Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of loom

Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of looming recession for an economy are high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments, defaulting loans and other delinquencies, reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels.

This sentence is talking about the prominent signs which include high debt level, reduction.... and decrease...

The sentence has parallelism error. All the above list should be in a parallel form.
defaulting loans and other delinquencies: This is modifying the high debt levels. So it wont be parallel.


A. reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
Not parallel to high debt.

B. reducing tax revenues and decreases in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
Decreases is singular. Incorrect. and no parallelism.

C. reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
Not parallel to high debt

D. reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
Not parallel to high debt.

E. reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
Correct.

Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of looming recession for an economy are high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments, defaulting loans and other delinquencies, reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels.

A.reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels {Not parallel}
B. reducing tax revenuesanddecreases in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels...{ Need a comma before 'and'. Also, reducing tax revenues is not parallel}
C. reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels..{Not parallel}
D. reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels....{Not parallel}
E. reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels.... Correct option

IMO E

A. reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
incorrect parallelism all the items in parallel should be noun use of participle is wrong

B. reducing tax revenues and decreases in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
incorrect parallelism---reducing is wrong here ---decreases are incorrect we need decrease----also if we write ( A and B) comma is not required before AND
but if there are more than two items we write A, B, and C comma is required before AND

C. reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
reducing is a participle ---we need the noun to be in parallel with the other items

D. reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
incorrect parallelism

E. reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
correct parallelism all the items parallel are a noun (CORRECT)

A. reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
B. reducing tax revenues and decreases in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
C. reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
D. reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
E. reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels

Inside two commas, we have not essential modifier, which if removed, by default, does not hurt meaning. Thus, let's remove "defaulting loans and other delinquencies" so that it does not distract us from list of things/actions. ("defaulting" is an ing-modifier that modifies "high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments". In other words, we can say how does high debt amid optimistic sentiments? By defaulting loans and other delinquencies" ) Once removed, we get a list of nouns "high debt levels..., reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates", no parallelism observed between this list, thus original sentence is wrong.
In B, we have "high debt levels..., reducing tax revenues, and decreases of unemployment rates", again parallelism is not maintained, let alone the meaning! Out
In C, we have "high debt levels..., reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates", although this one is by far the best, it is not perfect because of that 'reducing'. Lets see further if we have a better option. (Spoiler, we do). For now, eliminate C
In D, we have "high debt levels, reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing ...." almost perfect but almost is not counted. Again, I observe no parallelism. Thus out.
In E, we have "high debt levels, reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates" - perfection is found. we have all items in nice parallel form. Besides, I love that parallelism in 'reduction in" AND 'decrease in"
Answer is E, IMO

Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of looming recession for an economy are high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments, defaulting loans and other delinquencies, reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels.

Hi Folks,
In the given sentence, economists believe that there are a few prominent signs of looming recessions. Hence these must be parallel in structure. "high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments" and "defaulting loans and other delinquencies" are in non-underlined portion of the sentence and are nouns. So, other entities also must be noun or noun phrases.

A. reducing tax revenues (Action), and decreasing of unemployment rates(Action) to extraordinary levels :Incorrect
B. reducing tax revenues and decreases in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels : Same as A Incorrect
C. reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels : Same as A Incorrect
D. reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels : Corrects one but decreasing is still a trend/action. Incorrect
E. reduction in tax revenues (Noun phrase), and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels (Noun phrase) : Correct

Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of looming recession for an economy are high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments, defaulting loans and other delinquencies, reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels.


First 3-2 split, reducing tax revenues vs reduction in tax , -ing is used as a verb and -ion is used as a noun, since the sentence is essentially lists we need a noun.
the signs or looming recession are reduction in is correct,

A. reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
B. reducing tax revenues and decreases in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
C. reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels

Eliminate a,b,c

D. reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
E. reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels

second spilt, decreasing of vs decrease in

decrease in would be parallel, answer E

Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of looming recession for an economy are high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments, defaulting loans and other delinquencies, reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels.

E. reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels

my question here is

is the parallels are adjective + noun phrase

but many are saying its noun phrase.. but i think its not

first two adjective+ noun phrase

next two ( AS PER CORRECT CHOICE) are just noun phrase.

are these are actully parallel? any similar og questions available which shows this kind of parallels.??

where i am wrong here

Hi ccheryn,

Let’s first understand what a noun phrase is. A noun phrase consists of a noun or a pronoun and any noun modifiers describing this noun or pronoun.

I. Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:

- People like to have money. (People is a noun and simultaneously a noun phrase here)
- I am tired. (I is a pronoun and simultaneously a noun phrase here)


II. A noun phrase can also include determiners, quantifiers, numbers, and adjectives:

- Those houses are expensive. (Those is a determiner that describes houses)
- I’ve lived in a lot of houses. (a lot of is a quantifier that describes houses)
- My brother owns two houses. (two is a number that describes houses)
- I love old houses. (old is an adjective that describes houses)


III. Some noun phrases have a noun modifier coming after the noun it modifies:

1. Prepositional phrases:

- a man with a gun
- the boy in the blue shirt

2. ing phrases

- the man standing over there
- the boy talking to Angela

3. Relative clauses

- the man we met yesterday
- the houses that Jack built
- the woman who discovered radium


A noun phrase may have more than one modifier coming before and after the noun:

- an eight-year old boy with a gun _ who tried to rob a sweet shop

As you see, a noun phrase may include different types of modifiers, not only adjectives or prepositional phrases. What is interesting is that a noun itself alone can also be a noun phrase. Considering all the above, let’s analyze our question.

There are four signs of looming recession:

- high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments
- defaulting loans and other delinquencies
- reduction in tax revenues
- decrease in unemployment rates

If to be literal, there are five nouns such as levels, loans, delinquencies, reduction, and decrease that must be parallel. Three initial nouns such as levels, loans, and delinquencies are abstract nouns. The last two nouns such as reduction and decrease are action nouns. Abstract nouns CAN be parallel with action nouns. Thus levels, loans, and delinquencies are parallel to reduction and decrease. Notice that all elements of the parallelism are noun phrases:

1. high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments (noun phrase) = adjective + noun adjective + noun + prepositional phrase. So, the levels of what? Debt levels. What kind of debt levels? High debt levels. What kind of high debt levels? High debt levels amid optimistic sentiments.

2. defaulting loans and other delinquencies. Why defaulting loans and other delinquencies are taken as a single sign? That’s because defaulting loans are one type of delinquencies or examples of delinquencies. For example, when you say A cocktail from fresh apples and other fruits, you mean that apple is one example of fruits. Similarly when you say defaulting loans and other delinquencies, you mean that the first is an example of the second.

defaulting loans (noun phrase) = adjective + noun. Defaulting is an adjective and means not paid yet. So, what kind of loans? Not yet paid loans or defaulting loans. Contrary to most posts in this thread, this part of the sentence high debt levels..., defaulting loans doesn’t meant that high debt levels cause defaulting loans. That’s not true. If any country has high debt levels, that doesn’t necessarily mean that loans are not paid. People may borrow a lot and pay back on time. So that interpretation is not true. However, these two situations may occur together when people borrow a lot but can’t pay back. These two situations together may lead to the third, recession.

other delinquencies (noun phrase) = determiner + noun. Delinquency means neglecting of one’s duty. Defaulting loans also means neglecting a duty to pay back the loan. So they are the same type of things.

3. reduction in tax revenues (noun phrase) = noun + prepositional phrase. So, what kind of reduction? Reduction in tax revenues.

4. decrease in unemployment rates (noun phrase) = noun + prepositional phrase. So, what kind of decrease? Decrease in unemployment rates.

As you see, all four signs of a recession or all five elements of a parallelism are noun phrases and they are parallel.

Similar OG problem you may find helpful: https://gmatclub.com/forum/recently-imp ... 79239.html

This post contains a brilliant explanation from generis that will show you how different parallel nouns can be: https://gmatclub.com/forum/symptoms-of- ... l#p2312856

For more about a noun phrase please visit here: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org ... un-phrases

JonShukhrat


What a meticulous reply, thanks JonShukhrat,

will read and internalise then will come back to you on issues.

thank you very much indeed for your long reply to make me understand.

JonShukhrat

Thank you very much I took a day to study all your concepts multiple times in multiple questions,

i have two doubts please correct me if i am wrong

1 st question:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/recently-imp ... 79239.html

This question there is no adjective + noun phrase to get confused in this parallelism, all are direct nouns, I mean

have reduced
sickness, ( noun)
sleeping on the job, (gerund, which infact noun)
fatigue among shift workers( fatique is abstract noun)

This is direct OG question, in this I don’t have any confusion,

Next the other two

2. https://gmatclub.com/forum/symptoms-of- ... l#p2312856
Symptoms of a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting may include dizziness, hives or rashes, swelling of the wound, difficulty breathing, intense itching, and losing consciousness

Correct choice :
swelling of the wound, difficulty breathing, an intense itch, and loss of

Yeah what generis explains is losing consciousness is action noun but losing is more close to verb than rest of others

( I am yet to feel or differentiate how generis explains this)
But as far as I understood,

I tried to understand by using "have "
Symptoms will have
dizziness,
Rashes,
Swelling
Difficulty breathing
Itching
But cant explain losing consciousness like that it wont fit( ie symptoms will have losing consciousness) hence wrong

( correct me if I am wrong in my understanding)

So the above example is also fine


( my first doubt)

Except for one explanation by generis

[b]generis explains as this

Losing in this context is not a "regular" noun, and of the __ING words in each option, "losing" is the most verb-like of the words. Losing
-- immediately takes the direct object consciousness. Verbs take direct objects.

But even gerunds take direct object sometimes

• I delayed telling Jerry the bad news.
• Bill avoided doing his math assignment because the World Series was on.

So how can we differentiate "more verb like" noun to "action noun" by considering only this
[/b]



3rd question https://gmatclub.com/forum/ornithologis ... l#p2288169

Ornithologists report that signs of a predator in your bluebird houses may include broken eggs in and around the nest, missing eggs or nestlings, pulling the nesting material partially through the house entrance, and building a new nest on top of the old one.

Approached same formula, said signs will "have"

broken eggs,
missing eggs
nesting material
new nest

So pulling and building are out( gerunds wont fit here)

And able to pick to right option, no confusion





Generis says

Almost without exception, concrete nouns in a list may be paired only with other concrete nouns.
(Very rarely, concrete nouns may be paired with gerunds. We should try to avoid this pairing.)



Take aways from the above examples
Concrete noun to be paried with concrete noun
Abstract noun can be paired with action noun ( ie 1. adjective + noun , 2. gerunds)


Now coming back to this example
In the same logic if I go

And if I rewrite

Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of looming recession for an economy are high debt , defaulting loans , reducing tax revenues, and decreasing unemployment rates .




( my second doubt) My question here is can above be parallel .

Reducing tax revenues is also ( adjective + noun) and
decreasing unemployment also ( adjective + noun)

all are similar to defaulting loans ( adjective + noun)
high debt ( adjective + noun)

As if I say signs will "have"
reducing tax revenues
decreasing unemployment
defaulting loans
high debt


All matches here unlike the above 3 examples..

Hi ccheryn,

I did some research on your doubts. Let me share some interesting findings. I hope you will enjoy them. Let’s start from addressing your first confusion.



Regarding the first highlight, “adjective + noun phrase” is not a legitimate construction. You cannot write it in this way. In my previous post I wrote that noun + noun modifier = noun phrase. So, whatever describes the noun - whether it’s adjective, preposition, participle, or relative clause – it is considered a noun modifier. That noun modifier and the noun together constitute a noun phrase. For example:

high debt levels can be dissected as high + debt + levels = high debt levels or adjective + noun + noun = noun phrase or noun modifier + noun modifier + noun = noun phrase. Here the main noun is levels while the other two are noun modifiers, and all those three words together constitute one noun phrase. Thus you cannot say “adjective + noun phrase” because that adjective can’t stay alone and must be considered a part of the noun phrase. Next example:

defaulting loans also can be dissected as noun modifier + noun = noun phrase or participle + noun = noun modifier. That participle acts as an adjective here, so we can even write as adjective + noun = noun phrase, BUT NOT as adjective + noun phrase. That was a reply to your second highlight. Let’s dissect the other two elements:

reduction in tax revenues can be understood as noun + noun modifier = noun phrase or noun + prepositional phrase = noun phrase.

decrease in unemployment rates also can be understood as noun + noun modifier = noun phrase or noun + prepositional phrase = noun phrase.

Finally, we can see that all the four elements of the parallelism are noun phrases containing a noun and noun modifiers. The only thing that bothered you is - whether adjective + noun is parallel to noun + prepositional phrase? Yes it is firstly because both of them as a whole are noun phrases, and secondly because both adjective and prepositional phrase are noun modifiers here. Since both noun modifiers do the same function (they describe a noun), they are parallel. Your third highlight has just got answered.

Conclusion: Parallel elements don’t necessarily have to be of the same structure. You can’t say that adjective + noun and noun + prepositional phrase are not parallel because they have different structures. That would be not true. Rather take a general look and notice that both are noun plus noun modifier. The placement of those modifiers doesn’t matter either. Ron Purewal says it best:

Ron: “Make sure you don't think that parallel structures have to look exactly like each other all the time. That may be the ideal situation, sure - but, if it were an absolute requirement, it would become extremely difficult or even impossible to express many mundane ideas.” An example from OG:

Individuals who have been blind from birth make hand motions just as frequently and in virtually the same way as sighted people do.

Here just as frequently and in virtually the same way don’t look the same, but they both describe the same action. That is, both of them function as adverbs. Therefore, they are parallel. Similar example from GMAT Prep:

Dogs are being bred for looks or to meet other narrow criteria.

Ron: “There's no real way to express for looks as an infinitive without either (a) losing the intended meaning or (b) using a TON of words. You clearly can't express to meet ... criteria in the form for NOUN.”

My wife and I argue just as often and about the same things as the couple next door. (Ron’s example)

Ron: “This is a correct sentence. (It happens to work a lot like #46 in the OG 11 diagnostic section). If you believe in the idea that parallel structures must look exactly like each other at all times, then this sentence becomes impossible to write.”

Did you notice that your ultimate highlight was satisfied by Ron himself?

Hi ccheryn,


The answer to your above question is rather simple. MGMAT SC guide explicitly says that “If an appropriate action noun for a particular verb exists in the English language, then avoid creating a complex (simple) gerund phrase. Instead, use the action noun”

Action nouns are noun forms referring to actions (verbs). There are plenty of verbs that have their own action nouns, for example:

verb – action noun:
erupt – eruption
pollute – pollution
withdraw – withdrawal
reduce – reduction
lose - loss
decrease – decrease (some verbs and their action nouns have the same forms)
itch - itch

So, you can create a gerund by adding ing, if the verb doesn’t have its action noun. For instance, the verb swell doesn’t have its action noun, so swelling would be its noun form (gerund). Below are similar verbs that don’t have their action nouns:

verb – gerund:
wash – washing
sleep – sleeping
ask – asking
tell – telling
do – doing

We can see that in your above highlighted examples both verbs such as do and tell don’t have their action nouns, so we have to add ing and create gerunds such as telling and doing. Moreover, such verbs as delay and avoid require gerunds, for example: don’t delay deciding about prizes, or try to avoid going shopping on Saturdays. For the above two reasons you need gerund in those positions.

However, lose already has an action noun such as loss. Hence, you should avoid creating a gerund and rather use loss.

Thus symptoms are:
dizziness
hives or rashes
swelling of the wound (you already know why swelling)
an intense itch (itch can be an action noun, thus no need for itching)
loss of consciousness
difficulty breathing – this one is interesting and requires a bit more explanation.

So, why difficulty breathing is superior to breathing difficulties here? Firstly, there are some phrases that require gerund, for example: use + gerund, worth + gerund, trouble + gerund, problem + gerund, and difficulty + gerund.

1. It is no use waiting for him.
2. This coat is worth buying.
3. He had trouble finding a place to live.
4. I had a problem choosing a present for her.
5. She had difficulty getting a visa.
6. Heavy injury may lead to difficulty walking.
7. One of the symptoms is difficulty breathing.

Now you can see that difficulty breathing is a legitimate phrase. So are breathing difficulties, learning difficulties, or financial difficulties. The difference between the two phrases is as follows:

difficulty breathing – is usually used as a medical condition (respiratory problem) when it is the symptom or result of some diseases such as asthma, allergy, dysphasia, and etc. The following sentences are from The World Street Journal: Patients reported difficulty swallowing, breathing and speaking. Several required emergency treatment, including tracheotomies and...

breathing difficulties – on the other hand, may mean any breathing related difficulty (medical also). For example, in case food gets stuck in someone’s throat and impedes him to breathe, then that case is not considered a disease. It is just an incidence and thus we can call it breathing difficulty.

Hi JonShukhrat, thanks you very much indeed man, for your response once again. i enjoyed your findings, and i learned a lot in this process

many doubts got claried ,



just paraphrasing.. for the above doubt,

i will take as this, verb and gerunds do take direct objects, so if at all noun form can be written for a verb we should take that.. nice take away

as long as once is not concreted noun, always look for noun form of the verb rather than gerunds..

awesome clarified and nailed. thanks you very much

BUT DONT DEFAULTING FALLS IN THIS CATEGORY, as default noun form is there but as it is in the non underlined portion we are ignoring, but rather than defaulting loans, if it reads as default of loans, i wudnt have confused so much..



just paraphrasing, as the noun forms are always better than gerunds, even if the above choice is present, noun form will overtake the other forms...

THANKS JON, thank you very much for taking pain to explain giving your time.

Hi ccheryn,

You are more than welcome. Nice conclusion. However, your second doubt needs to be sorted out separately.


Your question: Why reducing tax revenues is not parallel to defaulting loans, if both are adjective (participle) + noun? (highlighted part above)

Short answer: reducing tax revenues is NOT adjective (participle) + noun, but rather is noun (gerund) + noun. In other words, reducing can’t be present participle and function as an adjective here because reduce is a transitive verb. It means that revenues can’t reduce themselves, but we need someone or something to reduce them. For example, you can’t say “the revenues reduced by 10%”, but instead you should say “low demand reduced the revenues by 10%” or “the revenues were reduced by 10% (by low demand)”. As you see, a transitive verb reduce always needs a doer such as low demand. Thus reducing revenue is not the same thing as falling revenue, because revenue can fall itself, but revenue can’t reduce itself. The difference between fall and reduce is similar to the difference between rise and raise, or lie and lay. Correspondingly, reducing + noun can only be a gerund (noun) as in the following sentence: Reducing employees’ salary was a wrong decision. However, notice that reduce already has a noun form reduction, so we don’t need to create another noun reducing, as I wrote in my previous post. Conclusion, reducing tax revenues is not adjective + noun, and thus doesn’t mean declining tax revenues or falling tax revenues or decreasing tax revenues. If this short answer falls short of satisfying you, please, take a look at the longer one below.


Long answer: First, we should brush up on two things:

1. reduce vs. fall (transitive vs. intransitive)
2. Active present participle vs. Passive present participle

1. Are the below sentences correct?
a. The revenue is rising all the time.
b. The revenue is raising all the time.
c. The revenue is falling all the time.
d. The revenue is reducing all the time.

Only a and c are correct here. The difference between rise and raise is similar to the difference between fall and reduce. Rise is more like fall (intransitive) while raise is more like reduce (transitive). Consider the following correct examples:

B rises
A raises B
B falls
A reduces B

a. When we say B rises, we mean that B can rise itself. For example, “the sun rises” means that the sun rises itself and nobody raises the sun. In other words, the sun itself is the doer of the action rise. What does rise? The sun rises. Similarly, “the revenue rises” means that the revenue is the doer of the action rise. That makes sense.

b. When we say A raises B, we mean that B can’t raise itself, and we need A to raise B. For example, “Ann raised the chair” means that chair can’t rise itself, so we need Ann to raise the chair. In other words, not B, but A is the doer of the action raise. Who raises B? A raises B. That makes sense.

To help you compare the meanings, here are some examples with raise and rise in the same sentence:
- We raise the flag when the sun rises, and we lower it when the sun goes down.
- Whenever our commanding officer comes in, we rise from our chairs and raise our hands in salute.
- The helicopter rose into the air, raising the survivors out of the water.

c. B falls is similar to B rises in that - in both cases B is the doer. For example, “demand for new cars usually falls in winter” means that demand falls itself. That makes sense.

d. A reduces B is similar to A raises B in that - in both cases A is the doer, NOT B. For example, “Ann reduced her speed to 30 mph” means that speed didn’t fall itself, but Ann reduced the speed. Who reduced? Ann reduced. Therefore, in Standard English, we can’t say B reduces because B can’t reduce itself. We must say A reduces B. That makes sense.

Small conclusion: reduce is a transitive verb and needs a doer. We can say “the population has decreased (fell, declined, diminished)”, but we can’t say “the population has reduced”. We either say “unknown viral disease has reduced the population” or “the population has been reduced”.


2. Are the below sentences correct?
a. The discussing question is irrelevant.
b. The question being discussed is irrelevant.
c. The man discussing his financial problems with me was our bank’s old client.
d. The man being discussed is our bank’s old client.

All are correct except for a. When we say “singing girl was very beautiful”, we mean that the girl herself was singing. For the same reason, a illogically means that the question itself was discussing something. However, that’s nonsense because the question itself hasn’t got the ability to discuss something, but rather it can be discussed. b rectifies a’s mistake by changing active to passive present participle “the question being discussed…”. Being discussed means that the question was discussed by someone.

Similarly, a reducing prices company or a company reducing prices means that a company itself was reducing prices for something. Since reducing is in active form here, it means that a company is a doer of the action reduce. That makes sense.

However, reducing prices is not the same thing as falling prices or dropping prices or decreasing prices. Falling, dropping, and decreasing can be adjective (participle) because prices can fall, drop, or decease themselves (these verbs can be intrensitive). But, reducing CAN’T be an adjective (participle) because prices can’t reduce themselves (reduce can't be intrensitive in Standard English, thus that makes no sense). Take it simple, a company can reduce prices, but prices can’t reduce themselves, that’s it.

As in b, we can rectify this mistake by adding passive present participle, for example:
- prices being reduced by a company
- being reduced prices
- maintenance costs being reduced by innovation
- being reduced maintenance costs
- tax revenues being reduced by recession
- being reduced tax revenues (not reducing tax revenues)

Final conclusion: reducing tax revenues can’t be adjective (participle) + noun, but is noun (gerund) + noun because revenues can’t reduce themselves. Revenues can be reduced by something else such as recession, so we can create a participle (adjective) by adding passive, for example: tax revenues being reduced by recession or being reduced tax revenues (by recession). Now, as you said in above highlighted part, we have adjective + noun = being reduced tax revenues.

In case you want to check your understanding of the whole post, you can take a look at the following tests:
1. https://www.test-english.com/grammar-po ... e-clauses/
2. https://www.test-english.com/grammar-po ... djectives/

JonShukhrat,

its bullseye mate....

I am having Eureka moment, perfect understood completely i mean it.... what an explanation... i want to give 100 Kudos.. for this......

Frankly u r an expert now ( in my eyes you are above many experts) .. i have also asked the doubt to few gmat instructors ( will PM you the name )... they failed to differentiate.

All have told for the second doubt, it is correct.. ( ie i can write as above as adjective + noun)

ie they identified reducing tax as adjective + noun along with others ..... they failed to see the concept of intransitive vs transitive... MAN YOU NAILED IT.

thank you very much indeed for taking the pain to explain with such a long example... will go through all the similar examples in this eye now, then will come back.

so this answered my other confusion also. so checked it. hurray! default is an intransitive verb.. so almost all doubts are rectified.( this is the major confusion if defaulting is right why not reducing)..

except one

(default i saw as both transitive and intransitive depending on usage and for borrowers / tenants they mentioned it as intransitive)

ie Defaulting borrowers/tenants... here defaulting is intransitive

but loan cannot default on its own..

transitive verb
1 : to fail to perform, pay, or make good default a loan

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/default

so default a loan, default on loan is the usage i have seen everywhere.. so i think defaulting loan ( transitive usage) is wrong in the same way..

A loan cannot default on its own.. somebody has to default the loan..

am i right????

thanks

Hi ccheryn,

Nice catch. You’ve just proved how well you "groked" the above post. Although I am far from being an expert, I thank you for your kind words. Indeed, defaulting loans appear to be incorrect phrase. I have just browsed some academic press such as Bloomberg, Financial Times, New York Times, The Economist, and The World Street Journal. None of them use the phrases “defaulting loans” and “reducing revenue”.

As you correctly mentioned, defaulting should modify and refer to a doer who/what is actually able to default on something, for example:

- defaulting students (participle)
- defaulting company (participle)
- borrowers defaulting on loans (participle)
- people defaulting on mortgage (participle)
- Defaulting on federal student loans may not be such a bad thing. (gerund; from The Wall Street Journal)
- defaulting on loans (gerund)

or we can use passive:

- debts being defaulted on (participle)
- being defaulted on loans (participle)

Therefore, defaulting loans is neither participle + noun nor gerund + noun.

Conclusion: defaulting on as a gerund or particple refers to a DOER who actually defaults on SOMETHING. On the other hand, being defaulted on as a participle refers and modifies that SOMETHING.

Once again, it was nice catch. I am glad to see your progress.

Eminent economists believe that among the most prominent signs of looming recession for an economy are high debt levels amid optimistic sentiments, defaulting loans and other delinquencies, reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels.

A. reducing tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
B. reducing tax revenues and decreases in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
C. reducing tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
D. reduction in tax revenues, and decreasing of unemployment rates to extraordinary levels
E. reduction in tax revenues, and decrease in unemployment rates to extraordinary levels

Right off the bat, we can see there is a 3-2 split happening here. 'defaulting loans' is part of a compound subject. It's a noun much like 'high debt levels'. So 'reduction in tax revenues' would be appropriately parallel with the two preceding items in the list.

The same logic applies to D. 'decreasing' should be 'decrease'.