The results of the company’s cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, which increased 5 percent
during the first 3 months of this year after it fell over the last two years.

A. which increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after it fell
“it” should logically refer to “profits” but since “it” is singular it cannot refer to plural “profits”

B. which had increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after it had fallen
Past perfect for both the events does NOT clearly indicate the sequence of the events.
Also, “it” is incorrect as in A

C. which have increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after falling
Correct

D. with a 5 percent increase during the first 3 months of this year after falling
Usage of prepositional phrase “with + noun + participle” is NOT correct in this case as we need a subject for “falling”. Using “with” illogically makes “results” as the subject of “falling”

E. with a 5 percent increase during the first 3 months of this year after having fallen
Usage of prepositional phrase “with + noun + participle” is NOT correct in this case as we need a subject for “having fallen”. Using “with” illogically makes “results” as the subject of “falling”
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Both are alright - the idea would be clear if you consider the question forms:
1. BY what percent did X increase?: X increased BY 5%.
2. How much did X increase?: X increased 5%.

In the first case "5%" is a noun, the object of prepositional phrase "of 5%". The prepositional phrase "of 5%" as a whole is working as an adverbial phrase for the verb "increased".
In the second case "5%" itself is an adverb referring to the verb "increased".

Dear oderebek,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, your question indicates some confusions on a few issues. The distinction of tenses, say past vs. present perfect vs. past perfect, is a distinction among full verbs. Full verbs and only full verb have the complete range of tenses.

In order for the "-ing" form of a verb to function as a full verb, it would have to be accompanied by some auxiliary verb
is falling = present progressive
was falling = past progressive
has been falling = present perfect progressive
had been falling = past perfect progressive
Those are all full verbs: any of them could be the main verb of an independent clause.

When "falling" appears by itself, without an auxiliary verb, it is NOT a full verb. It is participle or a gerund. There are present and past participles: present participles are alway active (e.g. buying, selling, hearing, seeing, etc.) and past participles are passive (e.g. bought, sold, heard, seen, etc.) The issue with tenses and participles is subtle, because the "present" participle actually can take on the tense of the main verb.
He entered town, driving well above the speed limit. (The "driving" is a past action.)
He is entering town right now, driving well above the speed limit. (The "driving" is a present action.)
I predict that he will enter town, driving well above the speed limit. (The "driving" is a future action.)

For GMAT purposes, gerunds don't have tense at all.

In this sentence, in the phrase "after falling," the word "after" is a preposition, and the object of a preposition has to be a noun or something acting in a noun-role. The form of a verb that acts in a noun-roll is a gerund, so "falling" here is a gerund, an grammatical form that inherently has no tense at all.

In your question, you asked if we start with a gerund, something that has absolutely no tense, can we add auxiliary verbs to it to give it a tense. With all due respect, my friend, do you see how what you were asking is grounded in multiple misunderstandings? Among other things, you were misunderstanding one part of speech, a gerund, for an entirely different part of speech, a full verb.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Hi,
Could anyone please elaborate on choices B and D. Why "with a five percent increase" is wrong in options D, E. However I eliminated E for tense "having fallen". I need a more detailed explanation of options B and D. Please help.

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the right answer! To begin, here is the original question, with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

The results of the company's cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, which increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it fell over the last two years.

(A) which increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it fell
(B) which had increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it had fallen
(C) which have increased five percent during the first three months of this year after falling
(D) with a five percent increase during the first three months of this year after falling
(E) with a five percent increase during the first three months of this year after having fallen

After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key differences we can focus on:

1. which vs. with (modifiers)
2. increased / had increased / have increased (verb tense/subject-verb agreement)
3. it fell / it had fallen / falling / having fallen (verb tense/pronouns)

Since we're dealing with a modifier here, let's start with #1 on our list. This will determine if we should start the modifier with "which" or "with." Here is how each type of modifier works:

,which = noun modifier (the modifier must refer back to the noun right before the comma)
,with = adverbial modifier (the modifier must refer back to the clause before the comma)

Let's take a look at each option and determine if we need to use "which" or "with" here:

(A) The results of the company's cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, which increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it fell
(B) The results of the company's cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, which had increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it had fallen
(C) The results of the company's cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, which have increased five percent during the first three months of this year after falling
(D) The results of the company's cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, with a five percent increase during the first three months of this year after falling
(E) The results of the company's cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, with a five percent increase during the first three months of this year after having fallen

After looking more carefully, it makes more sense to use the noun modifier beginning with "which" because it clearly refers back to what it's modifying: profits. Using the word "with" here changes the meaning! It says that the results increased five percent, not the profits! Therefore, we can eliminate options D & E because they use an adverbial modifier that isn't clear or logical to use here.

Now that we have 3 options left, let's move on to #3 on our list: whether or not to use the pronoun "it." The first thing we need to ask ourselves when it comes to pronouns is "do they agree in number?" In this case, the pronoun "it" is referring back to the word "profits." So - do they agree in number? NO! The word "profits" is plural, and the pronoun "it" is singular.

(A) which increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it fell
(B) which had increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it had fallen
(C) which have increased five percent during the first three months of this year after falling

We can eliminate options A & B because they have a pronoun-antecedent agreement problem. This leaves us with C as our correct option!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Hi, I am wondering why we don't need a "by" before five percent in OA. Thank you!