ESL General English Grammar Questions

ESL General English Grammar Questionshttp://www.englishforums.com/English/EslGeneralEnglishGrammar-Questions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here. <font color=red>DO NOT post paragraphs and compositions here. Post them in our <a href="http://www.englishforums.com/English/EssayReportCompositionWriting/Forum9.htm"><b>Essay, Report and Composition Writing Forum</b></a>.</font>enXMOD (Build: 3616.28671)Re: Posthttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698697Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:16:12 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698697Avangi0http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698697http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-698697.xmlMany thanks.Re: Posthttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698696Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:13:37 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698696CalifJim1http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698696http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-698696.xmlI wondered if since they surely tell something about the verb, it might be said that they modify it. The verb is the central constituent of every sentence. Everything else is subordinate to it in some sense. So, in absurdly broad terms, everything else in the sentence, including the subject and object(s) of the verb "modify" the verb. I find the word "modify" very overused in the world of grammar. It tends to broadbrush everything, thereby covering up a multitude of misunderstandings about the relationships between sentential constituents. CJRe: Posthttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698694Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:03:14 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698694Avangi2http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698694http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-698694.xmlI don't see from him as adverbial. Thanks for bringing this up, CJ. I've been hoping to clarify it since B.B.'s last post on the subject. He correctly identified the objects, but seemed to also be saying that they modified the verb. I wondered if since they surely tell something about the verb, it might be said that they modify it. You've answered my question. - A.Posthttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698690Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:37:25 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698690CalifJim3http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698690http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-698690.xmlfrom marks the source argument of the three-argument form of the verb borrow. BORROW (borrower, thing borrowed, source of the borrowing). I don't see from him as adverbial. It's simply a constituent of the main clause, the same way that to him is a constuent of GIVE (giver, thing given, destination of the gift): I gave a gift to him. In the latter case, we have a special term (indirect object) for the destination. Unfortunately, many systems of grammatical analysis do not have a special term for the source. It is not necessary for every word in a sentence to be labeled as a modifier of something else, though from the series of questions you've been asking lately, it seems you believe so. CJRe: Really complicated grammar =Shttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698676Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:49:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698676BlackBlitz4http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698676http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-698676.xml"I borrowed a gift from him" I'm still wondering about what a place "adverbial" would modify. "borrowing" doesn't occur literally "where" (from him).Re: Really complicated grammar =Shttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698672Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:22:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698672Avangi5http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htm#698672http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-698672.xml1. What exactly is an adverb of place? I know that it describes where the action takes place. "I was swimming at the pool" At the pool = adverb place But then someone told me that it can modify any direction of the verb. "I stole the clothes from the store" From the stole = sounds like the direction/place of stealing, BUTTT... it also can modify "the clothes" And what about this sentence, "I received a gift from him" and "I banned him from the school" Hi, Black Blitz, Please try to distinguish between a word and a phrase. An adverb is a word . You may look it up in the dictionary, and it will say "adv." It may tell where, it may tell when, it may tell how, etc. It...Really complicated grammar =Shttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htmFri, 17 Apr 2009 20:47:29 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:698660BlackBlitz6http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReallyComplicatedGrammarS/wgdwl/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-698660.xml1. What exactly is an adverb of place? I know that it describes where the action takes place. "I was swimming at the pool" At the pool = adverb place But then someone told me that it can modify any direction of the verb. "I stole the clothes from the store" From the stole = sounds like the direction/place of stealing, BUTTT... it also can modify "the clothes" And what about this sentence, "I received a gift from him" and "I banned him from the school" 2. With stative verbs, I can't think of any adverbs of place. "I want the book there" vs. "I want the book to be there" In the first example, "there" modifies the book and in the second "to be...