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Parallelism: early settlers of virginia

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Parallelism: early settlers of virginia

by TOPGMAT » Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:04 am
I was stumped by the answer...
The earliest English settlers in Virginia failed to survive their first winter in the New World because of factors such
as inadequate food supplies, harsh weather, and an inability to communicate with Native Americans.
"¢ an inability
"¢ that they were unable
"¢ because they were unable
"¢ being unable
"¢ Lacking an ability

OA:A
Ron, Stacey can you please help ?
I am unable to understand the answer...

Thanks
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by EducationAisle » Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:48 am
What else did you think the answer could be?

inability is noun and is perfectly parallel with the other nouns namely: (inadequate) food supplies and (harsh) weather.

Also notice that B and C are clauses (these structures have both: a Subject and a Verb) and cannot be parallel with phrases (inadequate food supplies and harsh weather are phrases).

lacking an ability would have been better as: lack of ability, to emphasize the noun form of this phrase.
Ashish
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by TOPGMAT » Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:57 am
Hi Ashish,
Yes thats the answer...
I never knew that inability was a noun...So I skipped that choice only to
find that none of the other answers seemed right!!! :-(
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by EducationAisle » Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:55 pm
Even if you did not realize that inability was a noun, in these kind of lists (in this case, group of elements connected by and), a rule of parallelism to be kept in mind is that phrases cannot be parallel with clauses. For example,

Topgmat is extremely determined, very hardworking and he is also quite firm.

he is also quite firm is a clause and cannot be parallel with the phrases: extremely determined and very hardworking

The correct sentence would be:
Topgmat is extremely determined, very hardworking and quite firm.
Ashish
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by TOPGMAT » Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:50 am
Hi Ashish,
I found this sentence structure relatively new.
Many thanks for the explanation. Now I have learnt a new concept.

BTG is the best!!!
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