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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Play at

"They want to play at politics."

Does "at" modify "play" there , or do you feel it belongs to "politics"?
  

Top answer

I would consider 'play at' a two-word verb, making 'politics' the direct object. The structure is different from 'he played at the new symphony hall', which would be a prepositional phrase as an adverb.

— Philip

  • I would consider 'play at' a two-word verb, making 'politics' the direct object.
  • The structure is different from 'he played at the new symphony hall', which would be a prepositional phrase as an adverb.
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2 Answers
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I would consider 'play at' a two-word verb, making 'politics' the direct object.

The structure is different from 'he played at the new symphony hall', which would be a prepositional phrase as an adverb.
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To my reading it has the following meaning (from Answers.com):
In the activity or field of: skilled at playing chess; good at math.
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