are or is ????

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Amadalia: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 76; Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:24 am; Thanked: 3 times

by Amadalia » Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:30 am

good day
in the idiom section of the manhattan SC page 166 I found the following sentence

RISING prices at the gas pump are hurting consumers.

Why isn't it
RISING prices at the gas pump is hurting consumers
???

Many thanks in advance[/u]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:30 am

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Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Feb 18, 2014 8:25 am

Amadalia wrote:good day
in the idiom section of the manhattan SC page 166 I found the following sentence

RISING prices at the gas pump are hurting consumers.

Why isn't it
RISING prices at the gas pump is hurting consumers
???

Many thanks in advance[/u]

Let's first find the subject.
Here the subject is "prices"
"Rising" is an adjective that describe the prices, and "at the gas pump" is a prepositional phrase that also describes "prices"
So, we can essentially ignore these parts to get: Rising prices at the gas pump _______ hurting consumers.
Since "prices" is plural, we need ARE in the blank.

For more information on removing the "fluff" to help us analyze a sentence, you can watch our free video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1158

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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Amadalia: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 76; Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:24 am; Thanked: 3 times

by Amadalia » Tue Feb 18, 2014 9:13 am

Thanks for your prompt reply,
Please correct me if I'm wrong
Rising prices are[/b] hurting the subject is prices because to rise is an intransitive verb and prices rises by themselves
but if I said
Raising weights is a good sport, the subject is the gerund Raising because to raise is a transitive word which needs objects right????
thanks again

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GMAT/MBA Expert

Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Feb 18, 2014 9:25 am

Yes, "raising" is a transitive verb that requires a direct object, but we really don't need to get into the whole transitive/intransitive thing.

Rising prices _____ hurting consumers.
We know that SOMETHING is hurting consumers. Is it the prices or the rising?
Well rising is an adjective so it can't hurt anyone. So, prices must be the subject here.

Raising weights _____ a good sport.
We know that SOMETHING is a good sport.
weights isn't a sport, so the subject must be raising [the act of lifting]

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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