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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 07 Oct 2020, 23:10
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Could someone explain the difference btw the following phrases from the point of view of grammar and semantics:

sales increases vs increases in sales vs increasing sales ?

Thank you.

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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 25 Oct 2020, 08:36
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thecoronafever
I rejected Option (A) just because "because of + clause" did not make sense to me.
"because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year". Is it not true that because of should be followed by Noun or Noun phrase and not Clause?
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In this case, "increase" is actually a noun, not a verb. The same is true in this example:

    "Global temperatures have increased every year for the past ten years. Those increases have alarmed climate scientists." -- In this case, "increases" is a noun that functions as the subject of the second sentence.

In choice (A), "sales" modifies "increases": what kind of increases? Sales increases. And what kind of erratic pattern? An erratic pattern of sales increases. So "the erratic pattern of sales increases" is a noun phrase ("erratic pattern" + modifiers).

I hope that helps!
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 25 Oct 2020, 08:38
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Fdambro294
Quick question, if you have time......

Does the placement of “this year” in Answer Choice D create problems?

“This year” appears to modify the “sales patterns.”

Does moving “this year” so far away from the noun it was “intending” to modify create problems?

I believe that I have my answer, but I would love to hear your thoughts (as you so eloquently write them). :-)
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Thanks for the kind words!

In choice (A), it is clear that "this year" modifies "the erratic pattern of sales increases."

But in choice (D), "this year" seems to modify "hesitate." So did the "erratic pattern of sales increases" happen this year? Or just the hesitating?

Of course, (D) has a subject-verb agreement error, so we can eliminate it without worrying about this potential meaning issue. :)

I hope that helps a bit!
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 11 Jan 2021, 21:06
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generis
Analysis of all options is at the bottom of this post.

cool16
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 nouns

In 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 ELIMINATION

When 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 predicting
Especially 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
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Hi,

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.
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 04 Oct 2021, 01:58
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I understand that option C is eliminated because of wrong idiom “in predicting” GMATNinja are there any other issues which can help eliminate option C (I always struggle catching issues with idiom)

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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 06 Oct 2021, 11:31
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virat03
I understand that option C is eliminated because of wrong idiom “in predicting” GMATNinja are there any other issues which can help eliminate option C (I always struggle catching issues with idiom)

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The phrase containing "due to" must modify a noun or noun phrase. So we need to ask ourselves, what was "due to the erratic pattern of increasing sales?"

Surely not "this year." We see "there" immediately after the modifier, but it makes no sense to write that "there" is caused by erratic sales. You could argue that "the hesitation" is what's "due to the erratic pattern of sales," but then it requires additional work to figure out what there's hesitation to do, since we don't see "in predicting" until later in the sentence.

At best, this construction is unclear. We had to cycle through three options before finding a candidate that MIGHT be described by the modifier, and even then, the meaning was pretty muddy.

Contrast this option with (A). Here, we get a "because" modifier, which can modify an action or a full clause. What happens because of the erratic patterns of sales? The retailers and analysts hesitate to predict.

Now we get one nice intact verb phrase, so we can see exactly what happened as a result of those erratic sales. This is much clearer, and therefore better than (C).

The takeaway: even if you can't pinpoint a definitive error in an answer choice, if, in a side-by-side comparison, there's an alternative that's clearer or more logical, you'll want to pick the alternative.

I hope that clears things up!
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 20 Nov 2021, 06:44
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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

C) This year, due to the erratic pattern of increasing sales, there is some hesitation among retailers and analysts in predicting

D) The erratic pattern of sales increases have made retailers and analysts hesitate this year to predict

E) This year’s erratic pattern of increasing sales have made retailers and analysts hesitate to predict

Hi AjiteshArun, GMATNinja, VeritasKarishma

I have a doubt in option choice A,
Since we are talking about erratic pattern of sales increase this year and since retailers and analysts are predicting about future trends, shouldn't we be using "are hesitant" instead of simple present tense "hesitate" ?
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 21 Nov 2021, 00:28
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tt147
Since we are talking about erratic pattern of sales increase this year and since retailers and analysts are predicting about future trends, shouldn't we be using "are hesitant" instead of simple present tense "hesitate" ?
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Hi tt147,

That are is also in the simple present tense (hesitant is an adjective).
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 21 Nov 2021, 03:49
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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

C) This year, due to the erratic pattern of increasing sales, there is some hesitation among retailers and analysts in predicting

D) The erratic pattern of sales increases have made retailers and analysts hesitate this year to predict

E) This year’s erratic pattern of increasing sales have made retailers and analysts hesitate to predict

Hi AjiteshArun, GMATNinja, VeritasKarishma

I have a doubt in option choice A,
Since we are talking about erratic pattern of sales increase this year and since retailers and analysts are predicting about future trends, shouldn't we be using "are hesitant" instead of simple present tense "hesitate" ?
Show more

Hello tt147,

We hope this finds you well.

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

Both "are hesitant" and "hesitate" are simple present tense verbs, and the use of the simple present tense is correct because the "retailers and analysts" hesitating or being hesitant is an action that takes place in the current time frame. Predictions are made about the future, but the act of making a prediction can happen in the present or past.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 21 Nov 2021, 23:51
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tt147
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

C) This year, due to the erratic pattern of increasing sales, there is some hesitation among retailers and analysts in predicting

D) The erratic pattern of sales increases have made retailers and analysts hesitate this year to predict

E) This year’s erratic pattern of increasing sales have made retailers and analysts hesitate to predict

Hi AjiteshArun, GMATNinja, VeritasKarishma

I have a doubt in option choice A,
Since we are talking about erratic pattern of sales increase this year and since retailers and analysts are predicting about future trends, shouldn't we be using "are hesitant" instead of simple present tense "hesitate" ?
Show more

tt147 - I am with you on this one.
My first read of option (A) made me think on these terms.
"hesitate", a simple present verb, is to be used in case of habitual present.

Something like:
Analysts hesitate to predict a company's results more than six months in advance because future is unpredictable...
But since we are talking about this year, it doesn't seem to be a habitual present.

Also, it doesn't seem to be an instantaneous present - I advise you to ... (applicable at this moment of speech).

But it is acceptable in certain context. Say, we have being doing analyst surveys for the past few days and they are to be continued for some more days. So a question such as: When you ask them this, what do the analysts say? The answer would be - the analysts hesitate to predict...
A context in which "usually" makes sense.

But the other 4 options are incorrect so I had to come back to (A) and accept the context. It is the best of the given options.
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 10 Mar 2022, 04:42
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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

C) This year, due to the erratic pattern of increasing sales, there is some hesitation among retailers and analysts in predicting

D) The erratic pattern of sales increases have made retailers and analysts hesitate this year to predict

E) This year’s erratic pattern of increasing sales have made retailers and analysts hesitate to predict


SC71061.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION
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Is it correct to say that in Option C, ''Due to'' is wrongly modifying a clause (''there is...''), since we know that ''due to'' should modify a noun or noun phrase only.

Regards
Vighnesh
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 10 Mar 2022, 05:29
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VIGHNESHKAMATH
generis
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

C) This year, due to the erratic pattern of increasing sales, there is some hesitation among retailers and analysts in predicting

D) The erratic pattern of sales increases have made retailers and analysts hesitate this year to predict

E) This year’s erratic pattern of increasing sales have made retailers and analysts hesitate to predict


SC71061.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION


Is it correct to say that in Option C, ''Due to'' is wrongly modifying a clause (''there is...''), since we know that ''due to'' should modify a noun or noun phrase only.

Regards
Vighnesh
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Hello VIGHNESHKAMATH,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your observation is indeed correct.

Kudos!

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 10 Mar 2022, 20:16
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VIGHNESHKAMATH
Is it correct to say that in Option C, ''Due to'' is wrongly modifying a clause (''there is...''), since we know that ''due to'' should modify a noun or noun phrase only.

Regards
Vighnesh
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Hi VIGHNESHKAMATH,

This ("due to cannot modify a clause") is a somewhat debatable point. I normally don't treat this rule as an absolute, but at the same time, I don't expect the GMAT to break it. Use it, but remember to check for other issues as well.
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 07 Jun 2022, 06:19
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Why are analysts hesitant?
Is it because of erratic increase in sales or increase in "erratic sales"
IMO, OA suggests the latter is correct, can someone please confirm the meaning part?
I chose E only because I have eliminated A on the meaning (so failed to address S-V agreement)
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 07 Jun 2022, 06:23
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Anirudh16
Why are analysts hesitant?
Is it because of erratic increase in sales or increase in "erratic sales"
IMO, OA suggests the latter is correct, can someone please confirm the meaning part?
I chose E only because I have eliminated A on the meaning (so failed to address S-V agreement)
Show more

None of these answer choices have the modifier 'erratic' describing sales. 'Erratic' is always describing 'pattern.' Analysts are hesitant because there has been a pattern of sales increases this year, but this pattern has been 'erratic' (meaning, unpredictable), so they do not want to forecast into the future.
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 28 Jun 2022, 09:39
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Hello experts, AjiteshArun GMATNinja

Why is B wrong?

we use 'with' in grammer to express cause and effect or in place of 'because' sometimes. I have seen many examples. It also modifies verb many times.
with' is a very flexible modifier. we cant limit ourselves to just interpret one meaning- along with. 'with' can modify noun, verbs or both. we have to be open right?

Is there any general rule in this case?
what should be my strategy when I see 'with' next time?
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 28 Jun 2022, 10:02
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Hello experts, AjiteshArun GMATNinja

Why is B wrong?

we use 'with' in grammer to express cause and effect or in place of 'because' sometimes. I have seen many examples. It also modifies verb many times.
with' is a very flexible modifier. we cant limit ourselves to just interpret one meaning- along with. 'with' can modify noun, verbs or both. we have to be open right?

Is there any general rule in this case?
what should be my strategy when I see 'with' next time?
Show more

Do you have an official GMAT question that uses 'with' causally? 'With' is pretty flexible, but I can't think of an example with such a meaning.

The other issue with 'B' is 'are hesitant in predicting' is not idiomatic.
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 28 Jun 2022, 18:21
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dcoolguy
Hello experts, AjiteshArun GMATNinja

Why is B wrong?

we use 'with' in grammer to express cause and effect or in place of 'because' sometimes. I have seen many examples. It also modifies verb many times.
with' is a very flexible modifier. we cant limit ourselves to just interpret one meaning- along with. 'with' can modify noun, verbs or both. we have to be open right?

Is there any general rule in this case?
what should be my strategy when I see 'with' next time?
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Hi dcoolguy,

ReedArnoldMPREP is right: the main problem in option B is hesitant in predicting. Hesitant is normally used (a) alone or (b) with about or {to + plain form of verb}.

The flexibility that you mentioned may be a (relatively minor) problem as well. The correct option uses because of, and there's no way to misinterpret that (whereas, as you mentioned, there are many ways to use with).
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 19 Jul 2022, 10:09
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I eliminated C,D and E but was confused between A and B.
I discarded A because it used simple present which is generally used to state a fact or regular event.
But how is the use of simple present justified in the context of this question?
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Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year retailers 23 Jul 2022, 06:50
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Sachinpri
I eliminated C,D and E but was confused between A and B.
I discarded A because it used simple present which is generally used to state a fact or regular event.
But how is the use of simple present justified in the context of this question?
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Check out these posts if you haven't already:


There is a fine line between "hesitate" and "are hesitating," so I'd be reluctant to use that as a decision point (as explained by the always-wise KarishmaB -- see first link above).
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