pharmxanthan wrote:Here are two examlpes:

1. Opened in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad had immediate and far-reaching effects on America, including a population explosion in the West, the decline of Native Americans, joining of East Coast culture and Western convention, and cultivation of thousands of acres of new farm land. (INCORRECT)

The book states that a reader may mistake "joining" for a verb. Therefore, to have parallel structure, "joining" should be changed to "the joining".

Opened in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad had immediate and far-reaching effects on America, including a population explosion in the West, the decline of Native Americans, the joining of East Coast culture and Western convention, and cultivation of thousands of acres of new farm land. (CORRECT)


So having an article preceding "joining" converts a verb form to a noun form?

2. The book then provides the second example-

Symptoms of a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting may include dizziness, hives or rashes, swelling of the wound, difficulty breathing, intense itching, and loss of consciousness. (CORRECT)

My question is why "swelling" does not follow "the" as in previous sentence?

Also, "dizziness" and "hives or rashes" are nouns. But "intense itching" has an adjective "intense" following noun "itching". Is that allowed in parallelism? Also, is "difficulty" an adjective here?

Thanks much!

bupbebeo wrote:

pharmxanthan wrote:Here are two examlpes:

1. Opened in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad had immediate and far-reaching effects on America, including a population explosion in the West, the decline of Native Americans, joining of East Coast culture and Western convention, and cultivation of thousands of acres of new farm land. (INCORRECT)

The book states that a reader may mistake "joining" for a verb. Therefore, to have parallel structure, "joining" should be changed to "the joining".

Opened in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad had immediate and far-reaching effects on America, including a population explosion in the West, the decline of Native Americans, the joining of East Coast culture and Western convention, and cultivation of thousands of acres of new farm land. (CORRECT)


So having an article preceding "joining" converts a verb form to a noun form?

2. The book then provides the second example-

Symptoms of a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting may include dizziness, hives or rashes, swelling of the wound, difficulty breathing, intense itching, and loss of consciousness. (CORRECT)

My question is why "swelling" does not follow "the" as in previous sentence?

Also, "dizziness" and "hives or rashes" are nouns. But "intense itching" has an adjective "intense" following noun "itching". Is that allowed in parallelism? Also, is "difficulty" an adjective here?

Thanks much!

although swelling has appearance of V+ing. the fact is that is a noun. If you don't believe, you can look up dictionary to check. it means that when you write swelling, people immediately understand it as a noun.


However, joining is a totally different case. we only have " join " as a verb or noun. we don't have joining as a noun naturally as we have swelling. So, when you write Joining, people can understand it either a noun or a verb. In order to make sure, people consider it as a Noun, you should add the before it.

Hope that helps