Last visit was: 04 Sep 2026, 01:50 It is currently 04 Sep 2026, 01:50
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
skamal7
User avatar
Joined: 02 Sep 2012
Last visit: 02 Dec 2013
Posts: 157
Own Kudos:
616
Given Kudos: 99
Location: United States
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Finance
GMAT Date: 07-25-2013
GPA: 3.83
WE:Architecture (Computer Hardware)
Posts: 157
Kudos: 616
Prepostional phrases in long sentences 18 Mar 2013, 05:02
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi vercules,
Can you please explain me the use of prepositional phrases in the sentence

I have googled for prepsotional phrases but am not getting a reasonable understanding..Can you illustrate with some examples...Thanks a lot in advance

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
User avatar
mikemcgarry
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Last visit: 06 Aug 2018
Posts: 4,475
Own Kudos:
31,093
Given Kudos: 130
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,475
Kudos: 31,093
Prepostional phrases in long sentences 19 Mar 2013, 13:28
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
skamal7
Hi vercules,
Can you please explain me the use of prepositional phrases in the sentence

I have Googled for prepositional phrases but am not getting a reasonable understanding..Can you illustrate with some examples...Thanks a lot in advance
Show more
Dear skamal7,
I'm intrigued by this post. Of what would you like some examples?
Mike :-)
User avatar
skamal7
User avatar
Joined: 02 Sep 2012
Last visit: 02 Dec 2013
Posts: 157
Own Kudos:
616
Given Kudos: 99
Location: United States
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Finance
GMAT Date: 07-25-2013
GPA: 3.83
WE:Architecture (Computer Hardware)
Posts: 157
Kudos: 616
Prepostional phrases in long sentences 20 Mar 2013, 06:00
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi mike,
First of all Thanks for pumping into this post... I always face difficulties when prepositional phrases are (1) placed in the begining (2)at the middle of sentence (3) in the end of sentence.
When i read an SC question with prepositional phrases,I see an explanation such as prepositional phrases are not being modified properly.

Can you please explain me with few sentences where the prepositional phrases are being used and how the phrases should get modified appropriately
User avatar
mikemcgarry
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Last visit: 06 Aug 2018
Posts: 4,475
Own Kudos:
31,093
Given Kudos: 130
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,475
Kudos: 31,093
Prepostional phrases in long sentences 20 Mar 2013, 11:17
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
skamal7
Hi mike,
First of all Thanks for pumping into this post... I always face difficulties when prepositional phrases are (1) placed in the beginning (2)at the middle of sentence (3) in the end of sentence.
When i read an SC question with prepositional phrases, I see an explanation such as prepositional phrases are not being modified properly.

Can you please explain me with few sentences where the prepositional phrases are being used and how the phrases should get modified appropriately
Show more
Dear skamal7,

That's a relatively tall order. First of all, prepositions can be used either as adjectival phrases, modifying nouns, or as adverbial phrase, modifying verbs & adjectives.
Here's a blog on adjectival phrases in general:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... d-clauses/
Here's a blog on adverbial phrases in general:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... d-clauses/

I guess I would say --- issue #1 is learning the difference between (a) an adjective or adjectival phrase/clause, and (b) an adverb or adverbial phrase/clause. This depends on what the prepositional phrase is modifying. If it's modifying a noun, then under most circumstances, it should be touching that noun --- noun modifiers follow the Modifier Touch Rule. Verb modifiers have a little more flexibility in their placement, but one has to be careful so that the placement of the modifier doesn't create ambiguity.

Here's what I'll say --- show me some examples of sentences in which you felt you were confused by the prepositions, and we can discuss what each phrase is modifying and how it should be used.

Does this make sense?

Mike :-)
User avatar
skamal7
User avatar
Joined: 02 Sep 2012
Last visit: 02 Dec 2013
Posts: 157
Own Kudos:
616
Given Kudos: 99
Location: United States
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Finance
GMAT Date: 07-25-2013
GPA: 3.83
WE:Architecture (Computer Hardware)
Posts: 157
Kudos: 616
Prepostional phrases in long sentences 21 Mar 2013, 01:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Although various eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American poets had professed an interest in Native American poetry and had pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study traditional Native American poetry in native languages.

(A) until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study
(B) until almost 1900 scholars and critics had not begun seriously studying
(C) not until almost 1900 were scholars and critics to begin seriously to study
(D) it was not almost until 1900 when scholars and critics began to seriously study
(E) it was not until almost 1900 that scholars and critics seriously began studying

Can you explain the use of prepositional phrases in the above question.

Note: This question is posted here for a specific reason. Detailed discussion on this question can be found in although-various-eighteenth-and-nineteenth-century-american-88063.html where you can post question/additional information, if any.
User avatar
mikemcgarry
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Last visit: 06 Aug 2018
Posts: 4,475
Own Kudos:
31,093
 [1]
Given Kudos: 130
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,475
Kudos: 31,093
 [1]
Prepostional phrases in long sentences 21 Mar 2013, 10:28
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
skamal7
Although various eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American poets had professed an interest in Native American poetry and had pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study traditional Native American poetry in native languages.
(A) until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study
(B) until almost 1900 scholars and critics had not begun seriously studying
(C) not until almost 1900 were scholars and critics to begin seriously to study
(D) it was not almost until 1900 when scholars and critics began to seriously study
(E) it was not until almost 1900 that scholars and critics seriously began studying

Can you explain the use of prepositional phrases in the above question.
Show more
Dear skamal7,
When you post a SC question, please list the source and the OA. Here, I believe the source is GMAT Prep, and I believe the OA is (E).

Here's the original version, with all the prepositional phrases highlighted.
Although various eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American poets had professed an interest in Native American poetry and had pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study traditional Native American poetry in native languages.
Most of the preposition phrases there are relatively unremarkable ---- "in Native American poetry", "in their own works", "in native language" ---- I will assume you have no questions about those three.
One of the tricky parts of the questions concerns the word "until". The word "until" can be used both as a preposition or as a conjunction, which can confuse folks ---- here, there's not split in which it is being used as a conjunction, so that's not the issue here. The issue concerns the words "until" and "almost" and "1900" and "not", and the correct order of these.

When "until" is used as a preposition, it's object is always a time of some kind
until 4:00 pm
until next Tuesday
until Thanksgiving
until 1492
until night fall
until the end of the movie
Here, "1900" is a time, and "almost 1900" is also a time --- either could be the object of "until", and in context, it must be the latter. Four of the five answers have the three words "until almost 1900" together --- only (D) doesn't, but (D) is trainwreck wrong. You see, the crucial issue has to do with the placement of the word "not" --- what does not modify? We want to say ---- there was an action X (i.e. seriously studying traditional Native American poetry in native languages), and before around 1900, nobody did X, but starting around 1900, people started to do X. That's what we are trying to say. It would be correct to say either
...until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin to study ....
or we could say ----
...it was not until almost 1900 that scholars and critics seriously began studying....
The first is (A) without the word "seriously" --- that is a hard word to place correctly in that arrangement --- we don't want to put it in between "not" and "begin", because then the word "not' would modify the word "seriously" instead of the whole phrase. Similarly, in (D), the word "not" modifies the word "almost", and not the whole phrase. The second sentence here is (E), the OA.

It appears that you don't really have questions about prepositions per se --- you have questions about proper word order with prepositions & adverbs & "not" and so forth. Does this make sense?

Mike :-)

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
Moderators:
AbhishekP220108
Verbal Forum Moderator
705 posts
BhardwajS
Verbal Forum Moderator
46 posts