Prepositions typically denote relations in space or time, but this is not definitive. Our analysis of prepositions diverges significantly from the traditional view. Where that requires PPs to have NP objects, we allow a much fuller range of complements, including content clauses and no complement, making many traditional ‘subordinating conjunctions’ and adverbs prepositions. Prepositions rarely have inflected forms. They can usually be modified by AdvPs, notably ‘right’ and ‘straight’.
PPs commonly function as complements and adjuncts. They may function predicative complements, but rarely in ‘become’ VPs. As adjuncts, PPs don’t require a predicand. A number of prepositions have grammaticized uses, such as ‘by’ in passive clauses. Many prepositions can be stranded or fronted, a choice affected by various syntactic factors. Some unusual prepositions, such as ‘ago’, must follow a measure expression.
Certain verbs license particles, dependents that may appear between a verb and its object, an unusual situation, usually a PP. Many verb + preposition combinations have idiomatic meanings, but we reject the ‘phrasal verb’ analysis because the combinations are not phrases.
Review the options below to login to check your access.
Log in with your Cambridge Higher Education account to check access.
If you believe you should have access to this content, please contact your institutional librarian or consult our FAQ page for further information about accessing our content.