until almost vs almost until (require expert help)

voodoo_child wrote: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 -- change in tense 'did not begin' POE.
(B) until almost 1900 scholars and critics had not begun seriously studying --had not usage improper.POE.
(C) not until almost 1900 were scholars and critics to begin seriously to study --to begin - POE
(D) it was not almost until 1900 when scholars and critics began to seriously study -- when isn't correct usage of the essential clause.
(E) it was not until almost 1900 that scholars and critics seriously began studying --
seriously - adverb correctly used before began.
that usage is proper for essential clause.
removing non-essential modifier the comma portion in the statement destroys the meaning,hence it usage as place holder is a must.

thus E it is.

I was able to arrive at the correct answer OA -E using tenses etc. However, I am not clear about "until almost" vs "almost until".

It will be great if you could elaborate with a few examples. I researched on the Internet and couldn't find substantial. There were a bunch of useless "IMO"s

Thanks

voodoo_child wrote: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

I was able to arrive at the correct answer OA -E using tenses etc. However, I am not clear about "until almost" vs "almost until".

It will be great if you could elaborate with a few examples. I researched on the Internet and couldn't find substantial. There were a bunch of useless "IMO"s

Thanks

SticklorForDetails wrote:

voodoo_child wrote: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

I was able to arrive at the correct answer OA -E using tenses etc. However, I am not clear about "until almost" vs "almost until".

It will be great if you could elaborate with a few examples. I researched on the Internet and couldn't find substantial. There were a bunch of useless "IMO"s

Thanks

"Almost" is an adjective here, modifying 1900. While "not almost until 1900" in (D) is completely strange and unidiomatic anyway, the best way to analyze any such answer choice that moves "almost" around is to think logically about when this sentence is trying to say it is. By "almost 1900" they mean, say, 1899. Any choice that doesn't make it clear that it's 1899 would be wrong.

Here are some examples of grammatically-right-but-logically-different uses of "almost" in a similar context:

"It was almost before midnight when you first called me." In this case, "almost" is an adverb, modifying the adverbial-prepositional-phrase "before midnight," and it means "actually after midnight, but ALMOST before it," so maybe 12:01am

"It was almost midnight when you first called me." In this case, "almost" is an adjective, modifying the noun "midnight," and it means "just before midnight," so maybe 11:59pm

Hope that helps!

Jim@Grockit wrote:"Not" also modifies the word immediately following it (or what would be following it without ellipsis, in cases where the sentence ends in "not", as in No, it was not ), so it would also be strange (but not impossible) to have "not" preceding "almost" in a normal English sentence.

The exception is the negation of a previous phrase: It was almost ready. No, it was NOT almost ready.

voodoo_child wrote: I have a quick question though. I am not able understand why "almost before midnight" ~ 12.01. If I understand it correctly, "before midnight" ~ <12.00 am. Hence, almost X must be less than 12.00 am. Correct?

e-GMAT wrote:In choice D, it is not clear what “almost” modifies. Per the intended meaning “almost” should modify 1900 implying “around 1900 – e.g. it could be in 1899 or 1901″. But by placing “almost” before “until”, the choice no longer communicates the intended approximation of time period “around 1900″.

You may check the detailed solution for this problem at https://e-gmat.com/blogs/?p=552

Payal

SticklorForDetails wrote:

voodoo_child wrote: I have a quick question though. I am not able understand why "almost before midnight" ~ 12.01. If I understand it correctly, "before midnight" ~ <12.00 am. Hence, almost X must be less than 12.00 am. Correct?

"Almost" implies "not." If say that "I have scored almost 800 on the GMAT," well, you can deduce that I have not, in fact, scored 800. So "almost before midnight" means NOT before midnight.

"It was almost before midnight when you first called me." In this case, "almost" is an adverb, modifying the adverbial-prepositional-phrase "before midnight," and it means "actually after midnight, but ALMOST before it," so maybe 12:01am

voodoo_child wrote:

SticklorForDetails wrote:

voodoo_child wrote: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

I was able to arrive at the correct answer OA -E using tenses etc. However, I am not clear about "until almost" vs "almost until".

It will be great if you could elaborate with a few examples. I researched on the Internet and couldn't find substantial. There were a bunch of useless "IMO"s

Thanks

"Almost" is an adjective here, modifying 1900. While "not almost until 1900" in (D) is completely strange and unidiomatic anyway, the best way to analyze any such answer choice that moves "almost" around is to think logically about when this sentence is trying to say it is. By "almost 1900" they mean, say, 1899. Any choice that doesn't make it clear that it's 1899 would be wrong.

Here are some examples of grammatically-right-but-logically-different uses of "almost" in a similar context:

"It was almost before midnight when you first called me." In this case, "almost" is an adverb, modifying the adverbial-prepositional-phrase "before midnight," and it means "actually after midnight, but ALMOST before it," so maybe 12:01am

"It was almost midnight when you first called me." In this case, "almost" is an adjective, modifying the noun "midnight," and it means "just before midnight," so maybe 11:59pm

Hope that helps!

Adam,
Wow! Your post is really awesome. My dictionary says "almost" can only be adverb. I will throw away my dictionary. I checked Websters and could grasp the concept.

I have a quick question though. I am not able understand why "almost before midnight" ~ 12.01. If I understand it correctly, "before midnight" ~ <12.00 am. Hence, almost X must be less than 12.00 am. Correct?