<p>(Determined) to make a name (for herself) (as a writer) of short stories, Helen never submits anything to an editor until (revising) it several times. (NE)</p>
<p>The answer is the 4th pair of parentheses (revising). I got that answer merely because it sounds awkward, but have yet to come up with a concrete reason. I have flirted with many possibilities, but a decisive justification is evading me. </p>
<p>If anyone had insight into this, I would appreciate it if shared.</p>
<p>determined= past
revising= ongoing —> having revised</p>
<p>^I’ve thought of that, but I keep getting confused as to whether “revising” is meant to be present participle (verb) or the object of the preposition “until” (gerund).</p>
<p>If it really is a participle, then your explanation makes perfect sense; but if anyone could confirm that “revising” is not a gerund, I’ll be sure.</p>
<p>revising is definitely not a noun in this case.</p>
<p>There was a huge debate on this question after the May SAT. I think it’s a little ambiguous, but based on the answer CB clearly doesn’t consider it a noun.</p>
<p>A gerund would be “the revising of the book.” </p>
<p>Here, it is being used to modify “it,” as in the action of actually “revising.” So… yeah. It’s not a noun.</p>
<p>^If that were true, the object of “until” would have to be “it,” which doesn’t make much sense either. It makes much more sense to think of “revising” as the object of “until,” and “it” as the object of “revising.”</p>
<p>It should be “until she has revised it.”</p>
<p>^Yes, I know that’s what it should be, but I’m trying to find out a definite reason as to WHY the original sentence is wrong.</p>
<p>The fact that it’s wrong is obvious to me. But as 112358 has confirmed, there is definite confusion regarding the part of speech of “revising”. I know both arguments; trust me, I’ve drilled them through in mind for 2 days now. But I still can’t reach a definitive conclusion…</p>
<p>(Determined) to make a name (for herself) (as a writer) of short stories, Helen never submits anything to an editor until (revising) it several times. (NE)</p>
<p>I think revising is a gerund here. Otherwise, the object of the preposition “until” would have to be “it,” which makes no sense.</p>
<p>The best explanation I can offer is that the preposition “until” indicates an action that has both begun AND ended. Revising in this context is an ongoing process with no definite end.</p>
<p>ok, so it’s a gerund that’s sort of acting as a verb by conveying a sense of “doing something”?</p>
<p>IT’S NOT A GERUND. A GERUND IS A VERB ACTING AS A NOUN. </p>
<p>@112, I get the feeling that in this case, the object of preposition IS the word “it.” It’s one of those cases where they switch up the order of the words. So the sentence could also be read, “…until it has been revised several times.” In fact, a gerund use for “revising” is not possible, because “revising” has its own noun form “revision.” So idk, that’s my justification.</p>
<p>I’m aware of that.</p>
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<p>Either is acceptable. “Revision is the second step in publishing a book.” “Revising is the second step in publishing a book.” Both are perfectly acceptable.</p>
<p>I still think my explanation is legitimate. “Until” implies an action or event that has a definite beginning and/or end, and “revising” in this sentence has neither a definite beginning nor end.</p>
<p>But it doesn’t matter than what “until” implies. If the sentence read “…until revising is finished,” then it would be a gerund, because you are saying that the PROCESS of revision is finished. But here, you are “revising IT.” “Revising” is clearly modifying an object, and therefore, cannot act as a noun. I still go with my explanation that “it” is the true object of preposition and that “revising” is a modifying verb that may be placed either before or after the object.</p>
<p>We’re losing the true purpose of this thread. Whether revising is a verb or noun is irrelevant if it cannot be explained why revising is incorrect. Even if revising were a modifying verb, it doesn’t explain why the sentence is grammatically erroneous.</p>
<p>It’s very simple, really. If “revising” is being used as a verb, then there is a tense inconsistency. If it is being used as a noun, however, the sentence would contain no error.</p>
<p>Say revising were a present participle. But the sentence is also in the present tense (submits). Where is the tense inconsistency?</p>
<p>The word “until” signals that the action is being done up to that point, so should be “having revised” instead of “revising,” which signals that the action continues to happen.</p>
<p>Sorry but, I KNOW BOTH THESE ARGUMENTS. </p>
<p>The very reasons I posted this are that I thought of both of them and that they both seemed to hold credence. I normally ace the grammar based questions and am able to justify them; idiom errors are the ones that get me. But for this one, I still can’t find a DEFINITIVE explanation…</p>
<p>Helen never submits (that is present) anything until (until signals that she has to do something in the past in order to fulfill the verb submits). So it has to be past. I think.</p>