Notional grammars define verbs as “action or state of being words.” Main verbs, or principal verbs, fall into five categories in English grammar. Intransitive verbs are English verbs that cannot or do not take objects. Intransitive verbs cannot occur within passive constructions. Some common intransitive English verbs include the following: collapse cough cry die disappear […] More
Adpositional complements are defined as the word, phrase, or clause that directly follows the adposition and completes the meaning of the adpositional phrase. Adpositional complements are also called objects of adpositions and complements of adpositions. Both prepositional complements and postpositional complements are subcategories of adpositional complements. Prepositional complements follow the preposition. Postpositional complements precede the […] More
Traditional notional grammars define prepositions as words that “link to other words, phrases, and clauses” and that “express spatial or temporal relations.” A prepositional phrase is a phrase that consists of a preposition plus another word, phrase, or clause functioning as the prepositional complement. In grammar, a prepositional complement is a word, phrase, or clause […] More
Traditional grammars notionally define prepositions as words that “link to other words, phrases, and clauses” and that “express spatial or temporal relations.” A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus another word, phrase, or clause that functions as a prepositional complement. In grammar, a verb phrase complement is a word, phrase, or clause that completes […] More
Verb phrase complements are words and phrases that complete the meaning of a verb or verb phrase. Unlike verb phrase modifiers that modify or describe a verb or verb phrase, verb phrase modifiers complete the meaning of the verb or verb phrase. Two grammatical forms can function as verb phrase complements. The two grammatical forms […] More
The prepositional verb is a common intransitive verb form in the English language. Prepositional verbs consist of a verb plus a prepositional phrase that functions as a verb phrase complement. For more information about prepositional verbs, see Prepositional Verbs and Verb Phrase Complements. See also the Phrasal Verb Dictionary. A abide by – Abide by […] More
Prepositional complements are defined as the word, phrase, or clause that directly follows the preposition and completes the meaning of the prepositional phrase. Prepositional complements are also called objects of prepositions and complements of prepositions. Although noun phrases most frequently function as the prepositional complement in prepositional phrases, four grammatical forms can perform the grammatical […] More
Verbs are traditionally defined as “words that indicate action or state of being.” English verbs may be either transitive or intransitive. Transitive verbs require direct objects and may also take indirect objects. For example, the verb eat in the rabbit ate the lettuce is transitive because of the direct object the lettuce. Conversely, intransitive verbs […] More
Verbs are traditionally defined as “action or state of being words.” In the English language, main or principal verbs may be classified into five categories: Copular Intransitive Transitive Ditransitive Ambitransitive Copular Verbs The first type of verb in English is the copular verb. Copular verbs are English verbs that link the subject complement in the […] More
Many well-meaning but misinformed grammarians and language purists argue in favor of prescriptive grammatical rules. The English language has no shortage of prescriptions, or rules about what to do and what not to do. However, not all grammar rules are created equally. In fact, many of the most widely cited prescriptive rules for English fail […] More
Traditional grammars define prepositions as words that “link to other words, phrases, and clauses” and that “express spatial or temporal relations.” Prepositional phrases are phrases that consist of a preposition plus another word, phrase, or clause functioning as a prepositional complement. Prepositions and prepositional phrase perform six primary grammatical functions within sentences in the English […] More
“Prepositions are not words to end sentences with” reads the joke commenting on a prescriptive grammar rule for prepositions. According to scholar G.O. Curme in his Parts of Speech and Accidence published in 1935, the traditional definition of a preposition is “a word that indicates a relation between the noun or pronoun it governs and […] More
