Prepositional complement - Revision history

JoachimNoreiko at 15:11, 5 July 2007

2007-07-05T15:11:28Z

UngrammBot: Robot: Removing from Category:Grammar course

2007-06-16T14:14:42Z

Robot: Removing from Category:Grammar course

PeterWilson at 14:36, 6 May 2007

2007-05-06T14:36:25Z

New page

'''Prepositional complement''' is the name given to the [[noun]] or [[noun phrase]] that follows a [[preposition]], such as "in town", "at work", or "the pen of my aunt". This is a logical development of the idea that a '''comple'''ment is something which '''comple'''tes something. In this case, a preposition, whose function is to show the connection of a noun or noun phrase to the piece of language in which it is used, needs a '''complement'''.

In older grammars, this idea was expressed by saying that a preposition '''governs''' a noun. 'Govern' here means (of a preposition) "to require (a noun or pronoun) to be in a certain [[case]]" (''[[OED]]''). This derives from the study of [[Classical languages]], where case was far more important than it is in English. Prepositions in [[Latin]] demanded that a noun be [[inflect]]ed for a particular case, and different prepositions demanded different cases: commonly the [[accusative]] or [[ablative]], less often the [[dative]]. Some prepositions even meant different things according to the case used in the noun: those that had a general meaning of place, like ''in'', had a static meaning with the ablative case (English 'in'), but a sense of movement with the accusative case (English: 'into').

You may still hear - though it is not common these days - a reader complain about a writer, "Doesn't (s)he know that a pronoun '''governed''' by a preposition should be in the accusative?" For an explanation, go to [[Case - agreement of preposition with pronoun]].
[[category:grammar]][[category:grammar course]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Prepositional complement''' is the name given to the [[noun]] or [[noun phrase]] that follows a [[preposition]], such as "in <u>town</u>", "at <u>work</u>", or "the pen of <u>my aunt</u>".  This is a logical development of the idea that a '''comple'''ment is something which '''comple'''tes something.  In this case, a preposition, whose function is to show the connection of a noun or noun phrase to the piece of language in which it is used, <u>needs</u> a '''complement'''.
+'''Prepositional complement''' is the name given to the [[noun]] or [[noun phrase]] that follows a [[preposition]], such as "in <u>town</u>", "at <u>work</u>", or "the pen of <u>my aunt</u>".  This is a logical development of the idea that a '''comple'''ment is something which '''comple'''tes something.  In this case, a preposition, whose function is to show the connection of a noun or noun phrase to the piece of language in which it is used, <u>needs</u> a '''[[complement]]'''.
 In older grammars, this idea was expressed by saying that a preposition '''governs''' a noun. 'Govern' here means (of a preposition) "to require (a noun or pronoun) to be in a certain [[case]]" (''[[OED]]''). This derives from the study of [[Classical languages]], where case was far more important than it is in English.  Prepositions in [[Latin]] demanded that a noun be [[inflect]]ed for a particular case, and different prepositions demanded different cases: commonly the [[accusative]] or [[ablative]], less often the [[dative]]. Some prepositions even meant different things according to the case used in the noun: those that had a general meaning of place, like ''in'', had a static meaning with the ablative case (English 'in'), but a sense of movement with the accusative case (English: 'into').
-You may still hear - though it is not common these days - a reader complain about a writer, "Doesn't (s)he know that a pronoun '''governed''' by a preposition should be in the accusative?" For an explanation, go to [[Case - agreement of preposition with pronoun]].
+You may still hear - though it is not common these days - a reader complain about a writer, "Doesn't (s)he know that a pronoun '''governed''' by a preposition should be in the accusative?" For an explanation, see [[agreement of preposition with pronoun]].
 [[Category:Grammar]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:14, 16 June 2007
Line 4:		Line 4:

	You may still hear - though it is not common these days - a reader complain about a writer, "Doesn't (s)he know that a pronoun '''governed''' by a preposition should be in the accusative?" For an explanation, go to [[Case - agreement of preposition with pronoun]].		You may still hear - though it is not common these days - a reader complain about a writer, "Doesn't (s)he know that a pronoun '''governed''' by a preposition should be in the accusative?" For an explanation, go to [[Case - agreement of preposition with pronoun]].
−	[[~~category~~:~~grammar]][[category:grammar course~~]]	+
		+	[[Category:Grammar]]