0

With current record-setting volumes in air travel, vehicle parking at Calgary lntemational Airport's terminal parkade can reach its maximum capacity during peak periods. The busiest periods are generally Wednesday and Thursday during the week and over long-weekends. When the terminal parkade is crowded. alternate surface parking facilities are made available. ----- of the alternate facilities will result in some additional time or inconvenience

(A) Using

(B) Used

(C) Use

(D) Useful

walking to or from the terminal building. Travelers are encouraged to allow additional time during peak periods.

The answer key is (C) Use.

I thought that if you want to start a sentence with a verb, we should use the gerund form, so my choice is (A) Using. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Improve this question
3
  • 2
    The answer key is correct: gerund-participles (ing forms) do not normally take of complements, so you can't say *"using of the alternate facilities". "Use" is a noun heading the NP "use of the alternate facilities" functioning as subject of "will" with the of PP as its complement. Note that "the" could be added ("the use of the alternate facilities ...), a sure sign that "use" is here a noun.
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 17:19
  • 1
    If the word of had been appended to option (C) instead of being left in the main text, Using would be a perfectly valid alternative to Use of.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 18:39
  • @BillJ +1 - 'use' here is a noun.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 18:49

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

"I thought that if you want to start a sentence with a verb, we should use the gerund form" Not necessarily. A sentence can begin with various forms of a verb, such as a full infinitive. ("To err is human . . .") It can even begin with a finite form. ("Did Pope really say that?")

In this case, we can't begin the sentence with "using" because it would be modified by the preposition "of", which normally can't modify the verb "to use". We couldn't say, for example, "I use of the alternate facilities." (Note that we could do this with some other verbs: "Speaking of koalas, . . ." "Reeking of cigarettes, . . ." The preposition "of" can modify certain verbs but not others.)

Answer choice C is correct because, as BillJ noted in a comment, it is a noun here, and the noun "use" may be modified by the preposition "of". M-W gives the following definition and example:

the act or practice of employing something : EMPLOYMENT, APPLICATION
he made good use of his spare time

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .