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Tkacka15 Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

What we are leaving to go to

”Fallon, who campaigned to remain in the EU, said he did not want a second referendum. “I think we should respect the decision of the British people and I think we should be leaving. We committed to that in our manifesto but we need to be very careful what we are leaving to go to.”

(The Guardian.)

Is the last to an adverb or a preposition in the clause we need to be very careful what we are leaving to go to?

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I wonder whether this to collocates with the non-finite clause to go, thus being an adverb, or with what, its complement in that clause (to [what]). What puzzles me even more is the wording itself in what we are leaving to go to. In other words, is to go to a phrasal verb with ellipted in order before it like this: we need to be very careful what we are leaving [in order] to go to?

  

Top answer

tkacka15 Is the last to an adverb or a preposition Preposition. tkacka15 (to [what]) Yes. tkacka15 is to go to a phrasal verb No.

— GPY

  • tkacka15 Is the last to an adverb or a preposition Preposition.
  • tkacka15 (to [what]) Yes.
  • tkacka15 is to go to a phrasal verb No.
  • tkacka15 we need to be very careful what we are leaving [in order] to go to?
  • More or less, yes.
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2 Answers
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tkacka15Is the last to an adverb or a preposition

Preposition.

tkacka15(to [what])

Yes.

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tkacka15Is the last to an adverb or a preposition in the clause we need to be very careful what we are leaving to go to?

We committed to that in our manifesto but we need to be very careful what we are leaving to go to.

The final "to" is a preposition that has "what" as its complement: "we are leaving

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