Monday, June 17, 2019

What is the preposition category of "along"?



Most place prepositions have an instance for each of the informal preposition categories - I'll refer to them as active and passive, since I'm not familiar with the actual terms. I'm using active here to refer to prepositions which signify movement, and passive to refer to those which signify a state of staying. For example: the active into and the passive in, the active up and the passive above/upon.



Sentences:




I am going into the house.




He is in the house.




It is obvious from these examples that the two forms of the "in" preposition have different meanings - one active and one passive.



You can do the same for every place preposition, though some, like between, are the same word when either active or passive. So there is a between meaning something is between, and a between meaning something is going between.



Sentences:





I am going between the two big trees.



He is between the house and the stable.




It is obvious that in both cases the preposition remains the same, though one is active and one passive.



Basically, to find the two forms, you pick a place preposition (say into), determine whether it refers to going or just to being ("He is going into the house" - sounds right; "He is into the house" - sounds terrible; so "into" is active), then search for the form you didn't pick (passive, so what sounds right with "He is [prep] the house"? - in - "He is in the house" sounds right, so in is the passive form of into), and there you have your two forms (into - active; in - passive).




What I'm trying to figure out is where along fits in. Is it active, and if so, what is a passive counterpart?


Answer



I fear your categorization is based on unsound foundations, but let's just look at along:




The signs were on buildings along Main Street.




Passive.





He traveled along roads that were long and painted purple.




Active.



Assuming that I correctly understand how you're categorizing prepositions, then it's a preposition that can be in either state.


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