Syntax of date and place

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garuhape: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 74; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 12:37 pm; Location: Munich; Thanked: 3 times

Syntax of date and place

by garuhape » Sun Dec 19, 2010 4:07 am

Hi all,

why is it possible to say:

"She remained in France during the second world war as a performer and an intelligence agent for the resistance."

I thought that you may never put the date and the place in front of the object but apparently you may. Can someone please explain that to me...

Cheers

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Dec 19, 2010 4:07 am

VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 am; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times; Followed by:365 members

by VivianKerr » Sun Dec 19, 2010 7:28 pm

Hey Garuhape!

It has to do with Modification.

"In France" and "during the second world war" are prepositional phrases. Both of these prepositional phrases modify the verb "remained."

Think of the prepositional phrases like answers to questions: where did she remain? "In France!" "when did she remain?" "During the second world war!"

It isn't the fact that the prepositional phrases describe date and place that is important, but that a prepositional phrase should always be situated as close as possible to the word or phrase it modifies.

Hope this helps!