Next Door

[Luckysquirty]

The tree next door survived the storm.

What part of speech is "next"? Is it a determiner modifying "door"? And does the phrase "next door" function as an adjective to modify "tree"? Thank you.

 

[Rover_KE]

Why are you asking us so many grammatical questions, Luckysquirty? Are you asking us to do your school assignments?

 

[Luckysquirty]

Of course not. I haven't been in a classroom in more than 50 years. Why would you even go there? They are legitimate questions. I am curious. Thank you. Nearly all schools shut in U.S. because of virus.

 

[Luckysquirty]

I was just seeking some help. Regarding my question: "Door" is a noun. "Next" has me confused. I simply asked whether the two words joined together function as some compound adjective to modify the subject "tree."

 

[Luckysquirty]

I would say that the tree next door is a noun phrase functioning as the subject of that sentence.

Within that noun phrase next door is a noun phrase functioning adverbially.

The head of the latter noun phrase is the noun door, which is modified by the adjective next.


You may well receive different opinions from other members.

First off, thank you for your help. I was leaning in the direction of an adjective modifier. For example: "The boy in the street is noisy" and "The boy downstairs is noisy." Same structure as the "tree next door" sentence and clearly both modifying the subject.

 

[jutfrank]

Here's my view on this: you're wasting time trying to identify the parts of speech of individual words. You'd do much better to analyse each component of the sentence in terms of its grammatical and/or semantic function.

So your second question is much better than your first: think about next door, not next.

I see next door as an adjectival phrase (not adverbial) modifying the tree. It says where the tree is.

 

[Luckysquirty]

Here's my view on this: you're wasting time trying to identify the parts of speech of individual words. You'd do much better to analyse each component of the sentence in terms of its grammatical and/or semantic function.

So your second question is much better than your first: think about next door, not next.

I see next door as an adjectival phrase (not adverbial) modifying the tree. It says where the tree is.

I'm new here. I respect your opinion; however, I believe not all members feel I am wasting time. It is those to whom I am reaching out for help. Thank you for your input.

 

[Tarheel]

ESL learners often focus on individual words and miss the point of the sentence.

 

[Rover_KE]

Why are you asking us so many grammatical questions, Luckysquirty? Are you asking us to do your school assignments?

Of course not. I haven't been in a classroom in more than 50 years.

How were we supposed to know that? From time to time students join the forum expecting to get free homework answers, so we need to establish their motives if they're not immediately apparent.

 

[Luckysquirty]

How were we supposed to know that? From time to time students join the forum expecting to get free homework answers, so we need to establish their motives if they're not immediately apparent.

I'm sorry didn't see this forum. Otherwise I would have put the questions here.

 

[Tdol]

The distinction between next door as an adverb and an adjective really is splitting hairs:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/next-door

 

[jutfrank]

The distinction between next door as an adverb and an adjective really is splitting hairs:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/next-door

I'm not sure what you mean. What's splitting hairs? Are you talking about the grammatical or semantic function, or both?

By the way, the dictionary has got it wrong in the first part—there's an important difference between I went next door and the flat next door.

 

[PaulMatthews]

The tree next door survived the storm.

What part of speech is "next"? Is it a determiner modifying "door"? And does the phrase "next door" function as an adjective to modify "tree"? Thank you.

The tree next door survived the storm.

No, it's not a determiner.

It's always worth checking with a dictionary when in doubt, and dictionaries treat "next" as either an adjective ("my next job") or an adverb ("What shall we do next?"). Further support for the adjective analysis is that "next" can be modified by "very" ("my very next job").

The definite article "the" indicates that the referent of the NP it introduces is identifiable -- I assume you know which tree I am referring to. In this case, the tree is identifiable by virtue of being in the property next to yours, so "next door" must be a modifier of "tree".

 

[TheParser]

The tree next door survived the storm.

NOT A TEACHER


Hi,

I have a suspicion that some people would say that "The tree next door" is a shorter way to say "The tree that is next door."

a. "that is next door" is an adjective phrase.
b. But "next door" is modifying "is" (which means "exists" in that adjective phrase), so "next door" is adverbial in "that is next door."

As the other posters have said, it's really difficult to come to a definitive answer. But if I were using the Reed-Kellogg diagramming system, for the sake of simplicity, I would classify "next door" in your sentence as an adjectival modifier of "tree."

May I commend you for wanting to parse sentences? I look forward to many more of your interesting questions in my favorite sub-forum.

 

[PaulMatthews]

the tree that is next door

I wouldn't go along with what you say.

The expression "that is next door" does indeed modify "tree", but it is a relative clause, not an adjective phrase.

"Next door" is a locative complement of "is", not a modifier, as is evident from it being obligatory. Note that obligatory items are always complements -- they are required to complete the verb phrase.

"Next door" is of course an idiom. Thus in "How do you get on with the people in the house next door?", "the house next door" means "the house which is (immediately) next to yours".

 

[TheParser]

The expression "that is next door" does indeed modify "tree", but it is a relative clause, not an adjective phrase.

Thank you for pointing out my misuse of the word "phrase."

 

[Luckysquirty]

NOT A TEACHER


Hi,

I have a suspicion that some people would say that "The tree next door" is a shorter way to say "The tree that is next door."

a. "that is next door" is an adjective phrase.
b. But "next door" is modifying "is" (which means "exists" in that adjective phrase), so "next door" is adverbial in "that is next door."

As the other posters have said, it's really difficult to come to a definitive answer. But if I were using the Reed-Kellogg diagramming system, for the sake of simplicity, I would classify "next door" in your sentence as an adjectival modifier of "tree."

May I commend you for wanting to parse sentences? I look forward to many more of your interesting questions in my favorite sub-forum.

The next door neighbor brought me a cake. (Proper word order)

Could it be the author of the sentence placed the adjectival modifier after the noun for style, as in "The tree next door."

One may also claim the participle is missing: The tree growing next door is ready to fall.

"Next door"seems almost certainly pointed at the noun "tree" and not at the verb "is."

 

[PaulMatthews]

The next door neighbor brought me a cake. (Proper word order)

Could it be the author of the sentence placed the adjectival modifier after the noun for style, as in "The tree next door."

One may also claim the participle is missing: The tree growing next door is ready to fall.

"Next door"seems almost certainly pointed at the noun "tree" and not at the verb "is."

There's nothing 'missing': "the tree next door" is the natural way of saying it. The other expressions are just different ways of saying it that may require a particular context.

In "the tree next door", the adjective "next" is modifying "door", so "next door" is a noun phrase modifying "tree". Thus "the tree next door" is a noun phrase.

But in, for example, "I like the tree that is next door", the element "that is next door" is a relative clause modifying tree. Here the noun phrase "next door" is complement of "be". It's a complement because it's an obligatory item.

Note that, as I said before, "next door" is an idiom.