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05 Nov 2022, 17:18
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Hi experts,
I understand that 'due to' is used to modify nouns only. 'Because of' is used to modify verbs.
With this said, I am confused by the official guide's explanation of Choice C (I realize that the answers are written by someone different than the question writer/should not be relied too heavily upon.) However, the official guide says, "Due to effectively communicates that the erratic pattern of increasing sales helps explain the retailers' and analysts' hesitation to make a prediction, but the sentence employs the awkward, wordy, and unidiomatic hesitation... in predicting."
When I saw choice C, I thought that "due to" can only modify nouns, so therefore it modifies the noun phrase "this year", but then this seemed illogical to me that "this year" is causing the hesitation and not the "erratic pattern of increasing sales"
Whereas, in the correct answer "because of" modifies the "increases" that cause retailers and analysts to hesitate.
Thank you for your help.
I understand that 'due to' is used to modify nouns only. 'Because of' is used to modify verbs.
With this said, I am confused by the official guide's explanation of Choice C (I realize that the answers are written by someone different than the question writer/should not be relied too heavily upon.) However, the official guide says, "Due to effectively communicates that the erratic pattern of increasing sales helps explain the retailers' and analysts' hesitation to make a prediction, but the sentence employs the awkward, wordy, and unidiomatic hesitation... in predicting."
When I saw choice C, I thought that "due to" can only modify nouns, so therefore it modifies the noun phrase "this year", but then this seemed illogical to me that "this year" is causing the hesitation and not the "erratic pattern of increasing sales"
Whereas, in the correct answer "because of" modifies the "increases" that cause retailers and analysts to hesitate.
Thank you for your help.
07 Nov 2022, 02:10
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woohoo921
...thus another example of how the OG answer explanations routinely contain inaccuracies.
Quote:
You're breaking this down into fundamentally incorrect pieces.
It seems that you're treating the two words "because of", all by themselves, as though they were a whole modifier...? If so, then it ought to be clear enough that this is the wrong breakdown—since those two words alone are completely meaningless.
The way it works:
• "Because of xxxxxx" is a modifier.
• This modifier—which actually contains a meaningful attribution of causation (unlike just the words "because of", which mean nothing at all until a noun is appended afterwards)—should describe the entire clause to which it is attached.
In this case, Because of the erratic pattern of sales increases this year (in choice A) is A MODIFIER. This modifier sensibly, and thus correctly, describes the whole sentence/clause that appears after the comma.
07 Nov 2022, 07:47
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woohoo921
Hi woohoo921,
There is another possibility here, that the GMAT doesn't look at this issue as an absolute. I'm not saying that you should change your approach, but I don't think using due to to modify clauses is impossible.
That said, although I don't look at it as an absolute, I don't think this call is all that important, and a simple, direct approach (treat it as an absolute) should work well for most test takers.
