Retail sales rose 8/10 of 1 percent in August, intensifying expectations that personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubled that of the 1.4 percent growth rate in personal spending for the previous quarter.
a.) that personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubled that of
b.) that personal spending in the July-September quarter would more than double
c.) of personal spending in the July-September quarter, that it more than doubled
d.) of personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubling that of
e.) of personal spending in the July-September quarter, that it would more than double that of
correct.
technically, "would" is what you get when you translate the future tense "will" into the past tense construction. it seems as though you know this already.
there's probably a separate name for that, because it's not technically the future anymore, but i don't know that name (if it exists).
this sentence is actually ungrammatical.
you can't say "expectations of X(,) that it would do Y". that's wrong whether there's a comma or not.
the correct form would be "the expectation that X would do Y", which is precisely the form of choice (b).
if you're going to say "expectations of X", then that's the entirety of the construction; X must be a noun (or a gerund), and that's it.
former: yes.
see here for the latter.
e.) added comma changes the meaning of the sentence, the words "that of" are unnecessary.[/quote]
the sentence is ungrammatical as a whole. see (c).
yes, "that of" is unnecessary.
a.) that personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubled that of
b.) that personal spending in the July-September quarter would more than double
c.) of personal spending in the July-September quarter, that it more than doubled
d.) of personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubling that of
e.) of personal spending in the July-September quarter, that it would more than double that of
Simon wrote:
a.) "doubled" is wrong because it is past tense, the words "that of" are unnecessary.
b.) "would more than double" is correct as it is future tense
b.) "would more than double" is correct as it is future tense
correct.
technically, "would" is what you get when you translate the future tense "will" into the past tense construction. it seems as though you know this already.
there's probably a separate name for that, because it's not technically the future anymore, but i don't know that name (if it exists).
Quote:
c.) added comma changes the meaning of the sentence, "doubled" is wrong because it is past tense.
this sentence is actually ungrammatical.
you can't say "expectations of X(,) that it would do Y". that's wrong whether there's a comma or not.
the correct form would be "the expectation that X would do Y", which is precisely the form of choice (b).
if you're going to say "expectations of X", then that's the entirety of the construction; X must be a noun (or a gerund), and that's it.
Quote:
d.) the words "that of" are unnecessary. (is using the progressive form "doubling" necessarily incorrect?)
former: yes.
see here for the latter.
e.) added comma changes the meaning of the sentence, the words "that of" are unnecessary.[/quote]
the sentence is ungrammatical as a whole. see (c).
yes, "that of" is unnecessary.
The comparison does not seem parallel to me. B seems to compare personal spending to the growth rate. How can spending be more than double the growth rate?
It is a strange construction, definitely, but we don't have a better option. Our task is to find the best of the 5 choices given; B is it.
