Adverbial phrase

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Luckysquirty

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Our comforting words made the child unaware of the danger.

Is the prep. phrase "of the danger" adverbial modifying "unaware."
 

jutfrank

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No, I don't think so.

I think it's a complement of unaware.
 

PaulMatthews

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Yes, it's a complement, not a modifier, because the adjective "unaware" selects (licenses) the preposition "of" as head of the PP.
 

Luckysquirty

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Yes, it's a complement, not a modifier, because the adjective "unaware" selects (licenses) the preposition "of" as head of the PP.

So, the pp phrase neither functions as an adjective or an adverb; it's just a complement.

What if I changed the sentence: "Unaware of the danger, he continued down the path." Do we get the same results, a complement?
 

PaulMatthews

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So, the pp phrase neither functions as an adjective or an adverb; it's just a complement.

Yes, a complement of "unaware".


What if I changed the sentence: "Unaware of the danger, he continued down the path." Do we get the same results, a complement?

No, the adjective phrase "unaware of the danger" is functioning not as a complement but as a predicative adjunct – more specifically, a supplement, detached by intonation and punctuation from the rest of the clause.

It's an adjunct because it is an optional item attached to a clause, and it’s predicative because it relates to a predicand, here the subject "he".

Compare: "He was unaware of the danger", where "unaware of the danger" is a predicative complement, an obligatory item since it is required to complete the verb phrase.
 

Luckysquirty

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Yes, a complement of "unaware".




No, the adjective phrase "unaware of the danger" is functioning not as a complement but as a predicative adjunct – more specifically, a supplement, detached by intonation and punctuation from the rest of the clause.

It's an adjunct because it is an optional item attached to a clause, and it’s predicative because it relates to a predicand, here the subject "he".

Compare: "He was unaware of the danger", where "unaware of the danger" is a predicative complement, an obligatory item since it is required to complete the verb phrase.

Please be patient, Paul (and thanks for the help). So, in my original sentence (Our comforting words made the child unaware of the danger.) the prepositional phrase and complement (of the danger) could be considered just an "add-on to complete," since it doesn't function as an adjective or adverb.

In your last example, isn't it true that "He was unaware" could stand alone as a sentence? Why would you say the pp "of the danger" is obligatory?

In your example, are you referring to the complete predicate as a verb phrase? I don't see a verb phrase; I see the single verb "was."

He was unaware of the danger.
 
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PaulMatthews

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in my original sentence (Our comforting words made the child unaware of the danger.) the prepositional phrase and complement (of the danger) could be considered just an "add-on to complete," since it doesn't function as an adjective or adverb.

It’s a PP, and it qualifies as a complement by virtue of being licensed (specifically required or permitted) by the adjective “unaware”.


In your last example, isn't it true that "He was unaware" could stand alone as a sentence? Why would you say the pp "of the danger" is obligatory?
I didn’t say that the PP was obligatory. I said that the adjective phrase "unaware of the danger" was obligatory because it is required to complete the verb phrase.

In your example, are you referring to the complete predicate as a verb phrase? I don't see a verb phrase; I see the single verb "was."

He was unaware of the danger.

The predicate of a sentence is a verb phrase consisting of a predicator (verb) together with any dependents such as complements and modifiers. "Was" is head of the verb phrase "was unaware of the danger".

Leaving aside ellipsis (which is not relevant here), you can’t just say "He was". It requires something to syntactically complete the construction, in this case the AdjP "unaware of the danger", which is why it's a complement.
 

Luckysquirty

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We use different terms. In most of the textbooks I have studied, the following constitutes a verb phrase: "must have been living." What you called a verb phrase "was unaware of the danger" is referred to as the complete predicate in grammar books I have studied from. With "was" the simple predicate (or verb). Nevertheless, thanks.

Can't you just add the adjective "unaware"? Doesn't call for a phrase to make sense.
 
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