Action noun parallel to concrete noun here ?

[JbhB682]

Hi - I keep reading that action nouns CANNOT be made parallel to concrete nouns

But, would this really be wrong you think from a parallelism perspective you think?

[JbhB682]

Source : myself

In order to get into a top 10 MBA program – you need to have determination and money

Determination – action noun
Money – concrete noun

Would this sentence really be wrong from a parallelism perspective ?

[TiffanyB]

Hello JbhB682,

Parallelism requires elements to be the same part of speech and be logically comparable.

For example:
I like cats and dogs. --> Parallel elements = cats, dogs. These are both nouns and both animals.
I like cats and jumping. --> Parallel elements = cats, jumping. These are both nouns BUT they entirely different types of things.

Concrete nouns and action nouns would fulfill the requirement that elements of parallelism must be the same part of speech. However, generally concrete nouns are not logically parallel to action nouns.

To answer your question then, it is possible for concrete nouns and action nouns to be parallel, but it would be important to ensure that they are logically similar.

Finally, the majority of parallelism errors on SC questions occur when elements are not parallel parts of speech. While the issue you mention may be tested, it will not appear frequently.