bed

Hi

Please let me know which part of speech is bed over here.

He goes to bed.

Regards
Pallavi

pallavi kakkar said:

Hi

Please let me know which part of speech is bed over here.

He goes to bed.

Regards
Pallavi

Click to expand...

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

He = pronoun.

goes = verb.

to= preposition.

bed = noun. (The object of a preposition is always a noun or a pronoun.)

to bed = prepositional phrase that modifies/ belongs to/ comes under

"goes." Where does he go? To bed.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

TheParser said:

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

He = pronoun.

goes = verb.

to= preposition.

bed = noun. (The object of a preposition is always a noun or a pronoun.)

to bed = prepositional phrase that modifies/ belongs to/ comes under

Click to expand...

What if we replaced 'bed' with 'sleep', would that change things?

lauralie2 said:

What if we replaced 'bed' with 'sleep', would that change things?

Click to expand...

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Great question!!!

(1) He = pronoun.

(2) goes = verb.

(3) to = preposition.

(4) sleep = noun.

to sleep = prepositional phrase. (He goes to sleep very quickly.)

(5) to sleep = infinitive.

Why are you going to the sofa now? I am going to the sofa in order

to sleep.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

TheParser said:

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Great question!!!

(1) He = pronoun.

(2) goes = verb.

(3) to = preposition.

(4) sleep = noun.

to sleep = prepositional phrase. (He goes to sleep very quickly.)

(5) to sleep = infinitive.

Why are you going to the sofa now? I am going to the sofa in order

to sleep.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Click to expand...

Looking at (4), could 'sleep' be interpreted as a noun, a place, really? Or is it that 'to sleep', an infinitive in form, functions as a noun phrase?

lauralie2 said:

Looking at (4), could 'sleep' be interpreted as a noun, a place, really? Or is it that 'to sleep', an infinitive in form, functions as a noun phrase?

Click to expand...

"To sleep" is an infinitive here as one may say
"I went out to play"

shoaib 1 said:

"To sleep" is an infinitive here as one may say "I went out to play"

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Mmm, but the same cannot be said to work here:

• ?He goes [in order] to sleep.

lauralie2 said:

Mmm, but the same cannot be said to work here:

• ?He goes [in order] to sleep.

Click to expand...

*****NOT A TEACHER *****

(1) He went out (in order) to sleep (in the treehouse). Infinitive. "Good"

English.

(2) He goes [in order] to sleep. "Bad" English. (infinitive)

(3) He goes to sleep. "Good" English. (noun)

(a) "Sleep" = noun

(i) a condition of body and mind such as that which typically

occurs for several hours every night. (The New Oxford American Dictionary.)

Tommy, turn off the TV now and go to sleep. (prepositional phrase) This

"Tommy" sentence is only mine. It is NOT given in the dictionary cited.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

TheParser said:

(2) He goes [in order] to sleep. "Bad" English. (infinitive)

(3) He goes to sleep. "Good" English. (noun)

(a) "Sleep" = noun

(i) a condition of body and mind such as that which typically occurs for several hours every night. (The New Oxford American Dictionary.)

Click to expand...

I see your point of view: 'sleep' is synonymous with 'bed', but the semantics are off. The definition, provided by Oxford, above, works well with, say, "Sleep is what we do at night, not in the day", but not with 'to sleep' in "He goes to sleep", as in that construct, 'sleep' refers to an act, not a place, and as such functions as part of an infinitive verb, which makes it verbal, not nominal:

• He goes to bed at 10 p.m. <prepositional phrase>
• He goes to sleep at 10 p.m. <infinitive phrase>

Above, two similar structures introduced by the word 'to' admit different semantics. One refers to a place, a bed, whereas the other refers to an act, sleep. This difference, the one between place and act, manifests as follows:

• to bed
  • form: prepositional phrase: to + noun
  • function: absolute noun phrase
• to sleep
  • form: infinitive phrase: to + base verb
  • function: absolute noun phrase

My point, 'sleep' is a verb, not a noun. It's the infinite 'to sleep' that functions as a noun.

lauralie2 said:

I see your point of view: 'sleep' is synonymous with 'bed', but the semantics are off. The definition, provided by Oxford, above, works well with, say, "Sleep is what we do at night, not in the day", but not with 'to sleep' in "He goes to sleep", as in that construct, 'sleep' refers to an act, not a place, and as such functions as part of an infinitive verb, which makes it verbal, not nominal:

• He goes to bed at 10 p.m. <prepositional phrase>
• He goes to sleep at 10 p.m. <infinitive phrase>

Above, two similar structures introduced by the word 'to' admit different semantics. One refers to a place, a bed, whereas the other refers to an act, sleep. This difference, the one between place and act, manifests as follows:

• to bed
  • form: prepositional phrase: to + noun
  • function: absolute noun phrase
• to sleep
  • form: infinitive phrase: to + base verb
  • function: absolute noun phrase

My point, 'sleep' is a verb, not a noun. It's the infinite 'to sleep' that functions as a noun.

Click to expand...

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

(1) Thank you for your most persuasive comments. Your posts show that

you have a solid background in grammar. We all -- native speakers and

learners -- always learn so much from your answers.

(2) If I am not mistaken, I believe that even the experts at the

university often disagree on how to interpret certain points of grammar.

(3) I was not able to find out much about this topic on the Web

(Needless to say, most people on this planet couldn't care less), and

we all realize the Web has a lot of misinformation.

(a) Nevertheless, I discovered that some people (rightly or wrongly)

feel that "go to sleep" is an example of verb + prepositional phrase.

(b) "I was afraid to go to sleep." Some felt = p.p.

"I was afraid to sleep." Some felt = infinitive.

(c) One "expert" cited: "Go back to sleep" as an example of "back" being

used with a "prepositional phrase."

(4) I checked my 1952 edition of Funk & Wagnalls New Standard

Dictionary of the English Language. It listed all the noun uses, and then

it gave this phrase:

to go to sleep = to fall asleep

(5) When you say, "Go to sleep," it seems that you are saying:

Start sleeping. In other words, "sleep" seems to be a state. And

I believe that a state can qualify as a noun.

*****

It would be great if native speakers and learners were to

give us their opinions. In fact, how do other languages analyze

"go to sleep"?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hi *Parser

Thank you for the compliment. I also learn from you, and yes, our learned experts in the white towers do indeed 'often disagree on how to interpret certain points of grammar', and how wonderful that is, isn't it? If they agreed, we'd be in trouble.

There are some examples on the Web under absolute noun phrases that offer examples with 'go to', but not much else, as you have said. I believe if you look under 'quasi-modals', a similar construct yet with different semantic contribution, you'll find 'to' is treated by some as part of the modal; i.e., ought to, and by some as a prepositional particle--whatever that is. Could that be the case with 'go to / sleep' (cf. the quasi-modal 'ought to / sleep')?

In any case, whether 'go to sleep' is an example of verb + prepositional phrase OR verb + absolute noun phrase doesn't seem to matter to most people. As long as it fits the template V + <nominal>, right? (i.e., 'I was afraid to go to sleep', 'Go back to sleep'.) They fit the mold.

There's one hiccup. Given that structure is meaning, do we have two meanings here, a PP one and an InfV one? Is that even possible or should we be asking which of the two better describes the inner workings of the grammar?


The example to go to sleep = to fall asleep reminds me of an old quasi-modal analysis in which the second part of the quasi-modal was viewed adjectivally because it expressed a state. What's of interest here is how similar the quasi-modal structure is to 'go to'. Dare I ask this question, could 'go to' be a quasi-modal?

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss this with you.

NOT A TEACHER

Lauralie2, I have EXCITING news for you, me, and the five (?) other

people on this planet who care about this matter.

It is a win-win for us both. You are right, and -- ahem -- I am, too.

Someone directed me to the Macmillan Dictionary online and its

definition of "go to." Just as you said, it IS a "phrasal verb" that means

"start being in a particular state."

The dictionary gives this example:

I was just going to sleep when the phone rang.

(As somebody told me: "I go to sleep" probably =

"I go to bed." He said (as did you) that no one

would say:

I go (in order) TO SLEEP (infinitive) )

***** NOT A TEACHER

TheParser said:

Someone directed me to the Macmillan Dictionary online and its definition of "go to." Just as you said, it IS a "phrasal verb" that means "start being in a particular state."

Click to expand...

Ooh, nice. So are we saying "sleep" is a noun here?

lauralie2 said:

Ooh, nice. So are we saying "sleep" is a noun here?

• Go to / sleep <phrasal verb / noun>

Click to expand...

***** NOT A TEACHER


Yes, I think so.

(Computer problems. Can't currently push the "thank you" button for your

last post. So will THANK you here for your insight.)

***** NOT A TEACHER