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How to identify prepositions?

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by winniethepooh » Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:05 am
A simple yet an important question for Gmat SC:
How do you identify a preposition in a sentence?

What are its distinguishing features?

How is 'during' a preposition although its an -ing word?
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by force5 » Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:24 am
Hi Winnie here are the details

A preposition is a word governing, and usually coming in front of, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element, as in:
She left before breakfast
What did you come for?

Prepositions generally introduce prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases look like this:

preposition + optional modifiers + noun, pronoun or gerund

At school

At = preposition; school = noun.

According to us

According to = preposition; us = pronoun.

Some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions. These prepositions are after, as, before, since, and until. A subordinate conjunction will have both a subject and a verb following it, forming a subordinate clause.

As Jerome buckled on the parachute

As = subordinate conjunction; Jerome = subject; buckled = verb.

There can be a long long list of prepositions. i cant even write all of them....

Answer to your second question---

all -ing words are not complex. i mean i think you are relating them to verb-ing form.

during is a preposition because its not a verb-ing form. there is no verb there. hence its a preposition

eg- kindly don't sleep during my lectures!
He died during the war.
hence its used as a preposition.


i have tried to make you understand in short. let me know if you need explanation of anything specific here.
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by winniethepooh » Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:52 am
Hey thanks to reply to the second doubt! :D

I have a question here, for the first doubt.
force5 wrote:Hi Winnie here are the details

A preposition is a word governing, and usually coming in front of, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element, as in:
She left before breakfast
What did you come for?


Prepositions generally introduce prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases look like this:

preposition + optional modifiers + noun, pronoun or gerund

At school

At = preposition; school = noun.

According to us

According to = preposition; us = pronoun.

Some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions. These prepositions are after, as, before, since, and until. A subordinate conjunction will have both a subject and a verb following it, forming a subordinate clause.

As Jerome buckled on the parachute

As = subordinate conjunction; Jerome = subject; buckled = verb.

There can be a long long list of prepositions. i cant even write all of them....






I want to know, how is 'for' in this sentence a preposition "What have you come here for?"

It isn't followed by any modifier or noun etc. It doesn't even seem to be a a subordinate conjunction!

Also, for this sentence, " What are you'll fighting over?" - is 'over' an accurately placed preposition? (Or is it that English has an answer to this too - saying it is an exceptional case?)
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by force5 » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:13 pm
Great i wrote this sentence so that you try to question it. Let me rewrite the sentence to make it understandable

For what did you come? -- (now its showing relation) remember both sentence are same.

yes you are correct fighting over is an idiom and over is a preposition.

consider this sentence---->

why are you two fighting over a chocolate pie? (you always fight over something right!!)
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by winniethepooh » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:27 pm
So, does that mean that the previous two sentences were incorrectly formed?(What are you fighting over? and What have you come here for?)
Or is it that just GMAT considers them incorrect?
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by force5 » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:38 pm
no they are correct too. i rephrased or rearranged them to make it easier for you. remember

A preposition is a word governing, and usually coming in front of, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element

hence both expressions were correct.
fighting over is an idiom and both sentences are correct too. no need to change anything in those.
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by winniethepooh » Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:02 pm
All right!
So, I take it as it comes(In English we trust)! :wink:
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by force5 » Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:23 pm
exactly.... take it as it comes
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