What Governs a Prepositional Phrase?
Dear teachers,
I found the following sentence in a newspaper headline.
1. Forgive me if I use the wrong linguistic terms, but am I right to say that the prepositional phrase (=for 5 years) is governed by the adverbial clause (=while she was asleep)?
2. If so, am I right to say, therefore that the meaning is, the daughter had been sleeping for five years?
Man molested daughter while she was asleep for 5 years.
If I recast the sentence, I should write one of the following:
a. A man, for five years, molested his daughter after she had fallen asleep.
b. A man molested his sleeping daughter for five years.
Thank you very much
Top answer
Ha! You're exactly right, and this is something that you'll find quite often in newspaper headlines. I come across these from time to time, and they always make me laugh.
- Ha!
- You're exactly right, and this is something that you'll find quite often in newspaper headlines.
- I come across these from time to time, and they always make me laugh.
- Good work!
- Also keep in mind that you can move the prepositional phrase to the beginning of the sentence.
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Ha! You're exactly right, and this is something that you'll find quite often in newspaper headlines. I come across these from time to time, and they always make me laugh. Good work!
Also keep in mind that you can move the prepositional phrase to the beginning of the sentence. "For five years, a man molested..."
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