Parallelism doubt

[HemantR606]

Hello all,

I have a doubt regarding parallelism. Consider the following sentence-

The boy's success depends on whether he has the capability to broaden his skills and can leave his smoking habit

Is this sentence parallel?
I am confused because 'has' and 'can leave' are both verbs, but the sentence doesn't seem to be parallel to me.
Can anyone please explain?


Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

remember that SC problems are multiple-choice, and that parallelism is a "beauty contest".

from a strictly grammatical/mechanical standpoint, that sentence is "parallel", since it has verb || verb.
however, "has the capability..." is just a really long-winded way to say "can". so, if you see this sort of thing in a problem, you'll see other choices with MUCH better parallelism.

[RonPurewal]

by the way, if you're going to write posts that are inspired by OG items, please quote the edition # and problem # of the OG question.
e.g., for this one, "13th edition, #34".

thank you for not actually quoting the text (as per the forum rules). but you should still say where you're getting the material.

[HemantR606]

Thanks Ron, for such a convincing explanation.
I will mention the source details in my future posts for sure.

One word for the fact that you have identified the source so accurately, even after I have changed the actual sentence - AMAZING!!
That shows some extraordinary mastery over the OG questions.


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Hemant

[RonPurewal]

That shows some extraordinary mastery over the OG questions.

thanks, but... nope. it shows only that i know how to search the e-book version for keywords.
(: