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Difficulty: HardPrepositions and Prepositional Phrases

The ministerial committee was inaugurated by the executive governor with a view _____ the state's public transportation network before the end of the fiscal year. Which of the following options correctly completes the sentence?

  1. to modernizingAnswer
  2. B
    to modernize
  3. C
    of modernizing
  4. D
    for modernizing

Answer

The sentence is correctly completed by 'to modernizing' because the idiomatic prepositional expression 'with a view to' must be followed by a noun phrase or a gerund.
The complex prepositional phrase 'with a view to' is a fixed idiom in formal English. In this structure, 'to' functions as a terminal preposition rather than an infinitive particle. Consequently, it must govern a noun or gerund (-ing form). Therefore, 'to modernizing' is the only syntactically sound and standard usage.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the multi-word prepositional phrase structure
The phrase introduced is 'with a view to', which means 'with the intention or hope of doing something'.
Recognizing the fixed nature of the phrase determines the grammatical requirement of the complementing word.
2
Determine the grammatical function of 'to' in this context
'To' in 'with a view to' acts strictly as a preposition, not as an infinitive marker.
Prepositions in English must be followed by noun objects or gerunds (-ing forms acting as nouns).
3
Select the option featuring the correct prepositional complement
'to modernizing' satisfies both the preposition requirement and the gerund form requirement.
Choosing an bare infinitive like 'to modernize' or altering the preposition to 'of' or 'for' violates standard English syntax.

Key Concept

Fixed Prepositional Phrases followed by Gerunds
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Topics

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

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