Sentence Correction

At the finish line, vibrant banners were held by throngs of supporters who had been recruited to assist either in congratulating the exultant winners or in encouraging the weary stragglers.
a)in congratulating the exultant winners or in encouraging the weary stragglers

b)in congratulating the exultant winners and to encourage the weary stragglers

c)in congratulating the exultant winners, and encouraging the weary stragglers

d)to congratulate exultant winners or to encourage weary stragglers

e)to congratulate exultant winners or encouraging weary stragglers

D

A, B and C are out because the supporters were there "to" do something

E is out because it does not use "to+verb" in the second half ... giving us a ||ism error.

IMO A.
' assisted in' is the idiom

Clear cut D.

either..or.. (idiom) & maintains ||'ism.

A also follows "either x or y" and maintains parallelism. Im going with A.

A is also parallel so I'm going with A.

Correct Idiom is Assists in, Assists By, Assists with, Assists on. Assists to is not correct Idiom.

Thanks - Raj Peddisetty.

IMO - A

Idioms involving "ASSIST"

...ASSIST IN, WITH, or ON an undertaking...
Using this idiom indicates which undertaking receives help. For example:
She assisted with (or in or on) the project.

...ASSIST IN (during)...
The event where assistance is given is pointed out. For example:
She assisted in the meeting.


...ASSIST BY (doing something)...

Using this idiom indicates the method of rendering aid:
Mr. Kota assisted by addressing all the envelopes.

Regards
Sudeep

A for me too.

assist in congratulating makes more sense than assist to congratulate.

A - same reasons as above.

to assist to congratulate doesnt sound nice.

I am not sure whether to pick A over D just because of the idiom.

The explanation provided by the expert points out -- The noun "assist" is correctly followed by "in congratulating" rather than by the infinitive " to congratulate."

Is there a rule regarding this (that a noun cannot be followed by the infinitive) ?

in encouraging
in congratulating??? do such words exist??

jimmyjimmy wrote:in encouraging
in congratulating??? do such words exist??

hmm...not sure