Prepositional adverb
Encyclopedia
A prepositional adverb is a word - mainly a particle
- which is very similar in its form to a preposition but functions as an adverb
. Prepositional adverbs occur mainly in English
, German
and Dutch
. Unlike real prepositions, they occur mainly at the end of a phrase and not before nouns. They also modify the verb, which a preposition does not.
An example of a prepositional adverb in English is inside in He came inside.
only if the verb's meaning is changed by the prepositional adverb. In English, there are lots of examples of this. For example, let can have many possible meanings depending on which prepositional adverb it is combined with (let down, let in, let off, let to etc.)
, those of other classes occasionally have corresponding features. For instance, Slavic languages
such as Czech
may prefix prepositions to verbs of motion (jít to go → dojít to come towards, odejít to go away from). In Hungarian
, the suffixes added to nouns to perform the same functions as prepositions in Indo-European languages
may also be prefixed to verbs, much as in German (városba to the city, bemenni to go towards).
Grammatical particle
In grammar, a particle is a function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes . It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition...
- which is very similar in its form to a preposition but functions as an adverb
Adverb
An adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
. Prepositional adverbs occur mainly in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. Unlike real prepositions, they occur mainly at the end of a phrase and not before nouns. They also modify the verb, which a preposition does not.
An example of a prepositional adverb in English is inside in He came inside.
Phrasal verb
A verb combined with a prepositional adverb is called a phrasal verbPhrasal verb
A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition, any of which are part of the syntax of the sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit. Sentences may contain direct and indirect objects in addition to the phrasal...
only if the verb's meaning is changed by the prepositional adverb. In English, there are lots of examples of this. For example, let can have many possible meanings depending on which prepositional adverb it is combined with (let down, let in, let off, let to etc.)
Prepositional adverbs in other languages
Although prepositional adverbs are largely associated with Germanic languagesGermanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
, those of other classes occasionally have corresponding features. For instance, Slavic languages
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
such as Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
may prefix prepositions to verbs of motion (jít to go → dojít to come towards, odejít to go away from). In Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, the suffixes added to nouns to perform the same functions as prepositions in Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
may also be prefixed to verbs, much as in German (városba to the city, bemenni to go towards).