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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by adverbs. Some call them the Mad Men of verbs.

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How should you change the underlined portion below, if at all?

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The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner.

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The name of the game for the next set of questions is parallel construction.

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This is defined as using the same pattern of words to show equal importance.

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Take our original sentence, for example. It ends with a list.

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The first two words on the list--"quickly" and "accurately"--

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are regular adverbs. We know this because

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they are describing the verb "write."

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Remember, it's the function of adverbs to describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

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The final item on the list also functions

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as an adverb because it describes the way the production manager is supposed to be writing.

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However, it's a propositional phrase, not a single adverb. This goes against the idea

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of parallel construction and offends our sense of order.

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Choice (B) is full of all kinds of randomness, making it easy to eliminate.

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Its list includes a prepositional phrase,

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a single adverb, and a two-adverb combo.

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(D) looks a little more sane at first glance, but ultimately it also fails.

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"Quickly" and "thoroughly" are both adverbs that end in "L-Y." "Accurate," on the other

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hand, does not end in "L-Y," and is also the adjective form of the word.

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Choice (C) finally fixes our sentence by making sure that every word in the list is a full-fledged

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adverb with an "L-Y" ending, and all is parallel.

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Some might say that parallel construction is unimaginative, but zigzag construction

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is incomprehensible.

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