Activity Prepositions

(Under Development)


This category embraces prepositional senses that require the name of some (usually human) activity for complementation. By implication, agents appear somewhere in the sentence in which these are found, occasionally as a point of attachment (especially when the prepositional phrase follows a copula and is the entire predicate). There are many instances however, especially in complex sentences, where the agent is not so closely related to the activity that appears as the complement of the prepositional phrase. This discussion of the activity class of prepositions is based on an examination of the activity senses identified in The Preposition Project (TPP) with the Pattern Dictionary of English Prepositions (PDEP). This set of senses is discussed in section 9.32 of Quirk et al as a metaphorical use of the vertical direction of spatial prepositions. There are 24 activity senses under 18 prepositions. The complements of these prepositions describe an activity or process, with the preposition indicating how the activity is to be viewed, providing a breakdown into the broad grouping of categories. (See Preposition Classes for how this class relates to other classes. For the supersenses (unlexicalized categores for prepositions), see PrepWiki; the PDEP database is being kept synchronized with this project, as they are assigned to TPP senses.)

Category Types

Activity prepositions fall into the following categories, including:

Selection Criteria

References

  1. Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., and Svartik, J. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman: New York.

Comments to: Ken Litkowski  Modified: February 14 2020 18:52:25.
PDEP Activity Class (35 senses)
PrepositionSenseSubclassSrtypeSupersenseClassedCountPctNF
\'pon14(7)OngoingJourneyLocusYes0100.00.19
\'pon19(9)OngoingActivityActivityYes0100.00.19
at8(4a)OngoingSkillActivityYes2100.0154.43
behind6(3a)OngoingThingOrchestratedYes48100.0221.06
frae11(8)AvoidedThingPreventedActivityYes0100.00.19
from11(8)AvoidedThingPreventedThemeYes26100.02170.71
in11(8)OngoingActivityReferencedCircumstanceYes21100.07790.70
in8(6)OngoingProfessionAspectProfessionalAspectYes9100.03338.87
in the midst of1(1)OngoingActivityDuration,StateYes144100.026.71
in the throes of1(1)OngoingActivityYes39100.07.23
into9(9)OngoingEnthusiasmActivityYes3100.078.99
off5(3a)AvoidedOccupationAbandonedStateYes4100.019.27
on14(7)OngoingJourneyLocusYes9100.0744.76
on19(9)OngoingActivityActivityYes7100.0579.26
on the point of1(1)ProposedActivityAnticipatedYes79100.014.65
out of8(7)AvoidedActivityAbandonedYes32100.0406.08
outta8(7)AvoidedActivityAbandonedYes0100.00.19
past4(3)AvoidedActivityAbandonedYes2100.01.45
short of3(1b)AvoidedActionAvoidedYes45100.038.06
thro\'8(2a)OngoingThingCompletedYes0100.00.02
thro\'9(2b)OngoingThingSurvivedDurationYes0100.00.02
through8(2a)OngoingThingCompletedYes3100.037.36
through9(2b)OngoingThingSurvivedDurationYes25100.0311.36
thru8(2a)OngoingThingCompletedYes0100.00.19
thru9(2b)OngoingThingSurvivedDurationYes0100.00.19
under14(5)OngoingActivityStateYes16100.0362.20
under cover of2(1a)OngoingActivityDecoyYes9100.01.67
up for1(1)ProposedActivityProposedYes32100.037.30
up for2(2)ProposedActivityProposedYes3100.03.50
up for3(3)ProposedActivityProposedYes7100.08.16
up for4(4)ProposedActivityProposedYes1100.01.17
up to5(3a)ProposedChallengeStateYes2100.016.91
up to7(5)OngoingActivityActivityYes2100.016.91
upon14(7)OngoingJourneyLocusYes0100.011.33
upon19(9)OngoingActivityActivityYes0100.011.33
Total      16412.61