Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.

A. because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will
B. with the economy’s strength continuing, analysts predicted for weeks that the target
C. because the economy continues strong, analysts predicted for weeks that the target would
D. due to the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target
E. due to the fact of the economy’s continued strength, analysts predicted for weeks that the target will[/quote]

Thanks Harley1980, LogicGuru1, AbdurRakib.

I understand becuase modifies verb "have been predicting" in option A.

why is it awkward to say "due to the economy’s continued strength" . pls advise
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IMO,It feels right to say"due to the economy’s continued strength",we can consider other issues for our PoE. So,we have to consider "due to the economy’s continued strength" for its relationship to the rest of the sentence


D. Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and due to the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target be raised again in November. ..........>Use of subjunctive illogical and distorted the intended meaning.Use of subjunctive depends on CONTEXT.

E.Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and due to the fact of the economy’s continued strength, analysts predicted for weeks that the target will be raised again in November. .........>"due to the fact of" is unidiomatic .Here past time-frame(predicted) is used but the intended meaning is bearing present perfect continuous time-frame(have been predicting),thus shifted the meaning

Hello smartguy595

If we take the same example:
"analysts have been predicting [something] because of the economy’s continued strength"
and change it on caused by:

"analysts have been predicting ... caused by of the economy’s continued strength"

Does it sound for you correct?
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Hi Kunal, a subordinate clause (Dependent clause) + an Independent clause, grammatically functions as an Independent clause. So, in the original sentence, following two Independent clauses are connected by coordinating conjunction and:

(i) Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times
- Independent clause

(ii) Because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November
- Subordinate clause (Because of...) + an Independent clause (analysts have been..), functioning as an Independent clause

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses clauses, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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daagh
Why did u consider that the prediction is still going on, maybe the analysts predicted for weeks but later got tired and stopped predicting as in 'C'
in C past tense "predicted" with conditional "would" is right that way?

The prediction is valid until November. Only by November, one will know the actual. Therefore, the prediction remains intact until then.
If the original prediction is not currently existent, what is the new prediction now? There is no such thing. Therefore we have to take that the prediction is, as of now, continuing.
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I understand why B, C, D, E are wrong, but in A 'because' should modify a very isn't it ? "economy’s continued strength" is a noun right ?
Please explain.

Hi rashwiniyer, grammatically speaking, the sentence does not just say because; it says because of. The presence of of indicates that a prepositional phrase should follow.

In other words, since of is a preposition, it can be expected to be followed by a noun. This is exactly what's happening here.

If you are wondering whether because of the economy’s continued strength acts as an adverbial modifier, the answer is yes.

analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.

Why have analysts been predicting?

because of the economy’s continued strength.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses difference between because and because of. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

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Is there no due to v. because of split? Which one would be more relevant for this ques?

In the question," Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel."

sir you have written very effectively about the usage of 'because of' with Nouns or Noun Phrase, however, how would you explain the same usage here ? No one in this thread have touched that, and it creates a confusion.

So in the option A "the economy's continued strength" is a noun phrase and is its usage correct with the phrase "becuase of". As becuase only modifies action

Responding to a question that appeared on our Ask Me Anything About SC thread -- and I figured that it might help somebody here, too:


Sure! Take another look at (D): "due to the economy's continued strength, analysts..."

The phrase "due to _____" always modifies a noun. So this construction suggests that the analysts are due to the economy's strength! That doesn't make any sense.

"Because" on the other hand, can modify an action or a whole clause. Here's (A) again:

"...because of the economy's continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again..."

Now the analysts have been predicting something because of the economy's strength. Perfectly logical.

I hope that helps!
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Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.


(A) because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will

(B) with the economy’s strength continuing, analysts predicted for weeks that the target

(C) because the economy continues strong, analysts predicted for weeks that the target would

(D) due to the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target

(E) due to the fact of the economy’s continued strength, analysts predicted for weeks that the target will

Method of Elimination:

Due to vs because of : replace due to with caused by and see if the sentence still makes sense. caused by the economy`s continued strength analysts. Does make sense. Same with E. Eliminate D and E.

Split 2 : Predicted/have been predicting. predicted for weeks cannot be right. The non-underlined part of the sentence indicated the present perfect tense that the banks have been reducing short term interest since feb and they continue to do so. Predicted on the other hand is past tense verb that indicates that the event happened sometime in the past and is no longer in effect in the present. This is not the intended meaning as it indicates an action that has been happening for a time period that continued for weeks. Eliminate B and C. Correct answer A.
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Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.

A. because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will --> two parallel action: have been predicting is correctly compared to has raised and will is the right form
B. with the economy’s strength continuing, analysts predicted for weeks that the target -->it wrongly means that the economic strength of the Federal Reserve is continuing. direct be after target is incorrect
C. because the economy continues strong, analysts predicted for weeks that the target would -->two incompatible tense actions, economy continues strong and analysts predicted.
D. due to the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target -->same error as B
E. due to the fact of the economy’s continued strength, analysts predicted for weeks that the target will -->predicted is wrong tense here

It is a simple question about

resulting from (cause), (effect) verb object ~
= Due to (cause), (effect) verb object~

as a result of (cause), subject (effect) object ~
= Because of (cause), subject (effect) object ~

What if the this statement is made in past? Then the use of "Would" be warranted?

Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.

is it right to say that as per meaning, 2nd part of prediction should be in present tense because first part is in present tense.
So A and D would survive in first strike.

Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.

Meaning Analysis: Since February, the FR has raised its short-term interest rates five times. Now because the economy continues to show signs of growth/strength, analysts are predicting that in November the FR will again raise its rates.

Sentence Structure:
Since February, (modifier)
the Federal Reserve (subject)
has raised (verb)
its short-term interest rate target five times (object of the sentence)
, and (parallel marker)
because of (contextual word presenting some reason)
the economy's continued strength (cause)
, analysts (subject)
have been predicting (verb) (effect)
that (connector)
the target (subject)
will be raised (verb)
again in November (additional information stating when this increase will take place)


The sentence is correct as is.


We have a verb-tense error out here. The sentence is written in present perfect tense thus indicating that something continues to happen or its results still exist. Using simple past tense "predicted" is thus incorrect.

We also see the construction "with the economy's continued strength" I cannot really comment on the grammar side of it, but it definitely seems to make the sentence structure inferior.


As stated in (B) there we need to show that the prediction is of an event that WILL happen. Hence, using simple past "predicted" is incorrect.

Usage of "would" with simple past tense to denote future event - Notice the verb tenses "predicted that the targets would increase." When we have a simple past tense and wish to state a future action w.r.t the past event we use the word "would" and not "will". E.g. "Google announced that it would launch the pixel in 2021."


Towards the end we have the tense "be raised" and that is not needed. We have no reason to use a subjunctive "plural verb form" out here.


I believe this choice is grammatically correct but it is just wordy as compared to (A).

Myth of "Due to" Vs "Because of"

(1) "Due to" is used to modify or explain reason of NOUN:- Arizona's cold wave is due to the westward storm (~ courtesy to egmat)
(2) "Due to" is used correctly if it can be replaced by "caused by"
(3) "Because of" is used to modify or present reason for ACTIONS:- Its is cold in Arizona because of the westward storm (~ courtesy to egmat)
(4) "Due to" and "because of" are not interchangeable

The above rules are outdated. Hence when you see "Due to" and "because of" do not simply reject the answer choice. Look for deterministic errors.

E.g. Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill was shut down last month in Los Angeles due to the coronavirus pandemic. (~ WSJ)
E.g. The search functionality within the Economist.com website does not work correctly with EZproxy due to its dependency on Google-driven services. (~Economist.com - OCLC support)


Please could any expert GMATNinja egmat correct my understanding with "DUE TO" vs "BECAUSE OF"

GMATNinja Already explained this point, check this post:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/since-februa ... l#p2414842

Basically, "Due to" is used to modify nouns and "Because" is used to modify verbs.

In addition, when you use preposition "for" + time (weeks in this case), you need a verb that can "contain" a period of time, so you need either a past perfect or a present perfect.

A) is the winner.
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