Reply to "Usage of prepositional phrases"

Gustavo, Co-ModeratorProfessor of Legal and Financial Translation

Hi, Jason,

@JasonHouston posted:
The coronavirus pandemic worsened existing pressures on tuition and auxiliary revenue, with international students opting to study outside the U.S. and money from room and board drying up as schools keep classes online.

The structure I marked in bold above is known as an absolute construction. If you search for "absolute clause" or "absolute construction" under Advanced Search in the toolbar at the top of this page, you will find lots of interesting threads.

In this case, the clause is compound, being formed by a pair of subject-present participial predicates: international students / opting to study ... // money ... / drying up ... The preposition "with" merely introduces the clause and is generally used to make the clause flow more easily and connect more closely with the main clause.

Absolute clauses usually express reason (as in this case).

12/28/205:02 PM

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