ifference between an Adverb and a Preposition

Question

I sometimes get confused between Adverbs and Prepositions. What is the real diffence between them? And how to identity them in confusing sentences like:
1.Yesterday, he looked up the stairs and found his brother dead.
2. He looked up and found Akbar missing from his bed.

The word 'up' in the above two sentences, is it an adverb or a preposition? Please justify your answer.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

LeGion12359The word 'up' in the above two sentences, is it an adverb or a preposition? Please justify your answer.

1.Yesterday, he looked up the stairs and found his brother dead. There is a noun phrase following "up" which makes logical sense. "Up the stairs" is a semantically meaningful phrase. The meaning is not right for a phrasal verb -" look up".
Thus, "up" is a preposition.

2. He looked up and found Akbar missing from his bed. There is no noun phrase after "up."
look up = to look in an upward direction. Thus, up is an adverb of place (location).

LeGion12359 · Answer

AlpheccaStars LeGion12359The word 'up' in the above two sentences, is it an adverb or a preposition? Please justify your answer.1.Yesterday, he looked up the stairs and found his brother dead. There is a noun phrase following "up" which makes logical sense. "Up the stairs" is a semantically meaningful phrase. The meaning is not right for a phrasal verb -" look up". Thus, "up" is a preposition. 2. He looked up and found Akbar missing from his bed. There is no noun phrase after "up."look up = to look in an upward direction. Thus, up is an adverb of place (location).

Thank you, I got it completely, you really are a great teacher, AlpheccaStars. :-)

ifference between an Adverb and a Preposition

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