The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound

[beatItWillYou]

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound ;rather an artificially created sound effect.

What is wrong with this sentence ,
according to me ->
Since after ; we must have independent clause and "rather an ..." has no subject so this is wrong .
would this be correct ?

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound but rather an artificially created sound effect. OR
The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound , but rather an artificially created sound effect. (notice the comma before but).

Please help !!!

[hemant_rajput]

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound ;rather an artificially created sound effect.

What is wrong with this sentence ,
according to me ->
Since after ; we must have independent clause and "rather an ..." has no subject so this is wrong .
would this be correct ?

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound but rather an artificially created sound effect. OR
The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound , but rather an artificially created sound effect. (notice the comma before but).

Please help !!!

I think the sentence you formed also have error,because "rather" and "but" are both negating the first clause.

So I think you can quote it like this
The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound but an artificially created sound effect.

also instead of using rather I feel it is more appropriate to use but.

[ceilidh.erickson]

You are correct - if there is a semicolon, you must have an independent clause on either side. You could say:

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound; rather, it is an artificially created sound effect.

It would also be correct to say:

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound but rather an artificially created sound effect.

You don't need the comma in this case because it is neither a separate clause nor a modifier. However, the good news is that you don't need to worry about comma placement on the GMAT! They won't test you on it.

[iongmat]

You are correct - if there is a semicolon, you must have an independent clause on either side.

Hello Ceilidh, can you please explain this. Do you mean if there is an Independent clause on any one of the sides of a semicolon, it would be correct?

Or should there be Independent clauses on "both" sides.

[ceilidh.erickson]

There must be an independent clause on both sides of the semicolon. I can see how the colloquialism "on either side" could be misleading, but the expression means "on both sides."

[iongmat]

Thanks can you then please see how OG 13 Question #26 is correct.

[GMATGuruNY]

Thanks can you then please see how OG 13 Question #26 is correct.

Tropical bats play important roles in the rain forest ecosystem, aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds; pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help produce tequila by pollinating agave plants.

A. pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help produce
B. pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly helping to produce
C. pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and they indirectly help to produce
D. they pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help producing
E. they pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; indirectly helping the producing of

Here, a LIST of actions is attributed to the bats:
AIDING in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds
POLLINATING banana, breadfruit, and mango trees
HELPING to produce tequila.
The first two entries contain COMMAS.
When entries in a list contain commas, semi-colons may be used to SEPARATE the items in the list.

Note that this usage of the semi-colon is not being tested here.
Every answer choice employs semi-colons to separate the actions.
The primary issue here is PARALLELISM.
Only in B are the three actions parallel (aiding, pollinating, helping).

The correct answer is B.

[RBBmba@2014]

Tropical bats play important roles in the rain forest ecosystem, aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds; pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help produce tequila by pollinating agave plants.

A. pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help produce
B. pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly helping to produce
C. pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and they indirectly help to produce
D. they pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help producing
E. they pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; indirectly helping the producing of

Here, a LIST of actions is attributed to the bats:
AIDING in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds
POLLINATING banana, breadfruit, and mango trees
HELPING to produce tequila.
The first two entries contain COMMAS.
When entries in a list contain commas, semi-colons may be used to SEPARATE the items in the list.

Note that this usage of the semi-colon is not being tested here.
Every answer choice employs semi-colons to separate the actions.
The primary issue here is PARALLELISM.
Only in B are the three actions parallel (aiding, pollinating, helping).

The correct answer is B.

Hi Mitch,
How often we get to see such usage of SEMI-COLONS in GMAT SC PARALLELISM ? Isn't this type of usage rare on GMAT SC ?

Can you please cite such usage in any other SC/OA ?

[lucyjohn987]

You are correct - if there is a semicolon, you must have an independent clause on either side. You could say:

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound; rather, it is an artificially created sound effect.

It would also be correct to say:

The clicking noise is not a mechanical sound but rather an artificially created sound effect.

You don't need the comma in this case because it is neither a separate clause nor a modifier. However, the good news is that you don't need to worry about comma placement on the GMAT! They won't test you on it.

Good answer