Declining revenues resulting from a decrease in business travel,a source of income without which most commercial airlines could not survive,are
going to force many commercial airlines to in crease prices and decrease services in the coming months.
a) a source of income without which most of airlines could not survive,are
b) a source of income without which most of airlines could not survive,is
c) and most commercial airlines use it as a source of income to survive with,are
d) which is a source of income which is needed by most commercial airlines who could not survive without it,are
e) which most commercial airlines use as a source of income without which they are unable to survive ,is
the answer given is A
But i think it should be " B" as "Declining revenues.........................................travel" is a phrase which is always singular.
Kindly help
GMAT Forum
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- RA
Maybe the verb of interest for this sentence is "going to force" and therefore the question to identify the subject should be "what is going to force the airlines". Answer to this question and hence the subject should be "Declining Revenues". Since this is plural the linking verb should be "are" and not "is".
I would like to hear what experts have to say on my method to identify the subject.
I would like to hear what experts have to say on my method to identify the subject.
- RonPurewal
- Students
- Posts: 19744
- Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:23 am
ah yes, the evil "-ing".
to decide whether these sorts of phrases are singular or plural, you have to parse them, with an eye to figuring out whether the -ing construction is a gerund (i.e., it's used as a noun) or an adjective.
here's an example in which "declining" is a gerund:
declining business invitations is bad for your career.
in this sentence, "declining" - i.e., turning down the business invitations - is itself the subject of the sentence. it DOESN'T mean that the business invitations themselves are not declining. therefore, this is a gerund construction and is singular.
in the above example, "declining" is an adjective.
nobody is refusing / turning down any revenues; rather, the revenues themselves are decreasing ("declining"). therefore, "revenues", NOT "declining", is the subject of this particular clause. that's plural, so you want a plural verb.
hth
to decide whether these sorts of phrases are singular or plural, you have to parse them, with an eye to figuring out whether the -ing construction is a gerund (i.e., it's used as a noun) or an adjective.
here's an example in which "declining" is a gerund:
declining business invitations is bad for your career.
in this sentence, "declining" - i.e., turning down the business invitations - is itself the subject of the sentence. it DOESN'T mean that the business invitations themselves are not declining. therefore, this is a gerund construction and is singular.
in the above example, "declining" is an adjective.
nobody is refusing / turning down any revenues; rather, the revenues themselves are decreasing ("declining"). therefore, "revenues", NOT "declining", is the subject of this particular clause. that's plural, so you want a plural verb.
hth
5 posts Page 1 of 1