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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 17 Apr 2022, 11:21
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rheachandra
I still don't understand why option D is wrong?
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Two reasons:
1. "without the presence of a plan" is a weird way to say.
Better is 'without a plan'.
Ex. I decided to do an MBA without the presence of a plan.

2. 'Had' is not needed when we already have timer marker 'Last year' and there are no two events related for same thing.
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 29 May 2022, 16:04
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AjiteshArun

Can you please help me understand something here?

B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

[Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations] is a gerund here so the usage of the verb 'would' is correct.

However, is it necessary that just because we have a dependent phrase starting with an 'ing', we need to have a verb for it?
For example. Looking by the window, I saw a dog outside.

[Looking by the window] is a modifier modifying how I saw the dog.
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 29 May 2022, 20:35
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Vegita
AjiteshArun

Can you please help me understand something here?

B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

[Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations] is a gerund here so the usage of the verb 'would' is correct.

However, is it necessary that just because we have a dependent phrase starting with an 'ing', we need to have a verb for it?
For example. Looking by the window, I saw a dog outside.

[Looking by the window] is a modifier modifying how I saw the dog.
Show more
Hi Vegita,

These -ings are quite versatile. :) That's why it's important not to look at all -ings as being the same. Instead, we should try to understand the role that they play in a sentence. For example, in this question, proceeding... is the subject of the sentence, and therefore it must have a verb.

1. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations... would surely have proven to be a disaster.

It's also possible to use an -ing as an introductory modifier, as in your example.

2. Looking by (out?) the window, I saw a dog outside. ← Here looking is not part of the main subject-verb pair.

In (1), proceeding is a subject, but in (2), looking plays a different role: it's not a (complete) verb, and it doesn't have an explicit subject. The main point here is that it's not a subject, and so doesn't take a verb.
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 13 Jun 2022, 20:51
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster in the face of the skilled and resolute opposition involved this time.

Between (B) and (D)

A. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster

B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

"Without a definite plan" is better than "without the presence of a definite plan" in (D)
"firm agreed last year to do" is okay
"Proceeding" as the subject > "to proceed" in (D)

C. Going ahead without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed last year to do, would surely have proven disastrous

D. To proceed without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm had agreed to last year, would surely have proven disastrous

E. Going ahead without their having a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as they agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster for the firm



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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 14 Jun 2022, 20:18
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In option B, "as the firm agreed last year to do", isn't this an issue as the firm agreed to do something so it should come before to do rather than come before 'last year"
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 16 Jun 2022, 00:58
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Katy101
In option B, "as the firm agreed last year to do", isn't this an issue as the firm agreed to do something so it should come before to do rather than come before 'last year"
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Hello Katy101,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, though this construction is awkward and not ideal, it is not grammatically incorrect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 18 Jun 2022, 10:14
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Katy101
In option B, "as the firm agreed last year to do", isn't this an issue as the firm agreed to do something so it should come before to do rather than come before 'last year"
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Not quite sure what you're asking, but maybe this will help?

  • "This year, Tim will mow the lawn once a week, as he agreed to do."

This is pretty much like choice (B), but without the "last year" part. Notice that we can't really move the "he" around -- it has to come before the verb ("agreed").

Now, check out this one:

    "This year, Tim will mow the lawn once a week, as he agreed last year to do."

This is the same as the last one, only we've added the "last year" back in. And there's really no other great place to put it. If we move "last year" to the end (after "to do"), it sounds like "last year" describes the timing of the mowing -- but we want "last year" to describe the timing of the agreeing, not the mowing. Maybe you could move the "last year" before the "he," but then we'd be moving it away from the verb it's supposed to modify ("agreed").

Even though it sounds a bit funky, the placement of "last year" in choice (B) actually makes the meaning nice and clear. Remember, as discussed in our SC guide for beginners, your ear is your enemy. It doesn't matter if an answer choice "sounds bad", as long as it's the clearest and most grammatically correct option.

I hope that helps!
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 21 Nov 2022, 11:35
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Hi egmat GMATNinja AjiteshArun IanStewart ExpertsGlobal5

I have a question about option B.
B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

Shouldn't "Proceeding without ..." be followed by the subject? I thought the -ing modifier attaches itself to the subject of the clause or the doer. And I don't see that happening here. So I rejected this option.
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 21 Nov 2022, 13:02
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nsomayaj

I have a question about option B.
B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

Shouldn't "Proceeding without ..." be followed by the subject? I thought the -ing modifier attaches itself to the subject of the clause or the doer. And I don't see that happening here. So I rejected this option.
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"Proceeding" isn't a modifier here; it's actually the subject of the sentence (or you might say "proceeding without a definite plan" is the subject). We use -ing words all the time in this way -- if you think of a sentence like "singing is fun", the word "singing" isn't modifying anything. Instead "singing" is what is called a 'gerund' in grammar jargon, and it's the subject of the sentence.

You can see the distinction in these two sentences:

Proceeding without a plan, the firm courted disaster.

Here "the firm" is the clear subject of the main verb 'courted', so here the "proceeding..." phrase is a modifier that describes the firm.

Proceeding without a plan led to disaster for the firm.

Here we have "proceeding... led", so "proceeding (without a plan)" is the subject of the sentence, and is not a modifier (it's a gerund).
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 22 Nov 2022, 05:12
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nsomayaj
Hi egmat GMATNinja AjiteshArun IanStewart ExpertsGlobal5

I have a question about option B.
B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

Shouldn't "Proceeding without ..." be followed by the subject? I thought the -ing modifier attaches itself to the subject of the clause or the doer. And I don't see that happening here. So I rejected this option.
Show more

Hello nsomayaj,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, here "Proceeding..." is not a modifying phrase, rather it is a noun phrase, since "Proceeding" is a gerund - a present participle ("verb+ing") that acts as a noun; "Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations" is, in fact, the subject of the sentence.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 03 Dec 2022, 11:19
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Ideally a sentence starting with a verb-ing modifier will have a comma and then the subject (which the verb-ing modifier modifies) must be there. E.g. Preparing hard for the GMAT exam, Rich got a 740 score. But in the correct answer choice B, there is no subject after Proceeding……., (comma). Can someone plz explain what I am missing here?
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 05 Dec 2022, 16:54
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Quote:
Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster in the face of the skilled and resolute opposition involved this time.

A. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster
B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster
C. Going ahead without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed last year to do, would surely have proven disastrous
D. To proceed without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm had agreed to last year, would surely have proven disastrous
E. Going ahead without their having a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as they agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster for the firm
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Hello RonPurewal
Can you clarify choice A, please?
In you LIVE course you said that ''2 things can't be subject of one verb at a time''. Can I just say that 2 subjects (i.e., 1. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, 2. it) are trying to be the subject of one verb (would) in choice A?
Thanks for the nice explanation as always do!
Asad, course student...
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 05 Dec 2022, 17:00
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Quote:
Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster in the face of the skilled and resolute opposition involved this time.


A. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster

B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

C. Going ahead without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed last year to do, would surely have proven disastrous

D. To proceed without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm had agreed to last year, would surely have proven disastrous

E. Going ahead without their having a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as they agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster for the firm
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Request Expert Reply:
Can I say there is no subject for choice D?
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 05 Dec 2022, 22:34
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TheUltimateWinner
Quote:
Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster in the face of the skilled and resolute opposition involved this time.


A. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster

B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

C. Going ahead without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed last year to do, would surely have proven disastrous

D. To proceed without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm had agreed to last year, would surely have proven disastrous

E. Going ahead without their having a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as they agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster for the firm
Request Expert Reply:
Can I say there is no subject for choice D?
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Hey TheUltimateWinner

Happy to help.

Yes, there is a subject in choice D. The subject is "to proceed without the presence of a definite plan for the upcoming labor negotiations", in which the main subject noun is the to-verb "to proceed". And the verb is "would...have proven".

Hope this helps.

Best,

Abhishek
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 05 Dec 2022, 23:56
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omsoni134
Ideally a sentence starting with a verb-ing modifier will have a comma and then the subject (which the verb-ing modifier modifies) must be there. E.g. Preparing hard for the GMAT exam, Rich got a 740 score. But in the correct answer choice B, there is no subject after Proceeding……., (comma). Can someone plz explain what I am missing here?
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Hey omsoni134

Please refer to this explanation by IanStewart.

If you still have queries on this question, please revert and I'll happily oblige.

Happy Learning!


Abhishek
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 07 Dec 2022, 06:17
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Quote:
Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster in the face of the skilled and resolute opposition involved this time.


A. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster

B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

C. Going ahead without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, like the firm had agreed last year to do, would surely have proven disastrous

D. To proceed without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm had agreed to last year, would surely have proven disastrous

E. Going ahead without their having a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as they agreed to last year, it would surely have proven to be a disaster for the firm
Request Expert Reply:
Can I say there is no subject for choice D?

Hey TheUltimateWinner

Happy to help.

Yes, there is a subject in choice D. The subject is "to proceed without the presence of a definite plan for the upcoming labor negotiations", in which the main subject noun is the to-verb "to proceed". And the verb is "would...have proven".

Hope this helps.

Best,

Abhishek
Show more
egmat
Thanks Mr. Abhishek, I thought so like you but the issue is here...
if the example is:
To drink without me blah blah blah would .....
^^ It seems that ''to drink'' is the subject but my brain still not convinced to announce ''to drink'' as a subject! If the sentence is something like below then it could make sense to me..
To drink something without me blah blah blah would .....
^^ In this example, ''to drink something'' could be the subject. Am I missing anything, here?
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 07 Dec 2022, 06:26
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omsoni134
Ideally a sentence starting with a verb-ing modifier will have a comma and then the subject (which the verb-ing modifier modifies) must be there. E.g. Preparing hard for the GMAT exam, Rich got a 740 score. But in the correct answer choice B, there is no subject after Proceeding……., (comma). Can someone plz explain what I am missing here?
Show more
omsoni134
Nice question. Here you go, please.

Preparing hard for the GMAT exam, Rich got a 740 score.
^^ In this example, ''Rich is preparing preparing for GMAT exam and he got 740, finally.

But you can also think the scenario different way.
Preparing hard for the GMAT exam could change your whole life!
^^ The official example has been used like this way. In this example, ''preparing'' has been used as gerund. The gerund works like verb with NOUN.
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 07 Dec 2022, 06:40
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AjiteshArun
Vegita
AjiteshArun

Can you please help me understand something here?

B. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, as the firm agreed last year to do, would surely have proven to be a disaster

[Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations] is a gerund here so the usage of the verb 'would' is correct.

However, is it necessary that just because we have a dependent phrase starting with an 'ing', we need to have a verb for it?
For example. Looking by the window, I saw a dog outside.

[Looking by the window] is a modifier modifying how I saw the dog.
Hi Vegita,

These -ings are quite versatile. :) That's why it's important not to look at all -ings as being the same. Instead, we should try to understand the role that they play in a sentence. For example, in this question, proceeding... is the subject of the sentence, and therefore it must have a verb.

1. Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations... would surely have proven to be a disaster.

It's also possible to use an -ing as an introductory modifier, as in your example.

2. Looking by (out?) the window, I saw a dog outside. ← Here looking is not part of the main subject-verb pair.

In (1), proceeding is a subject, but in (2), looking plays a different role: it's not a (complete) verb, and it doesn't have an explicit subject. The main point here is that it's not a subject, and so doesn't take a verb.
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AjiteshArun
But if we say:
Looking to the window all the times could waste your valuable time.. ;)
Can i say that the pink is in subject?
Thanks__
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 07 Dec 2022, 11:56
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TheUltimateWinner

Thanks Mr. Abhishek, I thought so like you but the issue is here...
if the example is:
To drink without me blah blah blah would .....
^^ It seems that ''to drink'' is the subject but my brain still not convinced to announce ''to drink'' as a subject! If the sentence is something like below then it could make sense to me..
To drink something without me blah blah blah would .....
^^ In this example, ''to drink something'' could be the subject. Am I missing anything, here?
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Hello TheUltimateWinner,

Thank you for the follow-up. Please allow me to chime in. :)

I personally feel that longer sentences broaden the scope of confusion. I rather like to take simpler, smaller sentences to understand the underlying principle behind any usage.

So let's do the same. The most simple and very common sentence to look at it is: To err is human. I am sure there is no doubt in your mind about the subject in this sentence. So, the principle gets established here that a "to verb" phrase CAN certainly be used as a subject.

Your concern is more regarding the detail, not really the principle. What I mean is that "To drink" is a legit phrase that can act as a subject. Now, it is really a matter of adding detail if you want to add "something" after this phrase to provide specific details. Moreover, it is the nature of the word "drink" also in this context that may require specifications. But this is all detail. The principle again is that a "to verb" phrase can act as a subject. Therefore, Choice B does have a subject.

Let's analyze Choice B purely from the Subject-Verb-Object perspective. It says:

To proceed without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations would surely have proven disastrous in the face of the skilled and resolute opposition.

Basically, the choice says that "To proceed without a plan would have proven disastrous". So, this version does have the subject.


Hope this helps. :)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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TheUltimateWinner
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Proceeding without a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations, li 09 Dec 2022, 16:08
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egmat
TheUltimateWinner

Thanks Mr. Abhishek, I thought so like you but the issue is here...
if the example is:
To drink without me blah blah blah would .....
^^ It seems that ''to drink'' is the subject but my brain still not convinced to announce ''to drink'' as a subject! If the sentence is something like below then it could make sense to me..
To drink something without me blah blah blah would .....
^^ In this example, ''to drink something'' could be the subject. Am I missing anything, here?


Hello TheUltimateWinner,

Thank you for the follow-up. Please allow me to chime in. :)

I personally feel that longer sentences broaden the scope of confusion. I rather like to take simpler, smaller sentences to understand the underlying principle behind any usage.

So let's do the same. The most simple and very common sentence to look at it is: To err is human. I am sure there is no doubt in your mind about the subject in this sentence. So, the principle gets established here that a "to verb" phrase CAN certainly be used as a subject.

Your concern is more regarding the detail, not really the principle. What I mean is that "To drink" is a legit phrase that can act as a subject. Now, it is really a matter of adding detail if you want to add "something" after this phrase to provide specific details. Moreover, it is the nature of the word "drink" also in this context that may require specifications. But this is all detail. The principle again is that a "to verb" phrase can act as a subject. Therefore, Choice B does have a subject.

Let's analyze Choice B purely from the Subject-Verb-Object perspective. It says:

To proceed without the presence of a definite plan for upcoming labor negotiations would surely have proven disastrous in the face of the skilled and resolute opposition.

Basically, the choice says that "To proceed without a plan would have proven disastrous". So, this version does have the subject.


Hope this helps. :)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Thanks for the broad explanation.
Quote:
To err is human
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egmat
I'm known to this sentence from my childhood. I thought the subject is ''human'' as the sentence is in ''inverted'' position where the subject is backward and the verb is followed by a subject.
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