plenty of fuel for a round-trip journey, but also enough food to last at least six days.

vs.

The caravan travels not only with plenty of fuel for a round-trip journey, but also with enough food to last at least six days.

gamecomplete wrote:Hi experts, Do I need the second "with":

The caravan travels not only with plenty of fuel for a round-trip journey, but also enough food to last at least six days.

vs.

The caravan travels not only with plenty of fuel for a round-trip journey, but also with enough food to last at least six days.

What follows but also has to be parallel to what follows not only.

So your second example is better than the first.

In the first, not only is followed by with plenty of fuel, but but also is followed by merely enough food.

In the second example, the two phrases, with plenty of fuel and with enough food, are parallel.

The comma after journey is unnecessary in both examples, by the way.

Now check this out.

If you put the with BEFORE not only, then you don't need it twice. When placed before not only, with covers both the fuel and the food and what follows not only is parallel to what follows but also.

The caravan travels with not only plenty of fuel for a round-trip journey but also enough food to last at least six days.

Thank you Marty Murray for a great break down!! I found that very insightful.

I'm still curious about one thing. Why wouldn't we need a connector before "but". I've always been taught that connectors such as and, but so, etc. require a comma before hand. To your point, I also noticed that the official guide has a comma sometimes, and other times not. It just seems really random. I'd appreciate your insight!

gamecomplete wrote:I'm still curious about one thing. Why wouldn't we need a connector before "but". I've always been taught that connectors such as and, but so, etc. require a comma before hand. To your point, I also noticed that the official guide has a comma sometimes, and other times not. It just seems really random. I'd appreciate your insight!

The choice of whether to use a comma before a conjunction such as but, and, or because depends on the context.

Look at the following sentence. Generally, unless you were seeking to emphasize the fact that you also saw Fred, you would not put a comma before and.

I saw Jill and Fred.

So in a simple two element list, generally there is no need for a comma.

Look at these.

I saw not only Jill but also Fred.

I ran up the stairs and dove through the doorway. (another list)

It is either a dog or a wolf.

None of them require commas.

So what does require a comma?

One thing that requires at least one comma is a list with three or more elements.

I ran up the stairs, dove through the doorway and shut the window.

In that construction, you could put a comma, often called the "Oxford comma" before and or leave it out, people do it either way, but you need one between stairs and dove.

In the GMAT questions you are talking about, I think what you are seeing are situations in which the comma separates two clauses.

Jim ran up the stairs, but he could not find the door.

Notice that before and after the comma there are two clauses, each with a subject and verb.

Jim ran....he could not find

The convention is to separate clauses with a comma.

Fred asked many questions, because he wanted to find out what really happened.

While Jeremy was studying, his brother ate all the pudding.

Natalie made cookies, and she delivered them herself.

If we shortened that last sentence and made the second clause part of a list, then we could leave out the comma.

Natalie made cookies and delivered them herself.