{"id":16463,"date":"2013-01-30T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T16:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=16463"},"modified":"2013-01-16T09:14:39","modified_gmt":"2013-01-16T16:14:39","slug":"gmat-prepositions-and-idioms-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/gmat-prepositions-and-idioms-of\/","title":{"rendered":"GMAT Prepositions and Idioms: “of”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Prepositions in English display a powerful diversity of uses.\u00a0 In previous preposition article, we talked about the proposition \"to<\/a>\".\u00a0 Here, we will look, at the preposition \"of.\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The preposition \"of\"<\/h2>\n

The word \"of\" is a preposition.\u00a0 This means, it must be followed by a noun --- or by something playing the role of a noun.\u00a0\u00a0 This latter category includes\u00a0gerunds<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0substantive clauses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0No\u00a0amount of\u00a0talking about issues facing the homeless will satisfy their most basic needs in the short term<\/em>.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0We are now absorbing the unfortunate\u00a0consequences of\u00a0what last year's county administration thought would benefit us all<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In sentence #1, the object of the preposition \u201cof\u201d is a gerund phrase, and in sentence #2, the object is a substantive clause.\u00a0\u00a0 Incidentally, both of these are exemplary of idioms involving the word \u201cof.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Verbs requiring \"of\"<\/h2>\n

There are three very different verb idioms involving \"of\":<\/p>\n

consist of<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

accuse A of B<\/strong><\/p>\n

think of A as B<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the idiom \"A consists of B<\/strong>\", A is the complete object or the finished product, and B is the material of which this product is composed.\u00a0 It can be used literally, for the actual physical material making up an object, or it can be used metaphorically for the content of something.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0Atomic Theory<\/em><\/a>\u00a0states that all material objects consist of atoms and that the macroscopic properties of objects depend on the microscopic interactions of these atoms<\/em>.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0The candidate argued that his opponent's \"New Horizons\" program consisted of no more than a revision of the former governor's discredited ideas<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Notice that, idiomatically, we would use the present participle for this verb, \"consisting of<\/strong>\", but the past participle for two verbs with the same meaning: \"made of<\/strong>\" and \"composed of<\/strong>.\"<\/p>\n

Now, a totally different idiom.\u00a0 When someone\u00a0accuses A of B<\/strong>, A is the person accused, and B is the crime or infraction.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0Javert<\/em><\/a>\u00a0accused Valjean of various crimes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0The\u00a0<\/em>Inquisition<\/em><\/a>\u00a0never formally accused\u00a0<\/em>Galileo<\/em><\/a>\u00a0of heresy, only finding him \"vehemently suspect of heresy.\"<\/em><\/p>\n

The final idiom is particularly difficult:\u00a0think of A as B<\/strong>.\u00a0 Here, A is the person or thing under consideration, and B is a role or a rank or a metaphor for A.<\/p>\n

7)\u00a0I think of my friend\u00a0<\/em>Chris<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as a walking dictionary and thesaurus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

8)\u00a0Many Chinese think of\u00a0<\/em>Li Bai<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as the single greatest poet in their three-thousand year old civilization<\/em>.<\/p>\n

9)\u00a0Some\u00a0<\/em>feminists<\/em><\/a>\u00a0think of\u00a0<\/em>chivalry<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as an outmoded set of behaviors and values that, despite their patina of gentility, promote damaging\u00a0<\/em>gender inequities<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

10)\u00a0Fundamentalist Christians<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in the US think of\u00a0<\/em>Evolution<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as merely an opinion held by some scientists, whereas most scientists writing in peer-reviewed journals think of it as established truth beyond any doubt<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A potpourri of idioms<\/h2>\n

The diversity of idioms involving \"of\" is mind-boggling.\u00a0 One collection has to do with the composition or constituency of things:<\/p>\n

consisting of<\/strong><\/p>\n

made of<\/strong><\/p>\n

composed of<\/strong><\/p>\n

a collection of<\/strong><\/p>\n

a number of<\/strong><\/p>\n

an amount of<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first three were discussed in the previous section.\u00a0 Most other collective nouns (organization, association, crowd, team, herd, flock, etc.) follow this pattern.\u00a0 The object of the preposition \"of\" are the people or items or material that compose the group\u00a0 or the whole.\u00a0 Remember to use \"number\" for\u00a0things you can count<\/a>, and \"amount\" for uncountable bulk.<\/p>\n

11)\u00a0A large number of coal miners develop\u00a0<\/em>pneumoconiosis<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

12)\u00a0The amount of revenue that the United States government collects from\u00a0<\/em>payroll taxes<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in the US is approximately equal to the amount of revenue from\u00a0<\/em>personal income taxes<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another closely related idiom:<\/p>\n

chance of<\/strong><\/p>\n

probability of<\/strong><\/p>\n

When we speak of a \"chance of A<\/strong>\" or a \"probability of A<\/strong>\", A is the event whose probability we are discussing.\u00a0 This event A may be an ordinary noun, or even a\u00a0gerund or gerund phrase<\/a>, but the GMAT does not like the construction<\/p>\n

[preposition][noun][participial phrase<\/a>]<\/p>\n

If you want to talk about that much action, you need a full \"that\" clause with a [noun] + [verb].\u00a0 Don't try to wedge a full action into a preposition phrase using a noun & a participial phrase:\u00a0chance that<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0probability that<\/strong><\/p>\n

13)\u00a0On a five card draw from a full deck, the chance of drawing a \"<\/em>royal flush<\/em><\/a>\" is 649,740 to 1<\/em>.<\/p>\n

14)\u00a0The probability that a player will hit four\u00a0<\/em>homeruns<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in a single baseball game is very low: this feat has happened only sixteen times in the history of Major League Baseball<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If this last sentence had been phrased \"The probability of a playing hitting \u2026\", that would be the form to which the GMAT objects.<\/p>\n

One idiom metaphorically related to the \"constituency\" idiom above is:<\/p>\n

capable of<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here, when we say\u00a0A is capable of B<\/strong>, A is the person and B is an action.\u00a0 Metaphorically, A \"contains\" or \"is made of\" the capacity to do B.\u00a0 Often, this plain statement, \"A is capable of B\", can be rephrased more concisely using \"can<\/a>.\"\u00a0 Nevertheless, this flexible idiom can appear in a number of other guises:<\/p>\n

15)\u00a0The detective considered the culprit capable of cold-blooded murder<\/em>.<\/p>\n

16)\u00a0The\u00a0<\/em>swan<\/em><\/a>, capable of flying long distances, is much more frequently depicted on water than in the air<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Two words follow a very different idiom with \"of\"<\/p>\n

result of<\/strong><\/p>\n

consequence of<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether we say\u00a0A is a result of B<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0A is a consequence of B<\/strong>, we are saying B is the cause and A is the effect.<\/p>\n

17)\u00a0<\/em>Skin cancer<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is often the result of many years of\u00a0<\/em>sunbathing<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

18)\u00a0Unemployment<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is often an unintended consequence of raising\u00a0<\/em>interest rates<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once again, it's fine to have a gerund or gerund phrase, but if the case involves both a noun and a verb, we could no longer use the preposition \"of\" --- we would have to change around the entire sentence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Compound prepositions<\/h2>\n

Many prepositions consist of only one word, but in a few instances, two words together function as a single preposition.\u00a0 Four of these involve \"of\":<\/p>\n

because of<\/strong><\/p>\n

instead of<\/strong><\/p>\n

as of<\/strong><\/p>\n

out of<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the first two, again it is important to remember: a preposition can have as its object either an ordinary noun or (more likely on the GMAT) a gerund phrase, but if we want to put a full noun + action phrase, the GMAT frowns on having a [noun] + [participle] follow a preposition.\u00a0 This latter structure demands a full subordinate clause.\u00a0 In fact, this is precisely the difference between\u00a0\"because of\" and \"because.\"<\/a><\/p>\n

19)\u00a0Because of the uncertainty surround the new tax law being debated in Congress, the stocks dropped for a third consecutive day<\/em>.<\/p>\n

20)\u00a0Instead of invading the Italian peninsula by sea, as all previous aggressors had done,\u00a0<\/em>Hannibal<\/em><\/a>\u00a0travelled over the Alps to invade by land from the north<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The idiom \"as of<\/strong>\" is particular tricky: it is used to denote the precise time of a particular transition.\u00a0 The object of \"as of\" is always either a time or an event whose time is well known.<\/p>\n

21)\u00a0As of next Wednesday, Phophon Stores will no longer accept the competitor's coupons<\/em>.<\/p>\n

22)\u00a0As of the enactment of the\u00a0<\/em>26th Amendment<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in June, 1971, all citizens between the ages of 18 and 21 have been eligible to vote in all elections<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The idiom\u00a0out of<\/strong>\u00a0can be used for the physical movement from a place ---- think of\u00a0Isak Dinesen<\/a>'s memoir\u00a0Out of Africa<\/em><\/a>\u00a0--- but more often it is used metaphorically for the source material of some creation:<\/p>\n

23)\u00a0Out of innumerable Slavic folk melodies,\u00a0<\/em>Tchaikovsky<\/em><\/a>\u00a0fashioned some of the finest masterpieces of the classical repertoire<\/em>.<\/p>\n

24)\u00a0Out of the seemingly intractable contradictions between\u00a0<\/em>Newtonian<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Maxwellian<\/em><\/a>\u00a0physics, Einstein created the\u00a0<\/em>Theory of Relativity<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Three special combination idioms<\/h2>\n

Finally, here are three particular combinations of terms with prepositions that you need to know:<\/p>\n

in danger of<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

in violation of<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

on account of<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the idiom\u00a0in danger of A<\/strong>, A is some penalty or unfortunate consequence.<\/p>\n

25)\u00a0The\u00a0<\/em>sophomore<\/em><\/a>\u00a0who hosted all the\u00a0<\/em>keg parties<\/em><\/a>\u00a0was in danger of failing all of his classes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

26)\u00a0If the\u00a0<\/em>government of Greece defaults<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on its national loans, the country will be in danger of losing its\u00a0<\/em>Eurozone<\/em><\/a>\u00a0membership<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the idiom\u00a0in violation of A<\/strong>, A is the law or principle that the agent is violating.<\/p>\n

27)\u00a0Republicans have argued that the\u00a0<\/em>PPACA<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is in violation of the\u00a0<\/em>Commerce Clause<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

28)\u00a0The cultural critic pointed out that the behavior depicted on prime-time television is in violation of most of the\u00a0<\/em>Commandments<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

29)\u00a0In\u00a0<\/em>Euclidean Geometry<\/em><\/a>, a triangle whose angles had a sum other than 180\u00b0 would be in violation of the\u00a0<\/em>Parallel Postulate<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, a very tricky case: the idiom\u00a0on account of<\/strong>\u00a0is roughly synonymous to the idiom\u00a0because of<\/strong>.\u00a0 The latter is more natural in most cases, and usually lends itself to a more concise phrasing.\u00a0 The former is more pretentious and verbose, which makes it appropriate, say, for legal-ese, but not particularly appropriate for the GMAT.<\/p>\n

30a)\u00a0On account of the stock market's sudden and precipitous rise, the bond market has rallied over the past few days<\/em>.<\/p>\n

30b)\u00a0Because of the stock market's sudden and precipitous rise, the bond market has rallied over the past few days<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Technically, both versions of the previous sentence are correct.\u00a0 Nevertheless, I have never seen the idiom \"on account of\" part of a correct answer on the GMAT Sentence Correction.\u00a0\u00a0 On the one hand, be suspicious if you see Sentence Correct answer choices involving \"on account of\", but on the other hand, know that it is technically correct.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

Know the idioms given in bold in this post.\u00a0 As always with idioms, read, read,\u00a0read<\/a>!\u00a0\u00a0 Search for the idioms in this post in context.\u00a0 You understand English best when you understand it in context.<\/p>\n

This post was written by Mike McGarry, GMAT expert at Magoosh<\/a>, and originally posted here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prepositions in English display a powerful diversity of uses.\u00a0 In previous preposition article, we talked about the proposition “to”.\u00a0 Here, we will look, at the preposition “of.”   The preposition…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,783,243,719,735],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-magoosh-blog","category-blog","category-sentence-correction-gmat","category-verbal-gmat-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16465,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16463\/revisions\/16465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}