usage of Since, After and Following --- Source self made

[glory]

1. Following completing manhattan question bank, I started the full length tests.

2. After completing manhattan question bank, I started the full length tests.


out of these two (1& 2) sentences, which one is correct and more effective? what is the difference between usage of "follwing and after"? Is it incorrect to start the modifying pharse with a participle " follwing" or preposition shall be used to start the modifying phrase?

3. The Book " five point someone" is the fifth best and the most reputed in 2008 since " one night" in 2004.

4.The Book " five point someone" is the fifth best and the most reputed in 2008 after " one night" in 2004.

Out of sentences 3 & 4, which is more effective? please explain the usage of after and since in this context?
do gmat check usage of preposition under catagory of " diction usage"..


many many thanks to mgmat staff?

[Guest]

"Following completing" is absolutely wrong english. "Following the completion of" would better but i'd still prefer Sentence 2.

As for 3 and 4, the sentences don't make sense. Are you trying to say the book is fifth best and most reputed among books written in 2008 or 2004? Or is the book the fifth best and most reputed in a particular genre of books over the last few years? Or are you just trying to compare two books?

[esledge]

I agree with the previous poster. I think you can rely on a rule that "following" must be followed by a noun. Examples:

Following dinner, we will have dessert.
During intermission, following the orchestra's performance, we will meet in the lobby.

You might argue that "completing" is a gerund, and thus acts like a noun. However, the previous post is correct in noting that a better, true noun form, "the completion," exists.

As for the after/following choice, I too prefer "after." They have similar meaning, as "x after y" and "x following y" both indicate that x occured later on the timeline than y. However, "following" has a stricter implication that x immediately occured after y, whereas "after" allows for the possibility that time passed between y and x. "After" also seems more flexible, in that it could be followed by either a pure noun or an -ing word without awkwardness ("Wait an hour after eating before you go swimming.") This may explain why "after" sounds better to us--it is probably more commonly used.

Finally, "since" and "after" have slight meaning differences, too. As noted above, "after" indicates order, whereas "since" indicates the intervening time, and often signals the need for a present perfect verb. Examples:

Jerry cheered after Newman left. (One incident of cheering)
Jerry has been cheering since Newman left. (Ongoing cheering that started when Newman left.)

For that reason, I would prefer "since" in your examples #3-4.