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Bepleased Posted 14 years ago
Hello,
Would you be kind enough to let me know the intrinsic logic meanings of the prepositions in the following sentences?
Thank you for your help.
(1) I think I'm completely justified in asking for her resignation?
(my question: Here, does the "in" mean : for the attention of / attending on? )
(2) The thing that is unsatisfactory about this job is that the pay is too low.
(my question: The "about" generally stands for "on the subject of", but here it should have another separate meaning! Like "in connection with" / "related to")
Vocabulary
What intrinsic logic meaning is the prepositions here for?
Hello,
Would you be kind enough to let me know the intrinsic logic meanings of the prepositions in the following sentences?
Thank you for your help.
(1) I think I'm completely justified in asking for her resignation?
(my question: Here, does the "in" mean : for the attention of / attending on? )
(2) The thing that is unsatisfactory about this job is that the pay is too low.
(my question: The "about" generally stands for "on the subject of", but here it should have another separate meaning! Like "in connection with" / "related to")
Top answer
(1) "In", when used like this, is called a grammaticised preposition. It's called that because its use has nothing to with meaning, but is dependent entirely on rules of grammar. e.
- (1) "In", when used like this, is called a grammaticised preposition.
- It's called that because its use has nothing to with meaning, but is dependent entirely on rules of grammar.
- e.
- it's selected by the adjective "justified").
- You come across it, and others like it, with adjectives of intellectual attitude, for example: "Ed is interested in reptiles"; "Kim is fascinated by the stars".
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3 Answers
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(1) "In", when used like this, is called a grammaticised preposition. It's called that because its use has nothing to with meaning, but is dependent entirely on rules of grammar. It has no identifiable meaning of its own, and there is no possibility of replacing it by any other preposition (i.e. it's selected by the adjective "justified"). You come across it, and others like it, with adject
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As you saying : "Ed is interested in reptiles"; "Kim is fascinated by the stars". "He's attentive to detail" etc.
in = for attention of / attending for ; in shows receiver
by shows agent
to = unto ;like as the use of devote unto
"about" here = as result of, "it" shows the cause of "the thing"
nedd your continuing help.
in = for attention of / attending for ; in shows receiver
by shows agent
to = unto ;like as the use of devote unto
"about" here = as result of, "it" shows the cause of "the thing"
nedd your continuing help.
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No! He's saying [the use of these prepositions] "has nothing to with meaning, but is dependent entirely on rules of grammar."
It would be very useful if you could stop searching for deeper meaning in each preposition and just accept that
"interested" takes "in"
"fascinated" takes "by"
"attentive" takes "to."
(You can't say "interested to, fascinated in, att
It would be very useful if you could stop searching for deeper meaning in each preposition and just accept that
"interested" takes "in"
"fascinated" takes "by"
"attentive" takes "to."
(You can't say "interested to, fascinated in, att
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