Analysis of all options is at the bottom of this post.cool16 wrote:
hi,
when i was solving this question , i eliminate option A as there is a clause in preposition,
Because of < Clause> ,
Since it is a official question , the answer is absolutely correct,
but i have seen the following structure all the time
Because of Noun/ Noun entity or Because <Clause >
So my question is,
Is the above statement an exception?
or the usage in OA is absolutely correct
Thanks
Option A: Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year,
retailers and analysts hesitate to predict five-year trends in retail sales during the months that have historically been the most profitable.Hi
cool16 ,
No, option A is not an exception.
(And +1 kudos for not "fighting" with the official answer.)
Option A does not have a clause with a subject and a verb after
Because of.
The underlined words are a noun phrase (a noun + modifiers).
. . . the erratic pattern of sales increases [NOUN phrase] this year. . . You got tripped up by "sales increases."
That phrase is a noun phrase.
The noun is
increases.-- The legislators proposed two tax rate
increases: one on the sale of alcohol and one on the sale of legal marijuana.
The adjective is
sales. (What kind of increases?
Sales increases.)
-- Similar example: The
sales figures for this year are surprisingly high.
-- True, "sales" is a often just a noun.
But
sales can and does act as an adjective that describes
increases. See below.
Sales and
increases cannot be a subject and verb together.
Sales is plural and
increases is singular.
• "SALES increases" - nouns that modify nounsIn English, we use nouns to modify nouns:
Spanish teacher
Sports car
Race horse
Corn bread
In the noun phrase
sales increases, the noun
increases is modified by the noun,
sales, which acts as an adjective.
(What kind of increases? Sales increases.)
When a noun modifies another noun
(1) we can call the first noun a "noun-adjective" and
(2) the "noun-adjective" always comes before the noun that it modifies. No exceptions.
"Sales" is a noun-adjective.
GMAC is exploiting the fact that no good synonym exists for the noun
increases in this context.
Sales rises? Not idiomatic. Sales
spikes? Sales
surges? Better, but a
spike and
surge indicate a radical increase, not just a "regular" increase.
In short, we realize that
sales increases is a noun phrase because
(1) the two words cannot be subject/verb.
Sales is plural.
Increases is singular.
(2)
sales increases follows the compound preposition
because of. -- prepositions must be followed by nouns or noun phrases
-- in English, one noun can act as an adjective that describes a subsequent noun.
• Introductory phrase structure? Although the "because of" phrasing is not common in spoken English, that phrasing is fairly common in formal written English.
You correctly note that the compound preposition
because of should be followed by a noun or noun phrase.
Because of is indeed followed by a noun phrase; that fact is just hard to see if we don't examine "sales increases" carefully.
That is, the introductory phrase is a compound preposition (
Because of)
+
a noun phrase (
the erratic pattern OF sales increases this year...)
As I note in
my post below, here, we have
two prepositions back to back:
because of [an erratic pattern]
and
of [sales increases this year]
More specifically, we have:
[compound preposition] + THE + [adjective] + [noun/direct object] + OF + [noun-adjective + noun] + [time adjective]
[Because of] + THE + [erratic] + [pattern] + OF + [sales + increases] + [this year]
Finally, to what time period does this pattern [of sales increases] belong?
This pattern belongs to
this year This year = adjective
Most of the time, a "when" phrase or word is an adverb.
When a time phrase modifies a noun, it is an adjective.
--
This November's daily temperatures are surprisingly high, especially compared to last November's daily temperatures .-- In both instances, the phrase "this November's" is an adjective that modifies the noun
temperatures, not the verbs
are or
compared. This part of the question is hard. Just below I have indicated the errors in the other options.
Hope that helps.
************
PROCESS OF ELIMINATIONWhen in doubt, compare. Option A has no errors. The other four have clear errors.
Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year, retailers and analysts hesitate to predict five-year trends in retail sales during the months that have historically been the most profitable.
A) Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year, retailers and analysts hesitate to predict
B)
With the erratic pattern of this year’s sales increases, retailers and analysts are hesitant
in predicting:
GMAC does not like "with" to express causality. The meaning is strange and not clear: along with or together with the erratic pattern of sales increases, analysts are hesitant? Finally, hesitant in predicting is not idiomatic. They are hesitant TO do something. They are hesitant TO predict trends.C) This year, due to the erratic pattern of
increasing sales,
there is some hesitation among retailers and analysts
in predictingEspecially compared to option A, option C is awkwardly phrased, unnecessarily passive, and wordy. No need exists for there is.The phrase some hesitation among . . . in predicting is cumbersome. Finally, hesitation IN predicting is not idiomatic. There is hesitation TO predict.D) The erratic
pattern of sales increases
have made retailers and analysts hesitate this year to predict
The singular subject pattern is not in agreement with the plural verb have.E) This year’s erratic
pattern of increasing sales
have made retailers and analysts hesitate to predict -
same S/V problem as that in D Thanks a lot for this detailed explanation.
I still have a doubt as to how I am going to figure out whether "increases" is used as a noun or not ?
I believe the knowing the meaning of the sentence here is not enough and I need to have solid reasons to eliminate other options to choose this as the right answer.
So I actually chose 'C' as the answer for this one. I could see some flaws in the C option but I though it definitely can't be A as there is increases there.
Can you please help me with the approach of how shall I go about the sentences where I feel all the options are incorrect and I get sloppy and thus sub consciously start choosing randomly.
close
07 Oct 2020, 23:10
