IYO, is "sailed through" a prepositional verb or a phrasal verb in the sentence below?
She sailed through her exams.
Prepositional verb or phrasal verb.
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JuanTwoThree
- Posts: 947
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It's definitely a preposition, you can't say "She sailed the exam through" but there seem to be two opinions about including these in the canon of PV's.
One school of thought:
PV's are only verbs plus adverbs, the only preposition being the 3rd part of a 3 part PV. In other words, all 2 part PV's are splittable. On this basis "look into it" and "get over it" are not PV's. So neither is "sail through". I didn't think many people subscribed to this view but I did find these:
www.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/6361lamont.html
and
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~kw382698/Phrasal%20Verbs.htm
so it may be a distinction made more by linguists than EFL ers.
Another school:
Apart from the above, PV's include (obviously unsplittable) verbs plus preps where the combination is somehow more than the sum of the parts, in other words when the combination has a figurative or metaphorical meaning. "Look into the box" is not a PV but "look into the matter" is. " Get over the wall" isn't but "get over the illness" is. I would say that on this basis "sail through the harbour entrance" is not a PV but "sail through the exam" is. Even though it's not exactly rocket-science to work out the meaning from the parts.
(Many teaching books seem to me to include some very dodgy, because they are so literal, Vb+Prep. combinations as PV's. "Worry about" never seems to be much of a PV, the "about" doesn't seem to add much to the meaning)
Most teachers would, I imagine, draw their circle round all Vb+Adverb particles and then include their own selection of Vb+Prep's , excluding the combinations of the latter that are too transparent or are just "the rules" (like look at) in their opinion. Unless you subscribe to the first school of thought you'll never agree with another person exactly which verbs plus prepositions to include in the canon of PV's.
One school of thought:
PV's are only verbs plus adverbs, the only preposition being the 3rd part of a 3 part PV. In other words, all 2 part PV's are splittable. On this basis "look into it" and "get over it" are not PV's. So neither is "sail through". I didn't think many people subscribed to this view but I did find these:
www.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/6361lamont.html
and
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~kw382698/Phrasal%20Verbs.htm
so it may be a distinction made more by linguists than EFL ers.
Another school:
Apart from the above, PV's include (obviously unsplittable) verbs plus preps where the combination is somehow more than the sum of the parts, in other words when the combination has a figurative or metaphorical meaning. "Look into the box" is not a PV but "look into the matter" is. " Get over the wall" isn't but "get over the illness" is. I would say that on this basis "sail through the harbour entrance" is not a PV but "sail through the exam" is. Even though it's not exactly rocket-science to work out the meaning from the parts.
(Many teaching books seem to me to include some very dodgy, because they are so literal, Vb+Prep. combinations as PV's. "Worry about" never seems to be much of a PV, the "about" doesn't seem to add much to the meaning)
Most teachers would, I imagine, draw their circle round all Vb+Adverb particles and then include their own selection of Vb+Prep's , excluding the combinations of the latter that are too transparent or are just "the rules" (like look at) in their opinion. Unless you subscribe to the first school of thought you'll never agree with another person exactly which verbs plus prepositions to include in the canon of PV's.
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Stephen Jones
- Posts: 1421
- Joined: Sun May 18, 2003 5:25 pm
I tnink we are playing games with definitions here.
If 'through' has to be followed by a noun or pronoun, as it apparently does in this case, then we are talking about a preposition.
Tne distinction between phrasal and prepostional verbs is only useful if there is a difference in behaviour between the two classes. If there isn't then it is hair-splitting, not linguistics.
If 'through' has to be followed by a noun or pronoun, as it apparently does in this case, then we are talking about a preposition.
Tne distinction between phrasal and prepostional verbs is only useful if there is a difference in behaviour between the two classes. If there isn't then it is hair-splitting, not linguistics.
Thanks for the links. Personally, I never include prepositional verb under the heading of "phrasal verbs". Is see the two verb-particle constructions as different in syntactic and phonological use to warrant a seperate name.JuanTwoThree wrote:It's definitely a preposition, you can't say "She sailed the exam through" ...
For me, phrasal verbs ar made up of a lexical verb and adverb and prepositional verbs are made up of a lexical verb and preposition. Phrasal-prepositional verbs (three-part verbs)take both an adverb and a preposition. I also see that non-idiomatic (free) combinations can fall under each of those categories.
Syntactically and phonetically, there certainly is a difference between the two.Stephen Jones wrote:I tnink we are playing games with definitions here.
If 'through' has to be followed by a noun or pronoun, as it apparently does in this case, then we are talking about a preposition.
Tne distinction between phrasal and prepostional verbs is only useful if there is a difference in behaviour between the two classes. If there isn't then it is hair-splitting, not linguistics.