water purification methods

[sachin.w]

What is wrong with D?
Please explain..
Is it because of the presence of 'them' ?
Is 'would' also wrong here?

[jlucero]

What is wrong with D?
Please explain..
Is it because of the presence of 'them' ?
Is 'would' also wrong here?

Them is the biggest strike against this problem. You are referring to each employee, so you need a singular pronoun there.

Would is shaky, but I'm not willing to count it out based just on the verb. It introduces a conditional, but you could make an argument that this condition occurs in the case that a company asked them to disclose this information. Like many things on the GMAT, it doesn't quite sound right, but I wouldn't use it as the sole reason to eliminate D.

The other major issue I see is the phrase "prohibit them from disclosure". You are prohibiting these people from performing an action, requiring an -ing word here.

I prohibit you from smoking.
I prohibit you from smoke.

[Tadashi]

Hello all the experts,
I am new here and my name is Tadashi. I am from Tokyo and nice to meet you all.

Could anyone explain what's the difference between *sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting disclosure of its water purification methods to any company using an analogous purification process* & *sign a confidentiality agreement that prohibits disclosure of its water purification methods to any company that uses an analogous purification process.*

Verb tense or something else? I wonder if the modification will distort the meaning.

ARIGATO.

Tadashi.

[RonPurewal]

Hello all the experts,
I am new here and my name is Tadashi. I am from Tokyo and nice to meet you all.

Could anyone explain what's the difference between *sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting disclosure of its water purification methods to any company using an analogous purification process* & *sign a confidentiality agreement that prohibits disclosure of its water purification methods to any company that uses an analogous purification process.*

Verb tense or something else? I wonder if the modification will distort the meaning.

ARIGATO.

Tadashi.

In this context, both of these would be acceptable.

In general, if you're talking about the actions of a person/thing/animal, then the present tense represents repeated and/or habitual action, while the __ing modifier just represents something going on in the timeframe of the sentence (not necessarily on a regular basis).

For instance:

Martha, a strict vegetarian, likes to yell at people eating meat.
--> If she sees someone eating meat (at that time"”even if it's the only time those people have ever eaten meat), she'll yell.

Martha, a strict vegetarian, likes to yell at people who eat meat.
--> She'll yell at people she knows to be habitual meat-eaters, even if they are not eating meat at the time.

[RonPurewal]

So, "using..." and "that uses..." represents a genuine difference in meaning.
The first refers to a company using that particular process at the time described. The second refers to a company that has established this process as part of its normal course of operation.
Both of these make sense in context, though, so neither can be eliminated.

In the context of a one-time thing, for which "habitual"/"regular" is a non-idea"”such as a legal document"”these modifiers carry exactly the same meaning.
So, "an agreement prohibiting disclosure" and "an agreement that prohibits disclosure" are exactly the same.

[Tadashi]

DOMO ARIGATO, RON.
Tadashi.

[RonPurewal]

DOMO ARIGATO, RON.
Tadashi.

どういたしまして.

[thanghnvn]

[quote="cartera"]In an attempt to guarantee the security of its innovative water purification method, the company required each employee to sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting that its water purification methods be disclosed to companies using an analogous purification process.
A. prohibiting that its water purification methods be disclosed to companies
B. prohibiting them from the disclosing of its water purification methods to any company
C. prohibiting disclosure of its water purification methods to any company
D. that would prohibit them from disclosure of its water purification methods to companies
E. that would prohibit its water purification methods to be disclosed to a company

let me explain each choice

A
"prohibit+that clause" is not idiom simply. wrong
B
"prohibit sb from doing st" is idiom. "prohibit sb from THE doing of st" is not idiom. wrong
D and E'
"would" , the past form of "will" shows many meanings such as" intention, decision, or certainty"which a grammar book tell us and which require us to read grammar books and which do not apply in meanings in choice D and E.

in D and E, "prohibit sb from noun" and "prohibit st to be"are wrong idiom

pls confirm, am I correct

[RonPurewal]

Essentially all of those things have already been addressed in this thread.
Please read through the entire thread. If you still have questions, please post specific questions.
Thank you.

[DiJ92]

Dear Ron

in choice d and e, the usage of "would" is correct? if it is correct, I's not sure whether it represents the past tense of" will" or just show a kind of hypothesis？

Thanks in advance

[RonPurewal]

Dear Ron

in choice d and e, the usage of "would" is correct? if it is correct, I's not sure whether it represents the past tense of" will" or just show a kind of hypothesis？

Thanks in advance

well, it doesn't really make sense in either of those ways.

if this sentence were written in the present, then 'prohibit' would also be in the present—
All employees are required to sign a contract that prohibits...
—because it describes what the contract does. (it's not a 'potential' effect of the contract, nor is it a 'future' effect. it's what the contract does.)

since the sentence is in the past ('required'), you'd want the verb to be in the same tense ('...that prohibited').

[RonPurewal]

since the sentence is in the past ('required'), you'd want the verb to be in the same tense ('...that prohibited').

incidentally, this ^^ is the reason why the __ing modifier (as in the correct answer) works. __ing modifiers adopt the timeframe of the main sentence—they CANNOT change that timeframe.

if 'would' were correct, then it would represent a change of timeframe. in that case the __ing modifier would NOT work.

[DiJ92]

Beautiful explanation, Ron.

Thanks a lot, have a good day.

[tim]

[RonPurewal]

Beautiful explanation, Ron

thanks.