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An English preposition can never follow its noun, so if we can change verb - P - noun to verb - noun - P, then P cannot be a preposition and must be particle. [ h ] But even with a particle verb, shifting the particle is not always possible, for example if it is followed by a pronoun instead of a noun, or if there is a fixed collocation.
English has many idiomatic expressions that act as prepositions that can be analyzed as a preposition followed by a noun (sometimes preceded by the definite or, occasionally, indefinite article) followed by another preposition. [86] Common examples include:
Like objects of verbs, objects of preposition typically carry accusative case. [17]: 29–30 [14]: 458–462 Thus, we expect to see prepositional phrases like near me and at her rather than near I and at she because me and her are accusative case pronouns while I and she are nominative case pronouns. Indeed, some grammars treat the inability of ...
These verbs precede nouns or adjectives in a sentence, which become predicate nouns and predicate adjectives. [5] Copulae are thought to 'link' the predicate adjective or noun to the subject. They can also be followed by an adverb of place, which is sometimes referred to as a predicate adverb. For example: "My house is down the street."
Stranded prepositions can also arise in passive voice constructions and other uses of passive past participial phrases, where the complement in a prepositional phrase can become zero in the same way that a verb's direct object would: it was looked at; I will be operated on; get your teeth seen to.
In the passive voice, The apples were eaten by Sam, the order is reversed and so that patient is followed by the verb and then the agent. However, the apples become the subject of the verb, were eaten, which is modified by the prepositional phrase, by Sam, which expresses the agent, and so the usual subject–verb–(object) order is maintained.
The verbs ver "to see" and culpar "to blame" in the first two sentences are non-prepositional, so they are accompanied by the normal object pronoun te "you". In the third sentence, the verb ansiar (por) "to long (for)" is prepositional, so its object, which follows the preposition, takes the form ti .
Many English phrasal verbs contain particles that are used adverbially, even though they mostly have the form of a preposition (such words may be called prepositional adverbs). Examples are on in carry on , get on , etc., and over in take over , fall over , and so on.