Hi ,

Am using Manhattan SC GMAT Guide Edition 4.
Till today am confused about the use of (and)and (, and).

I did read on page number 190 that "do not use comma before and to separate two verbs that have the same subject".
So i concluded that (,and) should always be used to join two independent clauses.Is it right?

Second thing is that can (, and ) be used to join to gerunds?

Like I just saw an example :

By providing such services as mortgages, home improvement loans, automobile loans,// financial advice, and staying //within the metropolitan areas, Acme Bank has become one of the most profitable savings banks in the nation.

A- financial advice, and staying
B- financial advice, and by staying
C- and financial advice, staying
D- and financial advice, and staying
E- and financial advice, and by staying

In this i ruled out option D, E thinking that (, and) is not joining two independent clauses.

Please do elaborate that what is wrong with option C also.:)

Thanks in advance.

UP!!!!:)

i'm not sure what your second post was about. Replying to your own post will only push it to the very end of the queue..

If you ruled out D and E because of the ",and", why did you not also rule out A and B? To answer your question, ",and" can be used in the following situations:

1) to join two independent clauses
2) to separate the last element in a series of three or more parallel items
3) when the phrase before the "and" is set off by commas; note that in this case the ",and" is effectively there by accident, because the comma is only there as a result of the preceding clause

C is wrong because "staying" describes how the company is profitable, and it requires a "by" in front of it to create the proper description..

_________________
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor