around: adverb or preposition
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping around the house.
Is the word "around" in the above sentence used as a preposition or as an adverb?
I think it is used as a preposition. However, others disagree.
prepositions adverbs
asked yesterday
anonanon
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add a comment |
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping around the house.
Is the word "around" in the above sentence used as a preposition or as an adverb?
I think it is used as a preposition. However, others disagree.
prepositions adverbs
asked yesterday
anonanon
1
New contributor
anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
to mope around is pretty much a "phrasal verb" (cf to loaf about, to kick back, to lounge around). The second element would normally be called a preposition in such constructions. But honestly, what difference does it make which particular round [pigeon]hole you shove this particular square peg into?
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
1
It's a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", which has the noun phrase "the house" as its complement. Note that the verb is just "moped", not "moped around".
– BillJ
yesterday
add a comment |
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping around the house.
Is the word "around" in the above sentence used as a preposition or as an adverb?
I think it is used as a preposition. However, others disagree.
prepositions adverbs
asked yesterday
anonanon
1
New contributor
anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping around the house.
Is the word "around" in the above sentence used as a preposition or as an adverb?
I think it is used as a preposition. However, others disagree.
prepositions adverbs
prepositions adverbs
asked yesterday
anonanon
1
New contributor
anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
anonanon
1
New contributor
anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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asked yesterday
anonanon
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anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
anonanon
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asked yesterday
anonanon
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anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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New contributor
anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
anon is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
to mope around is pretty much a "phrasal verb" (cf to loaf about, to kick back, to lounge around). The second element would normally be called a preposition in such constructions. But honestly, what difference does it make which particular round [pigeon]hole you shove this particular square peg into?
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
1
It's a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", which has the noun phrase "the house" as its complement. Note that the verb is just "moped", not "moped around".
– BillJ
yesterday
add a comment |
1
to mope around is pretty much a "phrasal verb" (cf to loaf about, to kick back, to lounge around). The second element would normally be called a preposition in such constructions. But honestly, what difference does it make which particular round [pigeon]hole you shove this particular square peg into?
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
1
It's a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", which has the noun phrase "the house" as its complement. Note that the verb is just "moped", not "moped around".
– BillJ
yesterday
1
1
to mope around is pretty much a "phrasal verb" (cf to loaf about, to kick back, to lounge around). The second element would normally be called a preposition in such constructions. But honestly, what difference does it make which particular round [pigeon]hole you shove this particular square peg into?
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
to mope around is pretty much a "phrasal verb" (cf to loaf about, to kick back, to lounge around). The second element would normally be called a preposition in such constructions. But honestly, what difference does it make which particular round [pigeon]hole you shove this particular square peg into?
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
1
1
It's a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", which has the noun phrase "the house" as its complement. Note that the verb is just "moped", not "moped around".
– BillJ
yesterday
It's a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", which has the noun phrase "the house" as its complement. Note that the verb is just "moped", not "moped around".
– BillJ
yesterday
add a comment |
2 Answers
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It's hard to classify. My guess is that "around" is part of the verb "mope around". If it were a preposition, it ought to be okay to say *"Around what did he mope?" or *"the house around which he moped". If it were an adverb, it ought to be possible to shift it to a different position: *"He moped the house around."
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
More to the point, we could just say he moped around. There's no particular reason to mention where he moped at all, let alone try to convey the exact nature of his [potentially, dynamically changing] spatial relationship to the environment within which he moped.
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
add a comment |
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping
around the house.
I'd say that "around" is a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", with the noun phrase "the house" as its complement.
The PP "around the house" is a complement licensed by "moping", and hence "moping around the house" is a syntactic constituent with "moping" as head and the PP "around the house" as its complement.
But "moping around the house" is not a constituent at word level: it’s a VP. Verb is a word category, like noun, adjective, etc., and it’s “moping” that is a verb: this is the word that takes verbal inflections. So we have [1] not [2]:
[1] They were moping around the house.
[2] *They were mope arounding the house.
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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It's hard to classify. My guess is that "around" is part of the verb "mope around". If it were a preposition, it ought to be okay to say *"Around what did he mope?" or *"the house around which he moped". If it were an adverb, it ought to be possible to shift it to a different position: *"He moped the house around."
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
More to the point, we could just say he moped around. There's no particular reason to mention where he moped at all, let alone try to convey the exact nature of his [potentially, dynamically changing] spatial relationship to the environment within which he moped.
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
add a comment |
It's hard to classify. My guess is that "around" is part of the verb "mope around". If it were a preposition, it ought to be okay to say *"Around what did he mope?" or *"the house around which he moped". If it were an adverb, it ought to be possible to shift it to a different position: *"He moped the house around."
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
More to the point, we could just say he moped around. There's no particular reason to mention where he moped at all, let alone try to convey the exact nature of his [potentially, dynamically changing] spatial relationship to the environment within which he moped.
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
add a comment |
It's hard to classify. My guess is that "around" is part of the verb "mope around". If it were a preposition, it ought to be okay to say *"Around what did he mope?" or *"the house around which he moped". If it were an adverb, it ought to be possible to shift it to a different position: *"He moped the house around."
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
It's hard to classify. My guess is that "around" is part of the verb "mope around". If it were a preposition, it ought to be okay to say *"Around what did he mope?" or *"the house around which he moped". If it were an adverb, it ought to be possible to shift it to a different position: *"He moped the house around."
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
answered yesterday
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.4k2931
14.4k2931
More to the point, we could just say he moped around. There's no particular reason to mention where he moped at all, let alone try to convey the exact nature of his [potentially, dynamically changing] spatial relationship to the environment within which he moped.
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
add a comment |
More to the point, we could just say he moped around. There's no particular reason to mention where he moped at all, let alone try to convey the exact nature of his [potentially, dynamically changing] spatial relationship to the environment within which he moped.
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
More to the point, we could just say he moped around. There's no particular reason to mention where he moped at all, let alone try to convey the exact nature of his [potentially, dynamically changing] spatial relationship to the environment within which he moped.
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
More to the point, we could just say he moped around. There's no particular reason to mention where he moped at all, let alone try to convey the exact nature of his [potentially, dynamically changing] spatial relationship to the environment within which he moped.
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
add a comment |
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping
around the house.
I'd say that "around" is a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", with the noun phrase "the house" as its complement.
The PP "around the house" is a complement licensed by "moping", and hence "moping around the house" is a syntactic constituent with "moping" as head and the PP "around the house" as its complement.
But "moping around the house" is not a constituent at word level: it’s a VP. Verb is a word category, like noun, adjective, etc., and it’s “moping” that is a verb: this is the word that takes verbal inflections. So we have [1] not [2]:
[1] They were moping around the house.
[2] *They were mope arounding the house.
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
add a comment |
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping
around the house.
I'd say that "around" is a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", with the noun phrase "the house" as its complement.
The PP "around the house" is a complement licensed by "moping", and hence "moping around the house" is a syntactic constituent with "moping" as head and the PP "around the house" as its complement.
But "moping around the house" is not a constituent at word level: it’s a VP. Verb is a word category, like noun, adjective, etc., and it’s “moping” that is a verb: this is the word that takes verbal inflections. So we have [1] not [2]:
[1] They were moping around the house.
[2] *They were mope arounding the house.
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
add a comment |
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping
around the house.
I'd say that "around" is a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", with the noun phrase "the house" as its complement.
The PP "around the house" is a complement licensed by "moping", and hence "moping around the house" is a syntactic constituent with "moping" as head and the PP "around the house" as its complement.
But "moping around the house" is not a constituent at word level: it’s a VP. Verb is a word category, like noun, adjective, etc., and it’s “moping” that is a verb: this is the word that takes verbal inflections. So we have [1] not [2]:
[1] They were moping around the house.
[2] *They were mope arounding the house.
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
He couldn't even enjoy the school holidays and spent his time moping
around the house.
I'd say that "around" is a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", with the noun phrase "the house" as its complement.
The PP "around the house" is a complement licensed by "moping", and hence "moping around the house" is a syntactic constituent with "moping" as head and the PP "around the house" as its complement.
But "moping around the house" is not a constituent at word level: it’s a VP. Verb is a word category, like noun, adjective, etc., and it’s “moping” that is a verb: this is the word that takes verbal inflections. So we have [1] not [2]:
[1] They were moping around the house.
[2] *They were mope arounding the house.
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
edited 19 hours ago
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
answered 19 hours ago
BillJBillJ
4,1831913
4,1831913
add a comment |
add a comment |
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1
to mope around is pretty much a "phrasal verb" (cf to loaf about, to kick back, to lounge around). The second element would normally be called a preposition in such constructions. But honestly, what difference does it make which particular round [pigeon]hole you shove this particular square peg into?
– FumbleFingers
yesterday
1
It's a preposition functioning as head of the preposition phrase "around the house", which has the noun phrase "the house" as its complement. Note that the verb is just "moped", not "moped around".
– BillJ
yesterday