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Old 21-Feb-2008, 23:16
Mohammed Abu Risha Mohammed Abu Risha is offline
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Default Re: Please parse this sentence

I got used to your being here.

We were taught in the past that one way of analysing a sentence is through susbtitution:

I got sad
I got happy
I got better

Therefore, the element that comes after the copula "got" is an adjective.

sad, happy and better are all adjectives. By the same token, "used to your being here" is an adjective if we want to follow the substitution rule.

My feeling is that "used" is the head of the adjectival phrase "used to your being here". It should not be cosnidered as part of "used to" only.

Once again we may re-parse the sentence as follows:

I= This is a PRONOUN functioning as a SUBJECT

got = This is a COMPULA functioning as a VERB

used.....here = This is an ADJECTIVAL PHRASE functioning as a Subject COMPLEMENT

The adjectival phrase has a phrase inside:
to your being here= A Prepositional Phrase functionaing as POST MODIFIER (for "used")

This prepositional phrase in turn has a clause inside:

Your being here= Nominal Non-Finite Clause functioning as a Preposition COMPLEMENT

your= Pronoun functioning as a Subject for the clause
being = non-finite verb functioning as a verb for the clause
here= Adverb functioning as Adverbial for the clause
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