How long I want to be doing this for

Question

Asked by The Verge after the announcement if he would remain CEO at Facebook/Meta in the next five years, Zuckerberg said: "Probably. I don't have a specific date how long I want to be doing this for. I guess what I could say is I'm very excited about the next chapter of what we're doing."

[CNN.]

Is the preposition "for" the extraposed head of the interrogative phrase "(for) how long" in the subordinate clause how long I want to be doing this for?

In other words, is "how long" a dependent, i.e. a complement of the preposition "for" in that subordinate clause?

Again, in other words, does the interrogative phrase "how long" function as a complement in the predicative adjunct headed by "for"?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

anonymous
Asked by The Verge after the announcement if he would remain CEO at Facebook/Meta in the next five years, Zuckerberg said: "Probably. I don't have a specific date how long I want to be doing this for. I guess what I could say is I'm very excited about the next chapter of what we're doing."
[CNN.]
Is the preposition "for" the extraposed head of the interrogative phrase "(for) how long" in the subordinate clause how long I want to be doing this for? Yes.
In other words, is "how long" a dependent, i.e. a complement of the preposition "for" in that subordinate clause? Yes.
Again, in other words, does the interrogative phrase "how long" function as a complement in the predicative adjunct headed by "for"? Yes.

You might even go so far as to say that the whole construct "how long I want to be doing this" is the complement of "for" because "I want to be doing this" is the complement of "how long (that?)". Compare: "the amount of time that I want to be doing this".

CJ

How long I want to be doing this for

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