Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[MinK]

Just two months before Sotheby's was to auction the Forbes family's Imperial Faberg� eggs, a Russian industrialist bought the entire collection.

I don't understand what that phrase in bold means.
Could you explain it in detail?

MinK

[LucentShade]

Auction: To sell an item, or some items, by allowing people to compete for the right to buy them by bidding. At the start, a minimum price is set, and people declare how much they are willing to pay. The amounts have to keep increasing. When the bids stop, the person who named the highest amount has the right to buy the item.

Sotheby's: A famous New York city auction house (place where auctions are performed)

Faberge eggs: Decorative luxury items that are generally bought by the rich--by families such as the Forbes family.


In grammar talk, we would call this an adverbial introductory clause. It tells the time or the circumstances in which the main action took place. The main action of this sentence is "A Russian industrialist bought the entire collection." The phrase in bold tells when this took place; it happened two months before Sotheby's was supposed to (or was scheduled to) auction this collection of eggs. "Just" is included for emphasis; it highlights that there was not very much time between the two events. ["It started snowing just one day after I washed my car."

"was to" is a more formal way of saying "was supposed to," as in "The train was to leave at 6:00, but it did not leave until 7:00."

The phrase in bold also serves to clarify the meaning of "collection"; without the phrase, we would not know what the collection consisted of. I think this is why the phrase was at the beginning of the sentence.

Another way to re-word the sentence would be: "A Russian industrialist bought the Forbes family's Imperial Faberg� eggs just two months before Sotheby's was supposed to auction them."

I hope this helped!

[MinK]

LucentShade, your answer is so specific and in detail.
So, I totally understand what it means.
Thank you so much!