Thursday, November 17, 2011

syntax - Word-type in this sentence



I'm trying to decode what word-type each word is in the following sentence, please correct me if I'm wrong.





The things you own end up owning you.




I have it decoded as follows:



The (det) things (noun) you (prep) own (verb) end (noun) up (adverb) owning (verb) you (prep).


Answer



You have many of them right. However, I believe the correct answer would be.





  1. "The": Determiner (or unspecific article).

  2. "things": plural noun.

  3. "you': pronoun (or noun phrase), second person (plural or singular).

  4. "own": verb, present tense.

  5. "end up": a rare example of an English compound verb meaning "eventually become", or in this case: "eventually will result in them..."

  6. "owning" verb, present progressive.

  7. "you": pronoun (or noun phrase), second person (singular or plural).




"End up" is an interesting compound verb which is mostly used in informal speech and writing. Its actual meaning appears to be rather complex and depends somewhat on the sentence it is found in. See the link below:



http://thesaurus.com/browse/end+up


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