Hi Vaishali2004,

This sentence tells us what the representatives expected (past) as something happened (also past). We don't need would as the past of will here. For example:

They expect piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections become more widely available.
We should look at this as a process.

If we take the sentence above and shift it into the past, we get:
They expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available.

Then when do we use "would" in past? or it completly wrong?
i thought would is used when we about future in past

please explain when can and when cannot we use "would" in past?

Then when do we use "would" in past? or it completly wrong?
i thought would is used when we about future in past

please explain when can and when cannot we use "would" in past?

This sentence tells us what the representatives expected (past) as something happened (also past). For example:

They expect piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections become more widely available.
We should look at this as a process.

If we take the sentence above and shift it into the past, we get:
They expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available.

Hi,
whats the meaning of 'as' here in this question?
Is it giving a reason or implying "at the same time" in E? both make sense.

also why A is exactly wrong? piracy to increase with internet connections, what connection, connections that become widely available. make sense.
also because its the original choice, we can't doubt the meaning unless its completly illogical.
So, with vs As, what exactly is the difference in meaning wise?
Thanks

Hi!

If we state the sentence as if we were in the past, option D and E would be:

D:
Motion picture industry representatives SAY that there ARE about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online, and that they EXPECT the increase of piracy as high-speed Internet connections WILL BECOME more widely available
E:
Motion picture industry representatives SAY that there ARE about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online, and that they EXPECT piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections BECOME more widely available

As mentioned in another exercise, we can understand WOULD as the past form of WILL. In this case, why wouldn't D be the correct answer?

Greetings,
Kevin

Hi!

If we state the sentence as if we were in the past, option D and E would be:

D:
Motion picture industry representatives SAY that there ARE about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online, and that they EXPECT the increase of piracy as high-speed Internet connections WILL BECOME more widely available
E:
Motion picture industry representatives SAY that there ARE about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online, and that they EXPECT piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections BECOME more widely available

As mentioned in another exercise, we can understand WOULD as the past form of WILL. In this case, why wouldn't D be the correct answer?

Greetings,
Kevin

Hi ... can you please share your views on if the present tense verb 'become' an issue too in choice A?

Thank you!

(option D) industry representatives expected the increase of piracy
vs
(option E) industry representatives expected piracy to increase

Hi GMATNinja GraceSCKao avigutman - for the purposes of elimination between (D) and (E) specifically - many experts (Manhattan Solution- at the botttom of the post | expert 2) are suggesting that there is a difference in meaning between these 2 core sentences




Could you perhaps elaborate what is the difference ? isn't this too subtle for the GMAT ?

Both sentences imply the same thing to me

Both sentences are in the past tense.

In both cases - the "increase of piracy" and "piracy to increase" seem to me at-least as events in the past tense and events that occur AFTER the "expectation" was made in the past tense

Hi GMATNinja GraceSCKao avigutman - for the purposes of elimination between (D) and (E) specifically - many experts (Manhattan Solution- at the botttom of the post | expert 2) are suggesting that there is a difference in meaning between these 2 core sentences




Could you perhaps elaborate what is the difference ? isn't this too subtle for the GMAT ?

Both sentences imply the same thing to me

Both sentences are in the past tense.

In both cases - the "increase of piracy" and "piracy to increase" seem to me at-least as events in the past tense and events that occur AFTER the "expectation" was made in the past tense

Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a GMAT question that focuses on consistent verb tense! Let's start by looking at the question carefully, and identify any major differences between the options by highlighting them in orange:

At the end of 2001, motion picture industry representatives said that there were about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online and expected piracy to increase with high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available.

(A) online and expected piracy to increase with high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available
(B) online and expect the increase of piracy with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections
(C) online, and they expect more piracy to increase with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections
(D) online, and that they expected the increase of piracy as high-speed Internet connections would become more widely available
(E) online, and that they expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available

Since we know that this question focuses mainly on verb consistency, here are a couple places we can focus on:

1. expected / expect
2. became available / become available / the wider availability of

To begin, we need to determine when these events take place: in the past, present, or future? Let's look at the entire sentence for clues:

At the end of 2001, motion picture industry representatives said that there were about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online and expected piracy to increase with high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available.

This takes place in 2001, which is clearly in the past! So, let's make sure all the verbs in each option reflect that:

(A) online and expected piracy to increase with high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available

This is INCORRECT because it uses the present tense "become" instead of the past tense "became." Since this all takes place in the past, it's best to keep all the verbs in some form of past tense!

(B) online and expect the increase of piracy with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections

This is INCORRECT because it uses the present tense "expect" for an event that took place in 2001, which is clearly in the past and requires past tense verbs to match!

(C) online, and they expect more piracy to increase with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections

Again, this is INCORRECT because it uses the present tense "expect" to describe a past event!

(D) online, and that they expected the increase of piracy as high-speed Internet connections would become more widely available

This is INCORRECT because it uses the present tense "become" to describe a past event.

(E) online, and that they expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available

This is CORRECT! It uses past tense verbs consistently throughout the sentence to indicate that everything in the sentence occurred in the past!


There you have it - option E is the best choice because it uses consistent verb tenses!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Hello jabhatta2,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your reasoning is correct; there is no difference in meaning between these phrases.

The error in Option D is that it incorrectly uses the "would + simple present tense verb" construction to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, and the "would + simple present tense verb" construction is used to refer to hypothetical future actions and habitual actions in the past.

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

Hi, FYI, "become" is not simple present as you state here. It's unconjugated (infinitive form).

Also, the expectation that connections would become more widely available is a hypothetical future action, NOT a completed past action.

Hope that clears up the confusion ExpertsGlobal5!

Hello Vubar,

We hope this finds you well.

To provide some clarity here, we would like to point out that while "become" is, indeed, an unconjugated verb form - or base form, as we call it - it is also used as the simple present verb form in certain conditions, such as the third person.

Further, this sentence does not directly state the prediction made by the representatives, rather it reports what the prediction was in the simple past tense, as evidenced by the use of the simple past tense reporting verb "said"; thus, it is best to refer to the predicted actions in the simple past tense, as the sentence refers to the hypothetical future actions as predictions made in the past.

In other words, the action of connections becoming more widely available was at one point in time a hypothetical future action, but from the point of view of this sentence, it is an action that has come and gone.

Consider this example - "I thought I would grow healthier once I lost weight.": the actions of growing healthier and losing weight are actions that were once in the hypothetical future, but the use of "thought" indicates that they are now in the past.

If the reporting verb "thought" was in the present tense - "think" - then the sentence would be "I think I will grow happier once I lose weight.", since the use of the present tense indicates that the reported actions - growing healthier and losing weight - are in the future.

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