verb followed by two preposition

[symaa]

Good morning,

Could you please explain to me why we have, here, a verb followed by two preposition, is it correct?

It were tampered with by mankind.

Thank you.

[5jj]

It were was tampered with by mankind

Mankind tampered with it - It was tampered with by mankind.

By is not really a preposition 'following' tamper. It is the preposition necessary when the agent is mentioned in passive constructions.

[Tdol]

And we do have multi-word phrasal verbs: catch up on, look down on, etc.

[5jj]

And we do have multi-word phrasal verbs: catch up on, look down on, etc.

Henry looks down on people who don't read 'The Guardian'.

People who don't read 'The Guardian' are looked down on by Henry.

[TheParser]

Good morning,

Could you please explain to me why we have, here, a verb followed by two preposition, is it correct?

It were tampered with by mankind.

Thank you.

NOT A TEACHER


(1) As usual, you have asked an excellent question. And, as usual, the teachers have given you and me excellent answers.

(2) We non-teachers are currently allowed to give our opinions, so I should like to do so. Remember: if my opinions are different from the teachers', you should accept the teachers' as the correct ones.

***

(3) Someone damaged my car. > My car was damaged (by someone).

(4) Someone tampered with my car, > My car was tempered with (by someone).

NOTES:

(a) I believe that some people feel that the word "with" in "tamper with" is NOT a preposition. They use a word like "particle." They feel that "tamper with" is a unit.

For example, if you simply said "My car was tampered with," that would be, I believe, a grammatically correct sentence. (Of course, you could not say "My car was tampered." So "tamper with" does seem to be a unit, doesn't it.)

(5) Therefore, it is only my opinion that "It was tampered with by mankind" could

be analyzed as:

(a) It = subject.

(b) was tampered with = passive verb phrase. (= It was damaged )

(c) by = preposition.

(d) mankind = object of the preposition.

Thus your sentence has only one preposition: "by."

[symaa]

Really I highly appreciate all your answers, you deserve more than thanks

I didn't pay attention that it was in the passive form, because I got confused by this structure, but now it's clear.

Thank you so much for your efforts and helps.
kind regards,