phrasal verb, prepositional phrase

towry
towry
Jul 23, 2017 · 1 min read

I walk to the store, “Walk to the store” is a verb phrase.

According to the wikipedia, “to the store” is a prepositional phrase, and “walk to” is a prepositional phrasal verb which is another type of “phrasal verb”.

But in this post, it says that “think about” in “He never thinks about(or of) other people.” is verb + preposition and “put on” in “put on your coat” is a phrasal verb. This sound like an opposite to what it is in wikipedia.

I think some quotes from wikipedia will explain this:

1. The Collins Cobuild English Grammar (1995:162) is a source that takes prepositional verbs to be phrasal verbs. Many other grammars, in contrast, distinguish between prepositional verbs (the additional word is a preposition) and phrasal verbs (the additional word is a particle).

2. The terminology of phrasal verbs is inconsistent. Modern theories of syntax tend to use the term phrasal verb to denote particle verbs only; they do not view prepositional verbs as phrasal verbs.

3. Literature in EFL/ESL (English as a foreign or second language), in contrast, tends to employ the term phrasal verb to encompass both prepositional and particle verbs.

English Grammar nerd

English grammar nerd, learning English grammar by writing about it

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English Grammar nerd

English grammar nerd, learning English grammar by writing about it

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