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Kshitijvool
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Hey guys! As per some sources, the below sentence is correct. However, I feel the word 'Aggravating' is used incorrectly here. Aggravating means annoying and is always used as an adjective. Let me know your thoughts!

Sentence - The eastern European countries have financial problems, which the recession seems to be aggravating.
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mike532
Hey guys! As per some sources, the below sentence is correct. However, I feel the word 'Aggravating' is used incorrectly here. Aggravating means annoying and is always used as an adjective. Let me know your thoughts!

Sentence - The eastern European countries have financial problems, which the recession seems to be aggravating.
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I believe the sentence is correct as it is: The eastern European countries have financial problems, which the recession seems to be aggravating.

Firstly,
Aggravating can mean (1) making a problem or offense worse or more serious. (2) (Informal) causing annoyance or exasperation.

Secondly,
In this sentence, interpret aggravating as the present participle of verb "Aggravate" with the meaning "make (a problem, injury, or offense) worse or more serious." It took an object "which", which refers to "financial problems".
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Modifiers 23 Jun 2020, 09:47
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zhanbo
mike532
Hey guys! As per some sources, the below sentence is correct. However, I feel the word 'Aggravating' is used incorrectly here. Aggravating means annoying and is always used as an adjective. Let me know your thoughts!

Sentence - The eastern European countries have financial problems, which the recession seems to be aggravating.

I believe the sentence is correct as it is: The eastern European countries have financial problems, which the recession seems to be aggravating.

Firstly,
Aggravating can mean (1) making a problem or offense worse or more serious. (2) (Informal) causing annoyance or exasperation.

Secondly,
In this sentence, interpret aggravating as the present participle of verb "Aggravate" with the meaning "make (a problem, injury, or offense) worse or more serious." It took an object "which", which refers to "financial problems".
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Very good explanation on "aggravating"..The sentence could be read as "The recession seems to be aggravating the financial problems".
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AndrewN
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mike532
Hey guys! As per some sources, the below sentence is correct. However, I feel the word 'Aggravating' is used incorrectly here. Aggravating means annoying and is always used as an adjective. Let me know your thoughts!

Sentence - The eastern European countries have financial problems, which the recession seems to be aggravating.
Show more
Hello, mike532. I agree with what zhanbo has written above. In fact, I know some fusty professors who balk at the common usage of aggravating in reference to a mental state. (For the record, I am of a mind that language is a living thing, so if popular usage shifts the meaning of a certain term, then so be it, whether I like it or not.) I think it is clear that the word must also have a different meaning in certain contexts because of how it is used in medicine: to aggravate an injury, for example. (The injury is not thinking about or feeling anything.)

In the sentence at hand, if you replace which with its antecedent and then reverse the order of the chunks or clusters within the sentence, once again, a different interpretation, one that falls in line with the medical take on the word, emerges.

1) which the recession seems to be aggravating → the recession seems to be aggravating financial problems

2) the recession seems to be aggravating the financial problems of the eastern European countries

or, if you prefer to keep the phrasing as close to the original as possible,

3) the recession seems to be aggravating the financial problems that the eastern European countries have

If you cover up the word in question, the context—what effect would a recession have?—suggests a replacement such as worsening or, perhaps a bit more formally, exacerbating.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew
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