A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT

Yes! you are right. "Which" in A C and E introduces modifier error.
Also in D we don't need PAST PERFECT, wrong usage of tense.

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Anyhow,welcome to gmatclub daagh! Keep on posting and sharing your experiences here on gmatclub.

(A). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, which had been in single digits until a couple of months ago, has been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies - The subject is in singular, so the verb must follow the same. Here "which" points to "IT sector" hence incorrect.

(B). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, a rate that was in single digits until a couple of months ago, has been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, posing great problems to IT biggies -
by using "a rate" that after IT sector helps modify the correct noun. Hence B is correct.

(C). A study has concluded that the IT sector’s attrition rate, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, had been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies - IT sector's attrition rate is incorrect

(D). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, that had been in single digits until a couple of months ago, was trending higher lately and is well into double digits, posing great problems to IT biggies

(E). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, trended higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies

As far as I'm concerned which must touch the noun it's modifying, although there are some exceptions.
in A, which is modifying IT sector which in not intended
Am I right? though there might be other issues too.

Option (C) - WHICH touches the noun it is modifying.

(C). A study has concluded that the IT sector’s attrition rate, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, had been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies

The attrition rate was in single digits. WHICH correctly refers to the attrition rate.

Good one imania.... I too think that for Option C which modifies correctly 'Attrition rate'. The problem is with the Tense 'Had' which should be 'Has'

For Option C - A study has concluded that the IT sector’s attrition rate, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, had been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies

Is the issue with had been or with the usage of is? Would the sentence be correct if "is" was replaced by "was"?

my take is B. A is just simply awkward. in my point of view C has 2 error- IT sector's attrition rate doesnt sound good and verb tense error, D has verb tense error and E is a run on sentence. correct me if i am wrong

my take is B. A is just simply awkward. in my point of view C has 2 error- IT sector's attrition rate doesnt sound good and verb tense error, D has verb tense error and E is a run on sentence. correct me if i am wrong

first, let's understand the meaning of the sentence:
A study concluded smth
it concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector has been trending lately. moreover, it is into double digits.
this trend poses great problems to IT biggies.
the same rate was in single digits until couple of months ago.


(A). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, which had been in single digits until a couple of months ago, has been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies
relative pronoun which - i don't like such usage...although it might correctly modify the rate, the biggest issue here is : and posed - well..it still poses great problems-now-when it has been trending.
i believe an ing modifier is appropriate here.

(B). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, a rate that was in single digits until a couple of months ago, has been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, posing great problems to IT biggies
this option is just perfect.
first thing, it removes the "which" pronoun, and thus the ambiguity of what exactly it modifies. moreover, we have an ing modifier, which presents the result.

(C). A study has concluded that the IT sector’s attrition rate, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, had been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies
i think "IT sector's attrition rate" is not the same as "attrition rate in IT sector".
second problem - had been trending lately - wrong tense.
and posed - same problem as in A.

(D). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, that had been in single digits until a couple of months ago, was trending higher lately and is well into double digits, posing great problems to IT biggies
i don't think we need a past perfect here.
was trending higher lately - present perfect is better.

(E). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, trended higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies
repeating errors.


B seems to be the best option.

Hello experts,

Could you please explain why B is right and D is wrong.

i choose D as i believed that there is some sequencing. first the rate was in single digits(past perfect-had been in single digits until a couple of months ago) then it was tending ( 2nd event the later one in past) and the third is the preset tense(is well into double digits)

please feel free to let me know where i am wrong.

Notice the word "lately" - a past perfect generally does not go with this word, because this word implies that the event is still happening or recently happened but its effect is still there in the present. Generally, present perfect suits the words such as "lately", "recently" etc. the best.

Can anyone help me with this?\


Whats the difference between "A study has concluded " & " A study concluded " ?

Hey SonGoku ,

I think you need to revise English Tenses once.

A study has concluded --> We are using Present Perfect Tense. It implies the study is still in progress and we are getting the conclusions from that study.

A study concluded --> We are using Simple Past Tense. It implies study happened in the past and it concluded something in the past.

Does that make sense?

abhimahna
Thank You so much for the reply, now I remember.

Yeah ,did a lot of study but always feeling that all went in vain, so i' m going with lot many questions as possible in a timed environments and with error logs. Now feeling better when compared with my past performance in SC.

Here is my Analysis -

A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, which had been in single digits until a couple of months ago, has been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies.

-- Sentence Structure: 2 months ago - Iteration rate was in 1 digits
: Now the rate has been higher (means continuity and still higher)
: higher rates posed problems for IT biggies -

(A). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, which had been in single digits until a couple of months ago, has been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies
-- [a1] "had been in single digit" is incorrect. We have specified time line here - "2 months ago". We need to use past tense.
-- [a2] may not be a major issue but "posed problems to IT biggies" looks like an effect rather than a parallel element.

(B). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, a rate that was in single digits until a couple of months ago, has been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, posing great problems to IT biggies
-- Correct Choice , Rectifies Issue a1 and a2.

(C). A study has concluded that the IT sector’s attrition rate, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, had been trending higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies
-- "had been trending higher" is incorrect. This is past perfect continuous , so rate was trending higher in past and now this trend is over.??? This is not the original meaning.

(D). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, that had been in single digits until a couple of months ago, was trending higher lately and is well into double digits, posing great problems to IT biggies
-- issue a1.

(E). A study has concluded that the attrition rate in the IT sector, which was in single digits until a couple of months ago, trended higher lately and is well into double digits, and posed great problems to IT biggies
-- "trended higher" means there is not continuity. Now the rate is not getting higher. This is the not the meaning of the original sentence.

The sentence does not constitute reported speech?