Slipped off / slipped from

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Slipped off / slipped from

by mathur2012 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:55 am
How do we say if someone falls from a train ?

Do we say He slipped OFF the train . or He slipped from the train ?

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by thecriticalreader » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:25 am
They have slightly different connotations -- "he slipped OFF the train" more directly suggests that he fell, whereas "he slipped FROM the train" has slightly more of an implication that he exited the train in a discreet manner -- but that's *really* splitting hairs; grammatically, either version is acceptable.

Going by ear, I could see the GMAT having a slight preference for "from," but it's an awfully subtle distinction to be the sole basis for a right answer. If a real GMAT question contained both options (in different answer choices), the correct answer would very likely be based on a separate factor.
Last edited by thecriticalreader on Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by mathur2012 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:34 am
thecriticalreader wrote:They have slightly different connotations -- "he slipped OFF the train" more directly suggests that he fell, whereas "he slipped FROM the train" has slightly more of an implication that he exited the train in a discreet manner -- but that's *really* splitting hairs; grammatically, either version is acceptable. If a GMAT question contained both options (in different answer choices), the correct answer would almost certainly be based on a separate factor.
I can't figure out what the other factor possiblly be because the Question was this - He slipped _____ the train with options A) off B) from ..( two other options which I have eliminated. )

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by thecriticalreader » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:37 am
It would be helpful if you could post the entire question. (Also, what source is it from?)
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by mathur2012 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:46 am
thecriticalreader wrote:It would be helpful if you could post the entire question. (Also, what source is it from?)

I uploaded the snap of question here , you can check it

https://ibb.co/ifa0iv

Its from a practise set.

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by thecriticalreader » Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:05 am
Ok, from the image you've uploaded, it doesn't look as though you're working on an actual practice GMAT question. Again, going by ear, I think "from" sounds a bit nicer, but when it comes to the GMAT, this type of distinction tends to take a back seat to more glaring errors (subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement, faulty parallelism, dangling modifiers, etc.).

You will see occasional questions that require you to identify which preposition is more idiomatic, but when/if that is the sole basis for the right/wrong answer, it won't be a gray area -- one of the prepositions will be flat-out incorrect.
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