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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

questionable adverbial phrase

Another English teacher and I are having a disagreement about the following sentence: “He screwed up his eyes, trying to see what it was.” Clearly, “He” is the subject and “screwed” is the predicate. “Up his eyes” is a prepositional/ adverbial phrase. The part we’re arguing over is the “trying to see what it was”. I’m maintaining that it is another adverbial phrase, although I don’t know that I’ve ever had to analyze one that answered the question of why the action is happening. Any ideas?
  

Top answer

Hi, 'Screwed up' is a phrasal verb, meaning 'damaged'. 'His eyes' is the direct object. ( He screwed up) ( his eyes), trying to see what it was.

— Clive

  • Hi, 'Screwed up' is a phrasal verb, meaning 'damaged'.
  • 'His eyes' is the direct object.
  • ( He screwed up) ( his eyes), trying to see what it was.
  • 'Trying to see what it was' is adverbial.
  • Think of it as meaning ' while trying to see what it was'.
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4 Answers
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Hi,

'Screwed up' is a phrasal verb, meaning 'damaged'. 'His eyes' is the direct object.
( He screwed up) ( his eyes), trying to see what it was.

'Trying to see what it was' is adverbial. Think of it as meaning 'while trying to see wh
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To ***** up one's eyes is something like to squint hard. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/*****-up def. 1
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First time I'm here..Could some one help me please?
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Anonymous First time I'm here..Could some one help me please?
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