Hi AjiteshArun

If we remove "will be" in option choice E and replace it with "would be", then would it still be correct ?

Hi AjiteshArun GMATNinja



When I read E:
Analysts and media executives predict that the coming year will be no less challenging than the previous one (WILL BE) for the company's C.E.O.
My question : When no verb is present in the end . It is understood to carry previous verb forward as elliptical. But in this case : this elliptical verb is : WILL BE Or the helping verb can be any ( was)

For more clarity:
She buys more items than he ( buys): here buys is understood ; buys is carried forward and in this case we may no need to mention it explicitly.
It is better to repeat helping verb/verb(placeholder verb?) if tense is changed
She buys more items than he BOUGHT ( If i don't mention BOUGHT , it would be taken as buys and meaning would be different)

When we come to E:
as no helping verb is present in the end of sentence, so helping verb carried forward should be WILL BE but we want helping verb in PAST tense.


If we say : no need of any helping verb/verb (placeholder verb(, then how can I know I need to repeat helping verb or no need?

Please comment.AjiteshArun GMATNinja

Hi tt147,

A would be won't be correct (predict is present tense, so will is appropriate). Try to use would to refer to the future from the perspective of the past (there are, of course, other ways to use would). For example:

1. NASA says that it will launch the rocket before the weather gets worse.

Now let's "backshift" everything in (1) to see how we'd normally use a would in such sentences:

2. NASA says said that it will would launch the rocket before the weather gets got worse.
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Hi mSKR,

The verb will be was (than the previous one was...). I'm not aware of any rule that limits us to will. It'd be great to see other opinions on this though.
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AndrewN GMATNinja VeritasKarishma when time marker is used (previous ) then past perfect tense is correct so why can't in optionD it's correct like it's correct in below question
earlier used to denote action happened in past

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a 'soft landing', followed by a gradual increase in the business activity.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/according-to ... 70645.html

saby1410 -
The two questions are different. Both give you the current views of the analysts, agreed. But look at what the views are:

1. According to some economists, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a ‘soft landing’.

Earlier in the year - many had feared recession
But in the recent past, confidence has been growing and hence it is reflecting on the stock market now.
Hence the state of fear got over sometime in the past. So use of past perfect is correct.

2. Analysts and media executives predict that the coming year will be no less challenging than the previous one

Coming year will be no less challenging that the previous one.

There is no need to use past perfect here. We do not have two actions or points of time in the past. We are comparing the year that is coming with the year that has passed.
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Is predicting something a certain event?
Example- I predict that it would rain today.
So here I am not sure if it will rain or not, its just a prediction.
So using predict how can we use will?

correct IDIOM is predict that X. Will be the tense for future and simple present required instead of had been. So E is correct.

(A) the coming year to be no less challenging than the previous one had been
Similar reasoning as B

(B) the coming year to be no less challenging compared to the previous one
that and will is required in the sentence to convey the intended meaning

(C) that the coming year would be no less challenging compared to the previous one
will is the right usage than would therefore out

(D) that the coming year will be no less challenging than the previous one had been
had been usage in the end is not required therefore out

(E) that the coming year will be no less challenging than the previous one
The meaning and tense is perfect therefore our answer

THerefore IMO E

Why can't we use predict + noun + infinitive?

Hello ali267,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can help resolve your doubt.

As mentioned by AjiteshArun, this matter is largely an idiomatic one; idiomatic conventions in the English language typically do not have firm reasoning behind them; rather, they are simply established rules that must be followed.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Dear Experts,

I have a question for Option (E) that the coming year will be no less challenging than the previous one


Is a verb omitted ? Should it be " that the coming year will be no less challenging than the previous one was/would be " ???

Yes; it's really common to omit (assume) a verb after than, as long as there is no meaning ambiguity.

Example:

Peter earns more than Jack.

This is equivalent to:

Peter earns more than Jack (earns).

Michael's car is more expensive than Sam's car.

This is equivalent to:

Michael's car is more expensive than Sam's car (is).
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Thank you for the answer ! EducationAisle,

Could you elaborate a little bit more?
How can we omit the verb in this case : the previous one is the past. Thus, "will be" cannot fill here --> Then, verb cannot be omitted due to the different tense.

Indeed; however, an exception to this is when the verb being implied is a linking verb (most notably is/was/were). In such cases, the verb can be implied, despite the tense change.

Another official example:

Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raising corn and soybean prices.

Notice that the verb were is implied after the comparison operator, though the verb before the comparison operator is are.
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Understood ! Thank you so much ! EducationAisle

Hi ,

I am little confused over the usage of will / would.

Option C: that the coming year would be no less challenging compared to the previous one.

It's a future prediction, not a certainty . Isn't use of would is correct?

Well, easiest way to eliminate C would be on the basis of "idiom". The correct idiom is:

Less....than
More....than
Greater....than
Lesser....than
Higher....than
Lower....than
More....than

Not the following:

Less...compared to

Generally would is used for fanciful scenarios (for example: If I were a millionaire, I would be a spendthrift).

Another usage of would is when sentence talks about the future, in the past.

So, both of the following sentences are correct:

John predicts that Stock market will perform well.
- John predicts (in the present) about the future and so, the sentence uses "will".

John predicted that Stock market would perform well.
- John predicted (in the past) about the future and so, the sentence uses "would".

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses usage of "would", its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Hello EtaCarnia,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, since the sentence already uses the verb "predict", the use of "would" is actually redundant here.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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