''Absent (from)''

Status
Not open for further replies.

WilliamRota

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Portuguese
Home Country
Brazil
Current Location
Brazil
I'd like to confirm if this word were used as meaning the verb to absent oneself I might ignore the preposition of. Thank you.
 

MartinEnglish

Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2012
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I can't think of any context in which you could..."I absented myself the party"? No.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I'd like to confirm if this word were used as meaning the verb to absent oneself I might ignore the preposition of. Thank you.

I assume you meant to ask if you could ignore the preposition "from" (not the preposition "of" as you stated in your post). I can't think of any situation where you could omit it.

I absented myself from the meeting.
He absented himself from the party.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
You can do that if you omit the whole prepositional phrase.
"The others attended the party, but I absented myself."
 

Jaskin

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
UK
I manage to find about 16 examples of the verb absented in BNC 9 of which are used without the preposition "from".
BNC link
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Yes, absolutely. The preposition can be omitted if "absent[ed] oneself" is not followed by the event in question.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
I manage to find about 16 examples of the verb absented in BNC 9 of which are used without the preposition "from".
BNC link
In 15 of the 16 citations, 'absented' is followed by a reflexive pronoun (as in post #4) and not followed by the event, as ems noted in post #6. Context is everything.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top