Collins Cobuild English Grammar (84 page)

Using a prepositional phrase after a linking verb

3.172
  When you want to give information about someone or something by describing their circumstances, you can sometimes use a
prepositional phrase
after a linking verb.

use after
be

3.173
  You can use many kinds of prepositional phrase after
be
.

He was still
in a state of shock
.
I walked home with Bill, who was
in a very good mood
.
She had an older brother who was
in the army
.
I’m
from Dortmund
originally.
…people who are
under pressure
.
Your comments are
of great interest to me
.
This book is
for any woman who has a child
.

use after other verbs

3.174
  Some other linking verbs can be used with a more restricted range of prepositional phrases.

He
seemed in excellent health
.
We do ask people to
keep in touch
with us.
These methods have gradually
fallen into disuse
.
He
got into trouble
with the police.

Here is a list of other linking verbs that are used with prepositional phrases:

appear

fall

feel

get

keep

remain

seem

stay

referring to place

3.175
  Some verbs that are always or often followed by an adjective can also be used with prepositional phrases relating to place.

She’s
in California
.
I’ll stay
here
with the children.
The cat was now lying
on the sofa
.

Here is a list of these verbs:

be

keep

remain

stay

~

hang

lie

sit

stand

For more information about prepositional phrases and adverbs relating to place, see paragraphs
6.73
to
6.92
and
6.53
to
6.72
.

referring to time

3.176
  
Be
can be used with time expressions to say when something took place or will take place.

That final meeting was
on 3 November
.

For more information about time expressions, see paragraphs
4.85
to
4.111
.

use in transitive structures

3.177
  Prepositional phrases can also be used in transitive structures to say that someone or something is caused to be in a particular state.

They’ll get me
out of trouble
.
The fear of being discovered kept me
on the alert
.

Talking about what role something has or how it is perceived: the preposition
as

3.178
  Prepositional phrases beginning with
as
can be used after some verbs.

use in intransitive structures

3.179
  Prepositional phrases beginning with
as
are used after certain intransitive verbs to show what role or function the subject has, or what identity they pretend to have.

Bleach removes colour and acts
as an antiseptic and deodoriser
.
He served
as Kennedy’s ambassador to India
.
The sitting room doubles
as her office
.

Here is a list of verbs that can be followed by
as
in this way:

act

come

double

function

pass

pose

serve

Work
can also be used in this way, when it has a human subject.

She works
as a counsellor
with an AIDS charity.

use in transitive structures

3.180
  A number of transitive verbs can be used with
as
after their object.

With some, a noun phrase is used after
as
. The
as
phrase describes the role of the object or what it is thought to be.

I wanted to use him
as an agent
.
I treated business
as a game
.

Here is a list of transitive verbs that can be used with
as
and a noun phrase:

brand

cast

categorize

certify

characterize

choose

class

condemn

consider

define

denounce

depict

describe

diagnose

elect

establish

give

hail

identify

intend

interpret

label

name

perceive

recognize

regard

scorn

see

suggest

take

treat

use

view

With others, an adjective is used after
as
. The adjective indicates what quality or characteristic the object is thought to have.

Party members and officials
described him as brilliant
.
They
regarded manual work as degrading
.

Here is a list of transitive verbs that can be used with
as
and an adjective:

brand

categorize

certify

characterize

class

condemn

define

denounce

depict

describe

diagnose

establish

label

perceive

regard

scorn

see

view

3.181
  
Look upon
,
refer to
, and
think of
are also used with
as
in this way.
As
must be followed by a noun when used with
refer to
.

In some households the man
was referred to as
the master.

Talking about closely linked actions: using two main verbs together

3.182
  This section describes the ways in which you use two main verbs together to talk about two actions or states that are closely linked.

These two actions may be performed by the same person. See paragraphs
3.189
to
3.201
.

She
stopped speaking
.
Davis
likes to talk
about horses.

Alternatively, the actions may be performed by different people. If they are, the performer of the second action is the object of the first verb. See paragraphs
3.202
to
3.212
.

I don’t
want them to feel
I’ve slighted them.
One of the group began pumping her chest to
help her breathe
.

3.183
  Note that the first verb needs the second verb after it because it does not give enough information on its own. For example,
I want
does not give enough information to be a useful statement, but
I want to talk to you
does.

Some of the verbs dealt with below, for example
want
and
like
, can also be ordinary transitive verbs, with a noun phrase after them. Transitive verbs are explained in paragraphs
3.14
to
3.25
.

3.184
  If you want to talk about two actions that are less closely linked, you refer to each action in a separate clause. Ways of combining clauses are explained in
Chapter 8
.

verb forms

3.185
  The first verb involved in this type of structure is the main verb of the structure. It usually inflects for tense and agrees in number with the subject; it is
finite
.

I
wanted
to come home.
Lonnie
wants
to say sorry.
More and more people
are coming
to appreciate the contribution that these people make to our society.

3.186
  The second verb in the combination does not inflect for tense or change its form at all; it is
non-finite
.

She tried
to read
.
They had been trying
to read
.

Information about finite and non-finite forms can be found in the Reference Section.

3.187
  There are four non-finite verb forms that are used for the second verb in this type of structure:

the
-ing
participle