Brush up your Shakespeare

[Frank Antonson]

How to Reed-Kellogg diagram the "up" in "brush up"?
Linguist Farmer

[Kondorosi]

Hello Frank,

I consider it a multi-word unit.

I am going to brush up on my English.

adverbial complement

be going to = catenative; semi-modal; multi-word unit

[Frank Antonson]

Thanks, Kondorosi,
I think you are probably right.
Linguist Farmer

[Kondorosi]

Thanks, Kondorosi,
I think you are probably right.
Linguist Farmer

How do you differentiate between a phrasal verb and a prepositional verb? How would you convince your students that a particle in question is not an adverb but a preposition, and vica versa?

In 'brush up on', what is 'up' and 'on'?

[Frank Antonson]

"On" is a preposition. That's easy because "it begins a prepositional phrase."
"Up" is another matter. H&H point out that many prepositions were originally adverbs and without objects they remain adverbs e.g. "I fell down" vs "I fell down the stairs".
A comparison to prepositions with verbs in German is probably useful.
I wonder what Eugene Moutoux does in his sentences. I may check.
lf

[Kondorosi]

"I fell down" vs "I fell down the stairs".
I wonder what Eugene Moutoux does in his sentences. I may check.
lf

down - Definition of down preposition (LOWER POSITION) from Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/defi...3473&dict=CALD

[Frank Antonson]

Wow! That visual Thesaurus is a sight to behold.
Regarding my students -- I give them an admittedly circular definition for a preposition. I say "A preposition is a word that begins a prepositional phrase", but then I go on to say "and it is on the list". That list of about 50 words, I say, simply must be memorized. A preposition that does not begin a prep phrase, I teach them, is an adverb. These "prepositions/adverbs" that are attached to verbs in my class we would probably simply place as modifiers under the verb.
Two things to remember: I haven't taught this material for about 15 years and when I did I claimed to teach "Atap_entka." grammar and syntax, i.e. All the AVERAGE person EVER needs to know about...

[Kondorosi]

Wow! That visual Thesaurus is a sight to behold.
Regarding my students -- I give them an admittedly circular definition for a preposition. I say "A preposition is a word that begins a prepositional phrase", but then I go on to say "and it is on the list". That list of about 50 words, I say, simply must be memorized. A preposition that does not begin a prep phrase, I teach them, is an adverb.

Therein lies the snag. How do you know, for example, whether it is a prepositional complement after 'on', or it is an adverb in 'I turned on the light'? What methods do you resort to for the particle to reveal its identity?

[Frank Antonson]

I see the snag.
The diagram would show whether you "turned on" the light, or turned "on the light". You know, presence or absence of a direct object etc.
I guess that in any case "I turned on the light" has a double meaning and is the material for a pun.

[Kondorosi]

I think it is a semi-idiomatic multi verb.

I turned it right on (= adv.).