Sentence Correction

Of all the wild animals in their area, none was more useful to the Delaware tribes than the Virginia white-tailed deer: it was a source of meat, and its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut for bindings and glue.

(A) deer: it was a source of meat, and its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut
(B) deer: it was a source of meat, and its hide used for clothing, with its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut used
(C) deer, which was a source of meat, with its hide used for clothing, antlers and bones for tools, as well as its sinews and gut used
(D) deer, which, as well as being a source of meat, its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut were
(E) deer, with, as well as being a source of meat, its hide used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut

OA: A

Here's my issue with A, subject verb agreement:

it's hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut.

Now, what this is basically saying is that it's antlers and bones was used for tools.

But that's not, right, it should be were used. So, I thought B, since that answer choice doesn't have that problem.


But, this is an official GMAT paper test question, so I know that I'm wrong, and it is right. Can someone please explain why?

Parallelism usually deals with tenses, but not plural-ness.

can you elaborate, please?

We often write sentences such as:

The kitchen was renovated by company A, the bathroom (was renovated) by company B, and the bedrooms (were renovated) by company C

Here, the verbs omitted are identical tenses but differ in terms of number (singular vs plural). This is admissible in written English

Wow, I thought that was just colloquialism and was not correct on the GMAT. Good to know, thanks Kevin.


That's why I asked. It sounded right to me (by ear), but I thought it would be wrong technically.

answer is A: it maintains parallelism.
deer: it was a source of meat, and its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut
for bindings and glue.

(A) deer: it was a source of meat, and its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut .

If we talk about parralelism then the structure should be :::::: (A) deer: it was a source of X, its hide was used for Y, its antlers and bones for Z, and its sinews and gut

How does in between four parallel structures there is an and ?????? And is always used to introduce the last part of a parallel sentense ?

Can any one please explain ?[/u]

sarthak wrote:(A) deer: it was a source of meat, and its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut .

If we talk about parralelism then the structure should be :::::: (A) deer: it was a source of X, its hide was used for Y, its antlers and bones for Z, and its sinews and gut

How does in between four parallel structures there is an and ?????? And is always used to introduce the last part of a parallel sentense ?

Can any one please explain ?[/u]

IMO the parallelism is maintained coz : (It was source of X )and (Its "A" was useful, Its "B" was useful and Its "C" was useful)

Hope this helps!!

(A) deer: it was a source of meat, and its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, and its sinews and gut

Option A does not seem to be parallel, wouldn't this make better parallel construction?

deer: it was a source of meat, its hide was used for clothing, its antlers and bones for tools, AND its sinews and gut.

I thought using so many AND's in a single sentence, doesn't exaclty count as parallel.

Can somebody explain this to me?