[Grammar] They nosed out the secret.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Rollercoaster1

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Urdu
Home Country
Pakistan
Current Location
Pakistan
Hello seniors and teachers,
I am wondering if "out" in the sentence is functioning as a preposition! if not, then (politely) why? Grammatically, a preposition should be followed by its object, unless if it's at the end of a sentence.

For example: What do you want it for? ( "for" preposition at the end of the sentence), right?

So, what about;? "They nosed out the secret". ("out" preposition followed by its object).
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
"nose out" is a phrasal verb. There was a secret, they nosed it out.
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I would not call "out" in "nose out" a preposition. The prhrasal verb "nose out" acts transitively and "the secret" is the object.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
With phrasal verbs, some people call the words prepositions even though they aren't functioning as such, while others use terms like particles, which can be subdivided into adverbial and prepositional particles. With intransitive phrasal verbs, we have words which are commonly thought of as prepositions clearly not behaving as such because they're not connecting anything, but many people still happily call them prepositions, though purists generally don't.
 

Tarheel

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I don't know about being a purist, but I like the word "particle". For one thing, if somebody says I shouldn't put a preposition at the end of a sentence I can tell them it isn't a preposition; it's a particle.
 

Rollercoaster1

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Urdu
Home Country
Pakistan
Current Location
Pakistan
With phrasal verbs, some people call the words prepositions even though they aren't functioning as such, while others use terms like particles, which can be subdivided into adverbial and prepositional particles. With intransitive phrasal verbs, we have words which are commonly thought of as prepositions clearly not behaving as such because they're not connecting anything, but many people still happily call them prepositions, though purists generally don't.

Hello,
Would you like to give an example for each, particle, adverbial and prepositional particle, intransitive phrasal verb, (quoting)(we have words which are commonly thought of as prepositions clearly not behaving as such because they're not connecting anything, but many people still happily call them prepositions, though purists generally don't)?
Regards!
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I don't know about being a purist, but I like the word "particle". For one thing, if somebody says I shouldn't put a preposition at the end of a sentence I can tell them it isn't a preposition; it's a particle.

Surely if someone tells you you shouldn't put a preposition at the end of a sentence, you just tell them they're wrong!
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
But in this case, it is not a preposition.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Hello,
Would you like to give an example for each, particle, adverbial and prepositional particle, intransitive phrasal verb, (quoting)(we have words which are commonly thought of as prepositions clearly not behaving as such because they're not connecting anything, but many people still happily call them prepositions, though purists generally don't)?
Regards!

Think of the difference between make up in these two sentences:


They had an argument but have made up. (Intransitive- no object)
He made up the story. (Transitive- the story is the object)
 

Lucy Boylan

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2015
Member Type
Teacher (Other)
Native Language
English
Home Country
Ireland
Current Location
Scotland
Think of the difference between make up in these two sentences:


They had an argument but have made up. (Intransitive- no object)
He made up the story. (Transitive- the story is the object)

In the first example "made up" means solved their problems, became friends again or forgave each other.
In the second example it means invented or imagined the story.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
In the first example "made up" means solved their problems, became friends again or forgave each other.
In the second example it means invented or imagined the story.

You're right, but here we're looking at the difference grammatically between transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top