Prepositional phrases

Question

"For example, the following italicized prepositional phrases function as noun phrase complements:
My English teacher encourages my passion for reading.
Your love of spaghetti with ketchup seems strange to me.
His fear of falling to his death prevents him from bungee jumping.
The author of the famous book died a terrible death at a young age.

For example, the following italicized prepositional phrases function as noun phrase modifiers:
The man in the yellow hat owns a pet monkey.
That woman with the glasses is my mother.
My dog is the puppy behind the fence.
I enjoy writing articles about English grammar."
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From:
http://www.linguisticsgirl.com/the-noun-phrase-complement-in-english-grammar/
http://www.linguisticsgirl.com/the-noun-phrase-modifier-in-english-grammar/

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What is the grammatical reason behind that differentiation between prepositional phrases functioning as noun phrases complements and noun phrases modifiers?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

AnonymousWhat is the grammatical reason behind that differentiation between prepositional phrases functioning as noun phrases complements and noun phrases modifiers?

It keeps the linguists employed; gives them something to argue about.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousWhat is the grammatical reason behind that differentiation between prepositional phrases functioning as noun phrases complements and noun phrases modifiers?

This is a very tough nut to crack. If you ever find out more than I mention below, please let me know. The only tips I've discovered so far are these:

1. If the noun is deverbal and you can make a verb-object combination out of the noun-prepositional-phrase combination, the prepositional phrase functions as a noun-phrase complement.

Your love of spaghetti with ketchup seems strange to me. (You love spaghetti.)
His fear of falling to his death prevents him from bungee jumping. (He fears falling ....)

2. If the noun governs the object of the prepositional phrase in some way, using "governs" very loosely, and including cases where the noun produces the object of the preposition, the prepositional phrase functions as a noun-phrase complement.

the author of the book, the King of England, the president of the U.S., the founder of Microsoft

___

I don't know how passion for reading fits.
____________

Noun phrase modifiers are purely descriptions which help the reader (listener) pick out a specific entity in the real world which matches the given description.

The man in the yellow hat owns a pet monkey. (not a man in a red or blue hat)
That woman with the glasses is my mother. (not any woman without glasses)
My dog is the puppy behind the fence. (not the puppy in front of the fence)
I enjoy writing articles about English grammar. (not about French food)

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, CJ, for the reply.

CalifJimI don't know how passion for reading fits.

I wonder whether it has something to do with the pattern: s+v+o+to infinitive.
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My English teacher encourages my passion for reading.
He encourages me to read.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI wonder whether it has something to do with the pattern: s+v+o+to infinitive.
My English teacher encourages my passion for reading.
He encourages me to read.

It could be.

CJ

Prepositional phrases

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