5 exercises — practise parallel structure with the emphatic connector "let alone".
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "let alone" after a negative statement to emphasize an even less likely outcome?
"The cluster can't handle 10,000 requests per second, let alone 50,000" is correct: after "let alone", the second element typically matches the grammatical form of the compared item (here, just the number, since the verb "handle" is understood from the first clause). Option B unnecessarily adds a gerund, which is not the natural parallel form here. Option C unnecessarily adds an infinitive marker. Option D incorrectly turns the second half into a separate finite clause, which breaks the compact parallel structure "let alone" requires.
2 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "let alone" to emphasize that a junior task is already difficult, so a harder one is clearly out of reach?
"She hasn't finished onboarding yet, let alone reviewing production code" is correct: since the first clause uses "finished" (implying a gerund-like completed action), the parallel item after "let alone" naturally takes the gerund "reviewing" to match. Option A incorrectly uses the bare infinitive form, breaking the parallel with "finished". Option B incorrectly uses a past participle alone without the gerund form the parallel needs here. Option D incorrectly expands the second element into a separate finite clause with its own subject, which does not fit the compact structure of "let alone".
3 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "let alone" with two parallel noun phrases describing team capacity?
"We don't have time to fix this bug, let alone three more like it" is correct: since the first clause already establishes "fix" as the shared verb, the compressed noun phrase "three more like it" after "let alone" is the natural, economical parallel. Option B and C needlessly repeat the verb in a gerund or infinitive form, which is grammatical but less idiomatic than the compressed version and inconsistent with the pattern this exercise is testing. Option D scrambles the word order, placing the verb form after the object incorrectly.
4 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "let alone" to state that a basic requirement isn't met, so a stricter one certainly isn't either?
"This service doesn't even log errors, let alone alert on them" is correct: the bare infinitive "alert" (without "to") parallels the bare infinitive "log" from the first clause, both governed by "doesn't". Option B incorrectly uses a gerund where the parallel bare-infinitive form is expected. Option C incorrectly conjugates "alerts" as if it were a separate finite verb. Option D incorrectly expands into a full finite clause with its own subject, breaking the compact structure.
5 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "let alone" to emphasize that even the minimal requirement for compliance is unmet?
"The team hasn't documented the API, let alone written tests for it" is correct: since the first clause uses the present perfect "hasn't documented", the parallel element after "let alone" matches with the past participle "written" to keep the same perfect-tense structure implied. Option B incorrectly uses the bare infinitive, which does not match the perfect-tense frame established by "hasn't documented". Option C incorrectly uses a gerund instead of matching the participle form. Option D scrambles the word order of the object and verb.