"unusually built" nouns
Hi,
(1) If you could help me with the noun 'lean-to' (*)?
What part of speech is 'lean' in (*)? (My guess 'lean' serves as a verb here?)
What part of speech is 'to' here? A particle? a preposition?
(2) (*) looks very unusually to me. Does it look kinda unusual to native speakers too?
Are there some other (for lack of a better term) compound nouns meeting the same template ("infinitive dash to") in the English language?
Or even more than that .... are there "compound" nouns meeting the template "infinitive dash PPP") where PPP stands for a preposition looking part of speech?
Hope my questions make sense...
Top answer
There's nothing unusual about it. "Lean-to" is a verb-centred compound noun where "lean" is a verb and "to" a preposition. Here, the verb is not the plain form (your infinitive), though it is identical to the lexical base of a verb.
- There's nothing unusual about it.
- "Lean-to" is a verb-centred compound noun where "lean" is a verb and "to" a preposition.
- Here, the verb is not the plain form (your infinitive), though it is identical to the lexical base of a verb.
- I can't think of many other examples with "to", though "set-to" ("fight/argument") seems okay.
- Compounds with prepositions other than "to" are fairly common, and include such examples as "drop-out", "hang-up", "look-out", "phone-in", "take-away" and so on.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
There's nothing unusual about it.
"Lean-to" is a verb-centred compound noun where "lean" is a verb and "to" a preposition. Here, the verb is not the plain form (your infinitive), though it is identical to the lexical base of a verb.
I can't think of many other examples with "to", though "set-to" ("fight/argument") seems okay.
Compounds with prepositions other than "to" are fa
0
Related Questions