Sentence Correction

Hey All,

Uh-oh. I don't like all this talk of concision. Nothing here is a concision issue. It's grammar!

From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and ten percent annually.

A. From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and ten percent annually.
B. Five to ten percent is the annual increase in sales of new small boats in the years 1982 to 1987.
C.Sales of new small boats have increased annually five and ten percent in the years 1982 to 1987.
D.Annually an increase of five to ten percent has occurred between 1982 and 1987 in the sales of new small boats.
E.Occurring from 1982 to 1987 was an annual increase of five and ten percent in the sales of new small boats.

(A) I'd want a comma after "from 1982 to 1987," but otherwise solid!

(B) Incorrect usage of the present tense. That was the annual increase back then!

(C) Incorrect usage of the present perfect tense. That tense requires the action to continue into the presence, but this action stops in 1987.

(D) Incorrect usage of the present perfect tense again. "in the sales of new boats" is idiomatically incorrect.

(E) "Occurring was" doesn't make any sense. "Five and ten percent" is totally illogical...it can't be both every year! "in the sales" is awkward.

Hope that helps!

It's redundant. If something "occurred," then by definition, it "was." You don't need to say both.

X occurred on Friday.

Occurring on Friday was X???

-t