Talk:preposition
Latest comment: 17 years ago by Brett in topic The category of prepositions
The category of prepositions change
The traditional view is that prepositions are always followed by nouns. Not so! They can be followed by:
- prepositions (e.g., out from under...)
- adjectives (e.g., on high, for free),
- adverbs (e.g., until recently)
- interogative clauses (e.g., we can't agree on whether to have children or not).
Furthermore, while the traditional analysis has a preposition becoming a conjunction when followed by a clause, given the above, there's no justification for this. Thus, before is a preposition in both of the following examples:
- She stood before the door.
- She stood before she walked.