Many financial experts believe that policy makers

[RonPurewal]

why cannot who modifier modify policy makers...?

it can.
that isn't the problem.

[JbhB682]

In D -- is there another way to eliminate this option, other than the idiom at play ?

[JbhB682]

Hi - between A and D - wanted to discuss the tense of the green verbs

Given there will be a decision about interest rates to be made in the future --- why is the present tense (option A) prefered over future tense (in option D)

When guessing between A & D -- i chose D because i thought -- this choice to be made has to be made in the future and "Will be" is the future tense is it not ?

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Many financial experts believe that policy makers at the Federal Reserve, now viewing the economy as balanced between moderate growth and low inflation, are almost certain to leave interests rates unchanged for the foreseeable future.

A. Reserve, now viewing the economy as balanced between moderate growth and low inflation, are

D. Reserve, who now view the economy to be balanced between that of moderate growth and low inflation, will be

[JbhB682]

i think you could safely conclude that "they" refers to the financial experts, because the sentence is indicating that they hold two different perspectives..

"now viewing" looks like a noun modifier. remember, whether something is a noun modifier or a verb modifier depends on what it's modifying, not the nature of the words in the modifier. but although "view" is a verb, that does not mean that "viewing" is.

also remember that if you have a noun modifier, it touches the noun it is modifying, so it is certainly not modifying "financial experts". i am still skeptical of this example in general though; can you provide a source for the problem?

Hi Sage - could you please clarify the red please

It was my understanding that comma + verb'ing's or comma + gerunds are ALWAYS adverbial modifiers ...now seems like per the Red -- it is not ?

Could you give some simple examples of comma + ing's that play the role of noun modifier and not adverbial modifiers ?

Thank you !

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

In D -- is there another way to eliminate this option, other than the idiom at play ?

I'm not sure which idiom you're referring to. The only error I can find in D is that the preposition 'that' has nothing to refer to.

Given there will be a decision about interest rates to be made in the future --- why is the present tense (option A) prefered over future tense (in option D)

Good thinking, but the word 'certain' is actually referring to the present, i.e. the speaker is certain now. In any case, there are lots of ways to refer to future events in English (e.g. The train arrives in half an hour.) so don't be over simplistic here.

It was my understanding that comma + verb'ing's or comma + gerunds are ALWAYS adverbial modifiers ...now seems like per the Red -- it is not ?

Yes, that's a real trap in this problem. Comma + VERBing modifiers are almost always adverbial modifiers. However, not always. Check out SC 719 from OG 2018.

[JbhB682]

The only error I can find in D is that the preposition 'that' has nothing to refer to.

Hi Sage --

Per the green in the statement in your reply ...you mention you have an issue with "That"

How can you be sure the "THAT" is playing the role of a pronoun here ?

"That" technically can play these other roles too (per my understanding - please correct me if i am wrong)

a) noun modifier ( The clothes THAT HE WEAVED are bad) --- here the bold modifies the noun

b) Subordinate clause ( He suggested THAT THE WORLD IS FLAT) -- here the full caps is subordinate clause

c) Pronoun (new copy of the antecedent is created) -- the amount of money Sam lost against X is greater than THAT lost by Joe against Y (Here "THAT" plays the role of pronoun for antecedent -- Amount of money)

So how do you know "THAT" doesn't play the role of bullet A or bullet B

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Sure, the word 'that' has multiple uses. You can tell which one it is by looking at the context.
a) By placing 'that' after a noun we introduce a modifier.
b) Certain verbs are followed by 'that' to show an idea, request, thought, etc.
c) If we place 'that' in a position that a noun would usually go, we're using it, as you say, as a pronoun.

Since the construction is between NOUN and NOUN we can be sure that the usage is (c) in this case.

[PrashantS209]

Hi can anyone help me how to identify whether a <comma><ing> such as in the example "believe that policy makers at the Federal Reserve, now viewing the economy " is a noun modifier or an adverbial modifier?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

You may have noticed that, in our books, we describe a 'comma -ing' modifier as an adverbial modifier, i.e. it's giving information about the whole clause, not just a noun. However, this example, and several others, seem to use a 'comma -ing' as a noun modifier. It's definitely the noun "policy makers" who now "view the economy...". However, I'd say this is still an adverbial modifier, as "viewing the economy..." explains their action to leave interest rates unchanged, i.e. there's a connection between the clauses.

[PrashantS209]

Thank you. Could you please send link to other examples, ideally from an official source where ‘comma-ing’ is a noun modifier so that I can learn how to identify whether it is being used as a noun modifier or an adverbial modifier in a sentence.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I encourage you to think of 'comma -ing' modifiers as adverbial modifiers: they give information about the clause that they're modifying. That's what's happening here: the modifier 'now viewing...' is giving a reason why the policy makers will probably leave interest rates unchanged.

Sure, I agree that this example seems to be a noun modifier, but I'd argue that it is an adverbial modifier for the reason above. Another similar example is SC718 from OG 2019.