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Grammarian-bot Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Verb or Adjective

1. The Baldrick Manufacturing Company has for several years followed a policy aimed at decreasing operating costs and improving the efficiency of its distribution system.

Is DECREASING a verb or adjective?

CB
  

Top answer

supportLists]-->1. --[endif]-->The Baldrick Manufacturing Company has for several years followed a policy aimed at decreasing operating costs and improving the efficiency of its distribution system. Is DECREASING a verb or adjective?

— Philip

  • supportLists]-->1.
  • --[endif]-->The Baldrick Manufacturing Company has for several years followed a policy aimed at decreasing operating costs and improving the efficiency of its distribution system.
  • Is DECREASING a verb or adjective?
  • so it's a noun [aimed at the decreasing of operating costs].
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4 Answers
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Grammarian-bot<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->The Baldrick Manufacturing Company has for several years followed a policy aimed at decreasing operating costs and improving the efficiency of its distribution system.

Is DECREASING a verb or adjective?

CB

It's the object of the prep
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Hi CB (There are two of us!)

At is a preposition in your sentence and requires an ing-form to be used after it. The ing-form in contexts like this is called a gerund. A gerund is neither a noun nor a verb but a little bit of both. In your sentence decreasing has an object (operating costs). Nouns cannot take an object, so I consider it wrong to say decreasing is a no
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The company started a policy with an aim to decrease the operating cost.

Is decrease also a noun since it follows to.

GB
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Grammarian-botThe company started a policy with an aim to decrease the operating cost.

Is decrease also a noun since it follows to.
No, to isn't a preposition in this sentence. It is a part of the verb, to decrease, which is a full infinitive. An aim is a noun and it is very common to have
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