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How do you see "look at" in the sentence below?
How do you see "look at" in the sentence below?
He stared at the moon. As: 1. (simple) verb + prepositional phrase (consisting of Prep + NP, in turn). or: 2. (complex) verb (consisting of V + Prep) and NP (as object).
Sometimes it's #2, like in
"He brought up a good point" where the division is: He brought up | a good point because the 'up' is part of the verb (i.e. the verb: to 'bring up') but not all verbs are phrasal...when I read: "He stared at the moon" I see it only as: He stared | at the moon with no distinct verb: to 'stare at' only: to 'stare'
I think it's #1. Maybe we could devise a test to see the difference: if the verb + preposition combo can be reformulated like: "He brought it up," then it's a phrasal verb. We can't say *"He stared it at."
<but not all verbs are phrasal...when I read: >
That's right, some are prepositional verbs.
Leasnam, Mufti, etc., I see these as prepositional verbs. Do you?
He's fallen for her. He looks after the children every day. He's talking about you again. I believe in you.
"At the moon" is a prepositional adverbial phrase, and qualifies "stare".
(The meaning of "stare at" can be readily inferred from "stare" and "at", which demonstrates that the two words in conjunction do not form a new semantic unit.) Cf. the same question here: http://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/340600179/m/189103671 MrP
<"At the moon" is a prepositional adverbial phrase, and qualifies "stare".>
You mean YOU see it that way, right?
Does anyone see "kept to" as a single element below?
"He kept to his offer."
And how about "sent her out into the world"? Is that a prepositional verb?
<<"At the moon" is a prepositional adverbial phrase, and qualifies "stare".
(The meaning of "stare at" can be readily inferred from "stare" and "at", which demonstrates that the two words in conjunction do not form a new semantic unit.) >> Would you say the same of this? "Elvis turned up his collar." |