the subjunctor "yet"

[JustinC279]

From a CAT:

Florida’s Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, a mixed-use recreation trail paved over an old rail bed, is a curious paradox: it is not only completely man-made but also designed exclusively for human use, yet is classified as a state park.

A: is not only completely man-made but also designed exclusively for human use, yet is
B: not only is completely man-made but also exclusively designed for human use, yet it is
C: is completely man-made but also exclusively designed for human use, yet
D: is completely man-made but also has been designed exclusively for human use, yet is
E: is not only completely man-made but also is exclusively designed for human use, yet

(A) CORRECT. The parallel markers not only … but also are used idiomatically to emphasize logical correlation. The words man-made (which follows not only) and designed (which follows but also) are grammatically parallel: it is man-made and it is designed. Finally, the two main clauses, is not only… and is classified…, are separated by yet and are properly parallel. Since the pronoun it, referring to the trail, is the subject of the first clause, it is also by default the subject of the second; thus no subject is needed between yet and is. The verb is is required, though, to show that the second clause is parallel to the entire first clause; if is is absent, then that construction could be read, improperly, as parallel to designed exclusively for human use.

I understood the parallelism of NOT ONLY X BUT ALSO Y after reading the explanation, but on my initial try, I approached the answer choices by figuring out the end of each answer too. i.e. "yet is" versus "yet it is".

I thought that having the conjunction "yet" means what follows has to be a clause?
So I put a "it" between the "yet" and "is" to ensure that.

Is this a rule I made up?
If not, when would I be able to employ it?

Thanks!
Justin

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I thought that having the conjunction "yet" means what follows has to be a clause?
So I put a "it" between the "yet" and "is" to ensure that.
Is this a rule I made up?

I think so. Take this okay, yet old-fashioned sounding, example: 'The weather was warm, yet damp.' It looks like a synonym of 'but': it could be used to join together two complete clauses, or it could be a parallel marker.

On a wider point, the parallelism between 'not only X, but also Y' is a much safer starting point that would allow you to eliminate B more securely.

[JustinC279]

Yes, the wider issue is definitely the 'not only X, but also Y' parallelism.

Sorry, I'm still confused by how to approach the "comma + conjunction" if I spot it.

Given that you acknowledge that 'yet' (or any conjunction for that matter (FANBOYS)), could serve 2 roles, it sounds like there are 2 paths by which one such approach such a situation.
Path1: Parallelism Marker --> need parallelism
Path2: Conjunction --> need clause on both sides

For example, Manhattan Prep Tim tackles the "comma + conjunction" immediately using Path2 in his video explanation of OG2019 772 in GMAT Navigator.
"You see a "comma + but" in D, and you see a "comma + and" in E. Unless those commas are the second comma in a pair of commas settings off something by the commas, anytime you have a comma in front of a conjunction, you're going to need to find an independent clause on either side"
In fact, it was the first thing he spotted and considered (top of his priority list).
This was my approach, but I obviously got it wrong.

How does one pick the better path in the hierarchy of priorities?

Thanks!
Justin

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I agree that conjunctions can play those different paths and that we need to watch out for those two possibilities. However, I watched the video explanation for SC 772 on Navigator and I couldn't find the part about conjunctions that you referred to. Please can you check the problem number?

As for the hierarchy of SC topics, it's something of a personal matter. Native speakers may rely on idioms a bit more, and lawyers love comparisons and parallelism. I find that most students can spot subject-verb pretty easily, and that looking for ambiguity or concision is often counterproductive.

[JustinC279]

Sorry, it was 773. "Clovis points".

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I just watched this video explanation and I disagree with Tim on this point. A brief look through the Official Guide 2019 showed me a couple of problems (SC 723 and SC 732) that contradict this "rule". It my understanding, GMAT often uses commas to separate long phrases, so that we'll often see a parallel construction with a comma + and.

Thanks for pointing this out; I'll notify my colleagues and see if we need to change this advice.