Which sentence uses a prepositional phrase unidiomatically? a) this summer is looking to be hotter than the previous one to many meteorologists. b) the little bunny went under the bridge when he saw the hungry, brown fox approaching. c) all of the club members agreed to abide to the rules established by the club's founders. d) when the fire starts to go out, place a few more logs upon it and poke it back into life.

The correct answer is C.

Sentence C uses the prepositional phrase in an unidiomatic way. One does not "abide to" the rules. Instead, the correct preposition should be "by."

Therefore, the sentence should read: "All of the club members agreed to abide by the rules established by the club's founders." By changing "to" to "by," the sentence is now correct and the prepositional phrase is idiomatic.

sentences vary by structure as well as by function. there are compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

simple sentence

i like to read.

a simple sentence has one independent clause.

compound sentence

i like to read, and i also like to write.

a compound sentence includes more than one independent clause, connected by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, or yet).

complex sentence

i prefer to read books that are bestsellers.

a complex sentence includes one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. (a dependent clause is one that cannot stand alone.) types of dependent clauses include relative clauses (i kicked the boy who pinched me), adverb clauses (i am going home now because i have a curfew), and noun clauses (i don't know what to do next).

compound-complex sentence

although i prefer to read current bestsellers, i do like to read old agatha christie mysteries, and i also like some 20th-century science fiction.

compound-complex sentences take a bunch of clauses (multiple independent clauses, and one or more dependent clauses) and toss them together like a salad. although these sentences take practice to write in a grammatically correct fashion, they can hold a tremendous amount of meaning, and are common in academic writing.