According to the international investment memorandum recently signed

Question

According to the international investment memorandum recently signed in Geneva, France is one of the 4 European nations planning to provide fewer tax incentives for foreign investment in production of heavy industrial machinery.
e) that is planning to provide less

"France is one of the 4 nations", so this expects a plural verb. In e. "is" is not in agreement.

(A) planning to provide fewer

(B) planning to provide less

(C) planning on providing fewer

(D) which is planning on providing fewer

(E) that is planning to provide less

I got this one correct, however, when I was looking at the usage of "France is one of the 4 European nations" construction, I was curious to find more examples of this kind. Does anybody have questions on this topic? Even a link on this topic will help.

daagh · Accepted Answer

Two things: 1. less and plural nouns do not go together. Less is used only in singulars. So, B and E are out. 2. planning on providing is wrong idiom. Planning to provide is the correct form. So C and D are gone. A dodges these faults and survives.

daagh · Answer

@leonidas: Is this what you are looking for

1. Minnesota is the only one of the contiguous forty-eight states  that still has a sizable wolf population, and where  this predator remains the archenemy of cattle and sheep.

(A) that still has a sizable wolf population, and where 
(B) that still has a sizable wolf population, where 
(C) that still has a sizable population of wolves, and where 
(D) where the population of wolves is still sizable; - gramatically is correct but needs conjunction to show the logical relationship between two independent clauses, rather tah semicolon that implies their equality
(E) where there is still a sizable population of wolves and where

2. With its plan to develop seven and a half acres of shore land, Cleveland is but one of a large number of communities on the Great Lakes that i s looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract  new businesses.

(A) is looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract 
(B) are looking at their waterfronts as a way they can improve the quality of urban life and attract 
(C) are looking to their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract 
(D) is looking at its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract 
(E) are looking to its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting

icandy · Answer

tax incentives are countable. B & E out.

D is wrong because it uses which in an incorrect way

Between A & C, take the infinitive over on. A

What are you looking for in the  France is one of the 4 European nations  construct? I did not understand what you were in search of exactly.

leonidas · Answer

Right on.... OA is (A)

I was looking for sentences or rules governing constructions like "x is one of the many" types.... I sometimes get confused about the subject of the sentence (singular or plural).

daagh · Answer

1. Minnesota is the only OA is E 
2. With its plan to develop seven OA is C

vraptor · Answer

(E)

(A)  that still  has a sizable wolf population, and where
(B)  that still  has a sizable wolf population, where
(C)  that still  has a sizable population of wolves, and where
(D) where the population of wolves is  still sizable; 
(E) where   there   is still a sizable population of wolves and   where

voodoochild · Answer

According to the international investment memorandum recently signed in Geneva, France is one of the 4 European nations planning to provide fewer tax incentives for foreign investment in production of heavy industrial machinery.
e) that is planning to provide less

"France is one of the 4 nations", so this expects a plural verb. In e. "is" is not in agreement.

a) planning to provide fewer
b) planning to provide less
c) planning on providing fewer
d) which is planning on providing fewer
e) that is planning to provide less

OA is a). For E) if you neglect "less", the explanation says that "is planning" is not in agreement with the plural noun "nations." I am not sure why???

Any thoughts

Thanks

Voodoo

pesfunk · Answer

"less" is not the correct option since "fewer" should be used for tax incentives which are countable.
Eliminate B and E in the first place. Let's not even discuss them.

Do you have any confusion among A, C and D ?

voodoochild · Answer

Nope. I am fine with the answer. The question is more about the explanation.

Let's change option e to "that is planning to provide fewer".....whats wrong with this ?

pkmme · Answer

According to the international investment memorandum recently signed in Geneva, France is one of the 4 European nations planning to provide fewer tax incentives for foreign investment in production of heavy industrial machinery.
e) that is planning to provide less

"France is one of the 4 nations", so this expects a plural verb. In e. "is" is not in agreement.

GMATGuruNY · Answer

What is France  one of ?   The four nations planning to provide fewer incentives  .
The four nations   are   planning to provide fewer incentives; France is   one of   these four nations.
Thus, the sentence can't say  the four nations that  is  planning , because  is  (singular) doesn't agree with  nations  (plural).

subhashghosh · Answer

@voodoochild

Consider this sentence:

He is one of the players who play/plays in English League.

We choose here plural play.

Rule - If the plural noun is followed by a relative pronoun such as "that/who", the singular verb changes into plural.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Subhash

Yela · Answer

Hi there,

Could anyone explain how is tax inscentives a countable noun? 
I don't see how you can say, 1 tax inscentive, 2 tax inscentives, 3 ... etc.

Could someone elaborate on the concept, pls?

Many thanks,
Yela

rulez161 · Answer

I have this same question. Somebody please explain this.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Any noun expressed in plural form MUST be countable - plural form is applicable only for countable nouns. Here since "incentives" is plural, it must be a countable noun. 
(There may be many different incentives provided to foreign investors.)

asdfghjklasdfghj · Answer

What is the reason that C is out ?

I mean the reason " Between A & C, take the infinitive over on. A " is not enough to decide in my opinion.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Reason is idiomatic usage. "Plan to" is the correct idiom.

mag3184 · Answer

Can someone explain the nuances between plan ON vs plan TO?

Thanksssss

mag3184 · Answer

Can someone explain the nuances between plan ON vs plan TO?

Thanksssss

According to the international investment memorandum recently signed

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According to the international investment memorandum recently signed

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