By Adverbs, Accusative

I agree that the various terms are difficult to disentangle. I see the relevant taxonomy as something like this:A. Not AmbitransitiveType (i): used only intransitively (a) past participle = adj:1a. The plate fell (unaccusative)1b. The fallen plate1c. *The plate was fallen1d. *He falls the...

Than ought to be used as either a demonstrative pronoun or a conjunction. In the sentence 'Jessica is prettier than me', it is being used as a conjunction. This conjunction usually occurs after a comparative adjective or adverb. In this case, it occurs after better, which is a comparative...

<...adverb...> That's a useful test. (Though I can imagine saying "Did it sell?".) "Middle voice" troubles me because it's used in Greek for a reflexive form, as in "I wash myself"; also for "I do X for my own benefit" (now why don't we have that one). I remember reading somewhere that...

Beth Levin (English Verb Class and Alternations) calls this the middle construction. She mentions another construction -- alternation between causative and inchoative -- with the notation that another name for this one is "ergative". She lists "sell" as impossible in the...

Hello Hela"Enough" has two usages. As an adjective, it is a synonym to "adequate" or "sufficient". As an adverb, it means "to the sufficient degree".As for "morning", "yesterday", "tomorrow", "today", and others, they can be a noun as well as an adverb. They are originally nouns, but English has...

Hello AnonI'm a mere English learner from Japan and my role here is rather an asker than an answerer. But if you don't mind, I'd like you to read my ideas about your question. I take "school" in "go to school" or "church" in "go to church" as an uncountable noun. As you suggested, "school" or...

Hello MaraI myself want to know why it is so. My guess is that this tendency has its origin in the grammar of Old English that was spoken by English people a millennium ago. The Old English was a language very similar to the present day German. One of its features was that nouns and adjectives...

HiI understand "anytime" is a word proper to AmE. In OED, there is no entry for "anytime". OED contains 466 quotes using "any time" but only 9 quotes using "anytime". I believe the most formal expression in BrE is "Call me at any time". But "Call me any time" is also possible. In English, time...

LanguageLover wrote:Paco. Are you analyzing "I drove two hours" as an SVO based on the old English rule you mentioned that adverbials would act as a noun, so here "two hours" is a noun and object of the verb? Hello LL As a trial, I am proposing a hypothesis that "I walked two hours" would be...

Viognier wrote:I have an elementary question: what's the difference in meaning between: #1 He walked two hours. #2 He walked for two hours. I've learned that #1 is more natural. But #2 is natural too, isn't it? Hello Roro I'm sorry I am too late to answer. Today my computer has kind...