Will vs Would

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varundaga05: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 64; Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:48 am; Thanked: 1 times

Will vs Would

by varundaga05 » Wed May 26, 2010 3:22 pm

The company announced that its profits declined
much less in the second quarter than analysts had
expected it to and its business will improve in the
second half of the year.
(A) had expected it to and its business will improve
(B) had expected and that its business would
improve
(C) expected it would and that it will improve its
business
(D) expected them to and its business would improve
(E) expected and that it will have improved its
business

The answer is clear because of other faults in the options.
But is there any rule to differeciate between will and would

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed May 26, 2010 3:22 pm

asamaverick: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 106; Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:29 am; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 26 times; Followed by:2 members; GMAT Score:700

by asamaverick » Wed May 26, 2010 4:40 pm

The answer here should be B.

About the usage of will vs would :
Will should be used when a sense of certainty is expressed otherwise (for uncertainties) would should be used. That said we have to keep in mind that we cannot use 'will' when we are talking about the future from the past.
That is the reason why 'had expected....would' is preferred over 'had expected...will'.

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akhpad: Legendary Member; Posts: 809; Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:10 pm; Thanked: 50 times; Followed by:4 members

by akhpad » Thu May 27, 2010 9:33 am

While posting question, people do not formate it properly. It is a bad practice.

Yes, B is right
(B) had expected and that its business would improve
=> it is in sense of hypothetical sentence
=> would is used for future action in past tense.

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Patrick_GMATFix: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1052; Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 1:30 am; Thanked: 335 times; Followed by:98 members

by Patrick_GMATFix » Thu May 27, 2010 10:28 am

This GMATPrep question tests your ability to recognize and correct verb tense. The expectation of analysts happened in the past, prior to another past action (before profits declined). Therefore to expect must be in the past perfect: "analysts had expected". This leaves us with A/B

2 things wrong with A:

1) parallel structures.
A says "company announced THAT its profits had declined..and its business will improve".
B says "company announced THAT its profits had declined...and THAT its business would improve."
Repeating THAT improves the parallel structure.

2) When a prediction is made in the present, what is predicted will happen in the future. "I predict that my team will win". When a prediction was made in the past, what was predicted would happen: "I predicted that my team would win". In this case "will improve" should be "would improved" because the announcement (prediction) of the impending improvement was made in the past.

Correct: I announce that you will improve.
Correct: I announced that you would improve.

Incorrect: I announced that you will improve.
Incorrect: I announce that you would improve.

B is correct. For a much more detailed discussion of the issues tested have a look at GMATPrep question 2414

Good luck,
-Patrick