Help in dissecting the parts of speech

Question

I have a question in dissecting the parts of speech for the below sentence. I'm new to this forum. I was trying to apply the logic of PREP + NOUN + VERB-ing to the below sentence :

She has discovered that sloths effectively tape their internal organs to their ribs and hips, preventing them from pressing down on the lungs.

to - preposition
ribs - noun
and - conjunction
hips - noun
preventing - Verb in -ing format.

Does PREP + NOUN + VERB-ing logic apply to the above sentence ?
I'm just starting off with GMAT and was already into it for 3 weeks now. I was reading an article ( trying to improve my reading skills and found this at nat geo website) in a magazine and thought, this can be applied for what I'm learning.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks in advance.

DmitryFarber · Answer

Hi rj4546,

It's not clear what you mean about "the logic of PREP + NOUN + VERB-ing." Are you referring to the idea that this construction is often incorrect?

If so, be careful. First, it depends on the intended meaning--be careful about just memorizing a formula. Second, commas make a big difference! If we cut the comma out, the preposition "to" gets applied to "their hips and ribs preventing them from pressing down on the lungs." In that case, all of the text from "preventing" onward would be modifying the noun phrase "their hips and ribs."

However, the comma signals that we are switching to an adverbial modifier. The sloths "tape" their organs to their hips and ribs, and this prevents them   from pressing down on the lungs. The part starting with ("preventing") modifies the earlier action ("tape.")

What an odd concept, by the way. Now I feel the need to read this article . . .

rj12 · Answer

Hi -

I have tried to imply what Ron was saying in his sessions and apply the logic in one of the articles. I wanted to make sure that if it falls into the category of PREP + NOUN + VERB-ing. All I'm trying to get here, at the first glance if I can get an idea of what category, this sentence falls into. I'm currently a student at MGMAT online training course. I have been reading a couple of magazines to improve my vocabulary, RC and SC. Can you please let me know if you have any other ways to improve my verbal score. I haven't taken a mock test yet. But wanted get a good feel of SC and then go to the rest of the verbal stuff.
Thank you for the reply!

RJ

rj12 · Answer

Hey and adding to the above post, I was not able to paste the link at Nat geo because I'm a new subscriber. The articles title is - "To Breathe Upside-Down, Sloths Tape Organs To Their Ribs" by Ed Yong.

Thanks,
RJ

Thanks,
RJ

DmitryFarber · Answer

Ron is talking about situations like this:

I am not sure about the book helping you.
There is little chance of a person winning the lottery.

In these examples, the author is trying to talk about situations--the book might help you or a person might win the lottery--but the constructions used are modified nouns--"the book helping" and "a person winning." For that reason, neither sentence means quite what we'd like it to.

That's very different from saying something like this:

He is a lucky person, winning the lottery every time he plays.

Here, "winning" isn't modifying "person" but the whole preceding idea. How is he lucky? He always wins the lottery! As I said before, commas make a big difference!

I hope this helps (and thanks for the article)!

GmatDestroyer2013 · Answer

Hi ,

I come across this question from GMAT Grammer book:
 The fanatical, young group of girls have been waiting in the concert line all night by the time the tickets go on sale. 
a) have been waiting in the concert line all night 
b) will have been waiting in the concert line each night 
c) will have been waiting in the concert line the entire night 
d) had been waiting in the concert line all night 
e) has been waiting in the concert line the whole night

I marked C keeping in mind singular subject and the meaning is clear .. but the answer is something else...
Put your mind into this question I will post the answer after some discussion.

Thanks

GmatDestroyer2013 · Answer

Another question I having doubt with :

19. Perplexing questions there are in quantum mechanics because of how things change in their behavior on a subatomic level. 
a) Perplexing questions there are in quantum mechanics 
b) There is in quantum mechanics many perplexing questions 
c) There is lots of perplexing questions when it comes to quantum mechanics 
d) Perplexing questions there is in the field of quantum mechanics 
e) There are some very perplexing questions in quantum mechanics

Please post the explanations for same...

rj12 · Answer

The fanatical, young group of girls have been waiting in the concert line all night by the time the tickets go on sale. 
a) have been waiting in the concert line all night 
b) will have been waiting in the concert line each night 
c) will have been waiting in the concert line the entire night 
d) had been waiting in the concert line all night 
e) has been waiting in the concert line the whole night

I think the answer for this is A -> Present perfect continuous.
B & C are not correct because its not in the future that the girls will be waiting.
E is not correct because girls is plural, it has to be "have been"
D is past perfect. Had been waiting means, the action had already taken place.

rj12 · Answer

My answer is E.
Because, none of the above the stuff is close to a genuine English sentence. I'm listing my best explanations for the above that I could. Hope it helps
A) is wrong becoz it should be either of the ones listed : there are perplexing q's or perplexing questions are there
C) There are ... questions. not there is

manyu2409 · Answer

Hi rj4546, Frankly, I don’t know about the logic of PREP + NOUN + VERB-ing, but I'm sure that ‘preventing’ in the above sentence is acting as a modifier. • She has discovered (Clause- I) o that sloths effectively tape their internal organs to their ribs and hips, (Clause- II) • preventing them from pressing down on the lungs. • This sentence tells us about something she has discovered. She has discovered that: • Sloths tape their internal organs to their ribs and hips. o This action of taping the internal organs prevents them from pressing down on the lungs. So, the modifier ‘preventing’ tells us about the result of the action of sloths taping their internal organs. Since you are a beginner and it may sound confusing, you can refer to these two articles on verb-ing modifiers: As I'm also a beginner, I can't post the link to the articles.

However, you can google them: Article 1: usage-of-verb-ing-modifiers Article 2: verb-ing-modifiers-part-2-in-our-first-article-on-verb-ing These articles will surely help you to develop an understanding of the verb-ing modifiers. We can discuss more if you have any questions after going through these articles. Let me know, if you are not able to find the articles. P.S.: As a beginner, I would recommend everyone who is starting his GMAT preparation that he go through these articles. Hope this helps!

Manyu

DesiGmat · Answer

According to me, Option C is correct.

Keeping in mind the tone of the sentence, by the time tickets go on sale, girls will have been already spent entire night.

Correct me if I am wrong

VerbalBot · Answer

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Help in dissecting the parts of speech

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