SC number of US citizens

[lordw]

In 1987, the number of U.S. citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.

a)
b) declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
c) who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
d) who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent,at
e) to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at

Between b and c, can someone pls. explain with examples the difference between (ing and who)?

[H]

b) declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
is exactly the same as
b) who declared themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to

so you can see that there is a difference between C and D.

hence, the answer should be B not C because the action "jump" should be already over.

[Guest]

I was also stuck between B and C but chose C for the following reason.

b) declaring...... - incorrectly modifies "the number"
c) who declared.... - correcly modifies U.S. citizens

Can someone help with the clarification. To the orginal poster is the answer B or C?



In 1987, the number of U.S. citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.

a)
b) declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
c) who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
d) who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent,at
e) to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at

Between b and c, can someone pls. explain with examples the difference between (ing and who)?

[H]

OA is B.

Here is a good reference:
http://www.iei.uiuc.edu/structure/struc ... lause.html

[H]

Hence, I do feel that the present participle in "noun+present participle phrase+the remaining stuffs of the clause" does have a sense of "tense" (although it really doesn't) - presumably the same tense as the main verb in the clause because it is the general assumption of the "tense" of the present participle.

I believe that MGMAT staffs will give us a more definite answer. =)

[Manicchamp]

Answer B is wrong because the statement says "In 1987" and therefore, an increease in the number of citizens needs to be conveyed in the past tense and not the present tense. Hence, In 1987, X "has jumped" is simply wrong.

[RonPurewal]

Answer B is wrong because the statement says "In 1987" and therefore, an increease in the number of citizens needs to be conveyed in the past tense and not the present tense. Hence, In 1987, X "has jumped" is simply wrong.

yeah, i'd say this is the main issue, too. the PRESENT PERFECT must be used for events/trends that are continuing into the present, or at least still relevant to the present.** since we're citing a statistic that is limited to 1987, and there's nothing to indicate that the statistic has continued relevance today, the present perfect is inappropriate.

--

**the idea of RELEVANCE to the present here is extremely important; the event doesn't literally have to continue into the present.
for instance:
i have visited finland --> i don't have to still be there; in fact, even if i visited fifty years ago, i can still say this, provided that the fact has some relevance to the present or to the current discussion (i.e., i still retain the experiences from that visit --> therefore use the present perfect "have visited"). this is the way i'd say it if i were talking about finland with friends, and happened to bring up the fact that i've been there.
i visited finland --> no direct relevance to the present; this is the way i'd say it if i were, say, relating the itinerary of a european trip i took at some point in the past.

--

"declaring" is better than "who declared", because the former gives the explicit idea that the people were declaring themselves bankrupt at the time. the latter version doesn't seem 100% wrong, but it seems to leave the door open for people who had already declared themselves bankrupt prior to '87.

--

finally, and importantly, if you are a native speaker, your EAR should be remarkably good at dictating proper verb tense. i'd bet a fair amonut of money that a strong majority of native english speakers seeing this problem would instinctively react negatively to "has jumped", even if they couldn't put a finger on exactly why.
this is especially notable because, for most other criteria on which sentence correction problems are predicated, the ear is a horrible judge. for instance, nobody uses formally correct modifiers all the time in spoken language; many modifiers, such as appositive and participial modifers, sound absolutely absurd when spoken out loud. with verb tense, though, we are surprisingly good when speaking.

if you're not a native speaker, you'll just have to learn the verb tenses systematically.

[saintjingjing]

--

"declaring" is better than "who declared", because the former gives the explicit idea that the people were declaring themselves bankrupt at the time. the latter version doesn't seem 100% wrong, but it seems to leave the door open for people who had already declared themselves bankrupt prior to '87.

hi, ron, I do not understand this point ahead.
en, so, why verbing is better than who verbed? how can I distinguish these as you say "because the former gives the explicit idea that the people were declaring themselves bankrupt at the time. the latter version doesn't seem 100% wrong, but it seems to leave the door open for people who had already declared themselves bankrupt prior to '87"

I do not understand, so hope you could explain more, thanks in advance

[RonPurewal]

--

"declaring" is better than "who declared", because the former gives the explicit idea that the people were declaring themselves bankrupt at the time. the latter version doesn't seem 100% wrong, but it seems to leave the door open for people who had already declared themselves bankrupt prior to '87.

hi, ron, I do not understand this point ahead.
en, so, why verbing is better than who verbed? how can I distinguish these as you say "because the former gives the explicit idea that the people were declaring themselves bankrupt at the time. the latter version doesn't seem 100% wrong, but it seems to leave the door open for people who had already declared themselves bankrupt prior to '87"

I do not understand, so hope you could explain more, thanks in advance

the gmat won't test differences that small/subtle, so, if that explanation doesn't make sense, it's best not to worry about the issue. for the purposes of the gmat, the sentence could probably be written either way.

[saptadeepc]

In 1987, the number of U.S. citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.

a)
b) declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
c) who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
d) who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent,at
e) to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at

Between b and c, can someone pls. explain with examples the difference between (ing and who)?

Ron,

I interpreted 'A' as

of NOUN VERBING, and doubted it.

How do we make sure when does a construction such as --

NOUN VERBing is modifying the NOUN and not an object of preposition ?

I understand it is a meaning issue, which I 'am not able to grasp, but can you give a complex example of such construction ?



P.S - I 'am sorry I don't do this, but my exam is in 2 weeks time. It would be great if any instructor can reply within that time frame.

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

Ron,

I interpreted 'A' as

of NOUN VERBING, and doubted it.

How do we make sure when does a construction such as --

NOUN VERBing is modifying the NOUN and not an object of preposition ?

i gave an explanation of this concept in the following thread:
post26678.html#p26678

I understand it is a meaning issue, which I 'am not able to grasp, but can you give a complex example of such construction ?

the thread i linked above contains several examples; check it out.

i'm a little bit confused by what you wrote here -- you don't understand the concept, but you want a complex example?
that seems like a bad plan; if you don't understand the concept, then you should be asking for simple examples, not "complex" ones.
perhaps i'm misunderstanding what you wrote.

P.S - I 'am sorry I don't do this, but my exam is in 2 weeks time. It would be great if any instructor can reply within that time frame.

we answer posts strictly in order, from oldest to newest. we don't see the posts until we answer them, so, unfortunately, it's not possible for us to accommodate a request like this.

[namnam123]

When the adverb of time is clearly presented, simple past tense is use and "has jumped" is wrong

[RonPurewal]

When the adverb of time is clearly presented, simple past tense is use and "has jumped" is wrong

yep. very good point.

if they give you a specific point in the past as the timeframe of the sentence -- and if the sentence discusses an action that happened at that specific time -- then, in general, the simple past is the way to go.