# Computer s/w- S-V agreement : ETS Paper Q.

[jaymin05]

# The computer software being designed for a project studying Native American access to higher education will not only meet the needs of that study, but also has the versatility and power of facilitating similar research endeavors.
A.same as above
B.but also have the versatility and power to facilitate
C.but it also has the versatility and power to facilitate
D.and also have the versatility and power of facilitating
E.and it also has such versatility and power that it can facilitate

OA: B

After elimination, I was left with choice B and choice C. I eliminated B because the verb used in the underlined portion is have , which does not match with the singular subject viz. the computer software. I have 2 doubts:

1. In choice B, the verb used is Have. Isn’t this incorrect ?, since the subject of the sentence is the computer software, which is singular. Even the verb meet is in the plural form. Does this have anything to do with subjunctive?

2. Is it idiomatic to say, " ...not only..., but it also...." ?, or, there should not be anything in between "But" and "also".

Thank you for your time.


Please explain.

Thank you.

[AndreaDB]

Hi,

- Target at Tense Agreement: The subject is SW so eliminate plural person "have".
That leaves A.C.E. .. Ace them!
- Target at Idiom: Not Only .x. But Also .y. is the correct: Eliminate D and E.
- Target at Pronoun/Parallel/Wordy: Not Only verb without explicit sbj but also require verb without explicit sbj. I suppose that also if it was stated as Not only it will meet .. but also has (without repeating the pronoun would be the correct form.

Andrea

[jaymin05]

Hi,

the correct answer is B. The verb is in plural form, even when the main subject is the singular "The software program".
That is precisely what my doubt is? Why do we use the plural verb meet and have in this sentence when the subject is singular?

Thnx.

[vangiapmtbk]

Hi All,

In my opinion, the correct idiom "Not only....But also" however in this sentence, be careful with the "Verb Tense", to be exact" Will", rewrite this sentence : The S/W "will" not only meet....(will) but also have.

Thanks,

[AndreaDB]

Hi All,

In my opinion, the correct idiom "Not only....But also" however in this sentence, be careful with the "Verb Tense", to be exact" Will", rewrite this sentence : The S/W "will" not only meet....(will) but also have.

Thanks,

Correct reasoning.
it is a case of elipsis.
In my opinion this is a tricky one and leaves area of miscomprension. arre you sure that it is one of the GMAC?

However, given correct, we can state that there should exist the rule:

WILL not only Inf_Verb1 but also Inf_Verb2 to mean that the future extends to V1 e V2 (FUT,TUT)

not only WILL inf_verb1 but also verb2 limits the future to the first action .. but this breacks the parallelism (FUT,PRES or other).
does it works?
advocate for instructor aid.

[JonathanSchneider]

First of all, good catch, Andrea, that the "meet" is part of the future tense: "will ... meet." As a result, there is no agreement error with "software." "Will meet" works for both singular and plural.

Notice that the same occurs with "have." The parallel structure connects us back to "will...," so we are really saying "will have," which also works for the singular "software."

[sudaif]

why is A wrong??

[sudaif]

MGMAT instructors ---

Why do we use "MEET" and not "MEETS" and subsequently use "HAVE" and not "HAS"?

Andrea's explanation is unclear to me. please help!

[RonPurewal]

MGMAT instructors ---

Why do we use "MEET" and not "MEETS" and subsequently use "HAVE" and not "HAS"?

Andrea's explanation is unclear to me. please help!

both of these verbs are in the future tense: "will meet" and "(will) have".

the parallel signals in this problem are "not only" and "but also", so only the parts after those signals must match. since "will" occurs BEFORE the signal words "not only", we should NOT repeat "will" in the second parallel structure.
this makes for a fairly tricky second parallel structure -- it's just the second half of the future-tense verb. i.e., you don't need to repeat "will"; you just want "have".

even if the "will" is placed outside the parallel structure, though, you cannot take these constructions out of the future tense.

--

as for your question above, about choice (a) -- two reasons why that choice is incorrect:
1) its verb is not the proper parallel structure -- as stated above, the only properly parallel structure here is the second half of a future-tense verb.
2) bad idiom: in this context, you must say that something has the power/versatility TO do something, not the power/versatility OF doing something.

[rikky.bora]

Apologies for kicking up an old thread, but just wondering whether this choice F would be correct?

F) The computer software being designed for a project studying Native American access to higher education will not only meet the needs of that study, but it will also have the versatility and power to facilitate similar research endeavors.

In short, I wonder whether we can have a clause in the second part of the "....Not Only .... But (ALSO) ...." constructions?

[RonPurewal]

Apologies for kicking up an old thread, but just wondering whether this choice F would be correct?

F) The computer software being designed for a project studying Native American access to higher education will not only meet the needs of that study, but it will also have the versatility and power to facilitate similar research endeavors.

In short, I wonder whether we can have a clause in the second part of the "....Not Only .... But (ALSO) ...." constructions?

no, this version is incorrect.

in the construction "not only ... but also ...", the real parallel signals are "not" and "but". ("only" and "also" are adverbs and are therefore grammatically disposable; they actually don't contribute to the parallel structure at all, although they are so frequently used that many people memorize them as though they were part of it.)
if you ignore "only" and "also" in the version you've created, you will notice that "not" is only followed by a verb construction (meet the needs...), but that "but" is followed by an entire clause (it will also have the...)
hence not parallel.

[rikky.bora]

Apologies for kicking up an old thread, but just wondering whether this choice F would be correct?

F) The computer software being designed for a project studying Native American access to higher education will not only meet the needs of that study, but it will also have the versatility and power to facilitate similar research endeavors.

In short, I wonder whether we can have a clause in the second part of the "....Not Only .... But (ALSO) ...." constructions?

no, this version is incorrect.

in the construction "not only ... but also ...", the real parallel signals are "not" and "but". ("only" and "also" are adverbs and are therefore grammatically disposable; they actually don't contribute to the parallel structure at all, although they are so frequently used that many people memorize them as though they were part of it.)
if you ignore "only" and "also" in the version you've created, you will notice that "not" is only followed by a verb construction (meet the needs...), but that "but" is followed by an entire clause (it will also have the...)
hence not parallel.

Thanks Ron!! As always, you rock !! :)

[jnelson0612]

Ron does indeed rock. :-)