Sentence Correction

Dental caries and gingivitis can be exacerbated not only by the foods patients eat but also by when the patients eat them.

(A) not only by the foods patients eat but also by when the patients eat them
(B) by not only the foods patients eat but also by when the patients eat them
(C) not only by the foods patients eat but also by time when the foods are eaten
(D) by not only the foods that are eaten by patients but also by the times the foods are eaten
(E) not only by what patients eat but also by when they eat it

OA E

E seems to be the correct answer since:
a) it correctly uses Not only X but also Y
b) the 2 parts after not only & after but also are parallel to each other.

i don't know whether this is correct

'them' in A may refer to food

if this is true, E clearly eliminates it

I am a bit confused what it refers to in option E. I know it refers to what is being eaten but there is no direct reference available.

I agree that rest of the options are incorrect.

tar.goyal wrote:I am a bit confused what it refers to in option E. I know it refers to what is being eaten but there is no direct reference available.

I agree that rest of the options are incorrect.

'IT' can be used when there is no clear referrant to it
it is suprising that .......
the fact that .... is suprising

the first sentence clearly avoids pointing to the fact by using 'it'.
it just assumes that you can infer what is being talked about

this is just my opinion. don't know for 100% that it is correct

I was between A & E and chose A over E because of the dangling it.

Are you sure that "IT" can be used without having a clear referent?

IMO, E would have been good without it

not only by what patients eat but also by when they eat

I have read either in kaplan or OG that it can be used without a referrant for expressing ideas
But it is always preferrable to avoid these kind of constructuctions
I don't remember which book i referred
so, now, i can't check this

It would be better if someone else can throw some more idea on this

not only by WHAT patients eat but also by WHEN they eat it

Only choice E shows parallelism as both 'what' and 'when' are asking questions.

not only by WHAT patients eat but also by WHEN they eat it

Only choice E shows parallelism as both 'what' and 'when' are asking questions.

My 02 cents--
Plus i think food sounds more correct than foods espeically since no disticntion between various food types is made... not only does teh diet matter but also the time...so food seems more pref to foods.

My view,
first Foods doesnt fits here well ..So that very much eliminates A,B, C and D.
Patients or humans only eat food and nothing else ..So that is also wordy ..not required to mention what they eat .
B and D start with by not only ..which is incorrect here ..!
Multiple reasons for E to be the best choice ..
E is the best fit here ..!

I agree with E, but I am not able to find a proper reason to rule out C on the grounds of parallelism. Also, 'it' in E does sound awkward, specially when we are reffering to foods....plural

Can somebody shed more light on why option C is wrong?

ashish2104 wrote:I agree with E, but I am not able to find a proper reason to rule out C on the grounds of parallelism. Also, 'it' in E does sound awkward, specially when we are reffering to foods....plural

Can somebody shed more light on why option C is wrong?

Hi Ashish,

Let me put in my thoughts. I do not know the grammatical structure in C exactly.

But, use of 'time' and 'when' simultaneously is looking awkward to me in C.

Let me know the time the train would arrive. - looks correct to me
Let me know when the the train arrives. -looks correct to me
Let me know the time when the train would arrive - looks awkward to me.

I might be completely wrong here

Also, C violates parallelism, because of "when"
not only by the foods patients eat but also by time when the foods are eaten
the foods -- time
patients -- when

Parallelism error.

I will still seek some expert opinion on this.

A good explanation by Bob

https://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-sentenc ... 8-a-2.html

IMO E.

Best parallelism