The conjunctions are the connectors or linkers that we use in sentences to join words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Here we will explore the word ‘before’ as conjunction.
The word ‘before’ is definitely conjunction because it joins two opposite clauses together and forms a complex sentence.
Example- Call on your friend before you go to the playground.
Explanation- In this sentence, the word ‘before’ acts as a conjunction. It connects two opposite clauses a makes a complex sentence.
Let us discuss more facts about it.
We can use the word ’before’ as a conjunction. Here we will examine when we use it as a conjunction.
The word ‘before’ is used as a conjunction when we wish to join two clauses together to frame a complex sentence. The word ‘before’ refers to the order of actions in a sentence. We can use it to indicate the clause it introduces that takes place after the other clause.
Example- Ask for the permission of the teacher before you enter the class.
Explanation- In this sentence, the word ‘before’ connects two clauses and makes a complex sentence. The order of events is mentioned here.
Why is ‘before’ a subordinating conjunction?
We can use the word ‘before’ as a subordinate conjunction. Now, we will explain why ‘before’ can be placed as a subordinating conjunction.
The word ‘before’ bridges a link between the main clause and a sub-clause. The word ‘before’ connects two opposite clauses and we have the time effects.
Example- My friends had gone to the playground before me.
Explanation- In this sentence, the word ‘before’ does not act as a conjunction. It is not used to connect words or phrases.
Examples of ‘before’ as subordinating conjunction:
The following are examples where the word ‘before’ is used as subordinating conjunctions.
Look at the examples below in the table.
| Examples | Explanations |
| 1. Did your mother say anything before she died? | In this example, the word ‘before’ has been used as a subordinating conjunction and joins the opposite clauses together to frame a single sentence. |
| 2. Eshika can reach her destination before the sun sets. | Here the word ‘before’ joins the main clause and a sub-clause. It makes a complex sentence. |
| 3. Has Tanmoy eaten rice before his mother sees him? | Here it is seen that ‘before’ shows action before another action. It joins the opposite clauses and makes a single one. |
| 4. Before I arrived the teacher came to my house. | In this example, the word ‘before’ joins two opposite clauses and brings out time effects. |
| 5. Nikita went to school before the bell rang. | Here we see that the word ‘before’ connects the main clause ‘Nikita went to school’ and the dependent clause ‘the bell rang’ and a complex sentence. |
When is ‘before’ not considered as conjunction?
We can use the word ‘before’ as other parts of speech rather than a conjunction. Here we will look at when it is not considered a conjunction.
The word ‘before’ is not considered as conjunction when it is placed as a preposition or as an adverb in a sentence based on the need. We can get the meanings of the word ‘before’ as we use it. The following examples will show when it is not a conjunction.
Look at the sentences below.
| Examples | Explanations |
| 1. Will you meet me before Suman? | Here the ford ‘before’ acts as a preposition. It is placed before the noun ‘Suman’ and sets up a relationship with the other parts of the sentence. |
| 2. The tourists left the place before sunrise. | In this sentence, ‘before’ is put before the noun ‘sunrise’ and establishes a relation with the other words of the sentence. |
| 3. Rocky returned home just before it rained. | Here the word ‘before’ is used as an adverb and modifies the verb ‘returned’. |
Examples of ‘before’ not considered as conjunctions:
The following sentences deal with the word ‘before’ that is not acting as a conjunction.
View the examples below in the table.
| Examples | Explanations |
| 1. You are asked to think before you take a decision. | Here it shows that the word ‘before’ is used as an adverb. |
| 2. Come to me before 5 p.m. | In this sentence, the word ‘before’ acts as a preposition. |
| 3. The boy completed his homework before his friend. | Here the word ‘before’ is placed before a noun and acts as a preposition. |
| 4. My grandfather built a house before 1990. | In this scenario, we see that the word ‘before’ is used before the year ‘1990’ and acts as an adverb. It modifies the verb ‘built’. |
Conclusion
Through careful reading of the article, we will be able to use the word ‘before’ in the right places.
In English grammar and morphology, a complex word is a word made up of two or more morphemes. Contrast with monomorphemic word.
A complex word may consist of (1) a base (or root) and one or more affixes (for example, quicker), or (2) more than one root in a compound (for example, blackbird).
Examples and Observations
«[W]e say that bookishness is a complex word, whose immediate components are bookish and -ness, which we can express in shorthand by spelling the word with dashes between each morph: book-ish-ness. The process of dividing a word into morphs is called parsing.» (Keith M. Denning et al., English Vocabulary Elements. Oxford University Press, 2007)
Transparency and Opaqueness
«A morphologically complex word is semantically transparent if its meaning is obvious from its parts: hence ‘unhappiness’ is semantically transparent, being made up in a predictable fashion from ‘un,’ ‘happy,’ and ‘ness.’ A word like ‘department,’ even though it contains recognizable morphemes, is not semantically transparent. The meaning of ‘depart’ in ‘department’ is not obviously related to the ‘depart’ in ‘departure.’ It is semantically opaque.» (Trevor A. Harley, The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory. Taylor & Francis, 2001)
Blender
«Let us consider the complex word blender. What can we say about its morphology? One aspect we can mention is that it consists of two morphemes, blend and er. Besides, we can say that blend is the root, since it is not further analysable, and at the same time the base to which the suffix -er is attached. To conclude, if we carry out morphological analysis, we usually show what morphemes a word consists of and describe these morphemes in terms of their type.» (Ingo Plag et al, Introduction to English Linguistics. Walter de Gruyer, 2007)
The Hypothesis of Lexical Integrity
«The lexicon . . . is not just a set of words, but also comprises word combinations. For example, English (like most Germanic languages) has many verb-particle combinations, also called phrasal verbs of the type to look up which clearly consist of two words which are even separable:
(20a) The student looked up the information
(20b) The student looked the information up
The verb look up cannot be one word since its two parts can be separated, as in sentence (20b). A basic assumption in morphology is the hypothesis of Lexical Integrity: the constituents of a complex word cannot be operated upon by syntactic rules. Put differently: words behave as atoms with respect to syntactic rules, which cannot look inside the word and see its internal morphological structure. Hence, the movement of up to the end of the sentence in (20b) can only be accounted for if look up is a combination of two words. That is, phrasal verbs such as lookup are certainly lexical units, but not words. Words are just a subset of the lexical units of a language. Another way of putting this is to say that look up is a listeme but not a lexeme of English (DiSciullo and Williams, 1987).
«Other examples of lexical multi-word units are adjective-noun combinations such as red tape, big toe, atomic bomb, and industrial output. Such phrases are established terms for referring to certain kinds of entities, and hence they must be listed in the lexicon.» (Geert E. Booij, The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2012)
Конструкция Complex Object — сложное дополнение, несмотря на свое пугающее название, на самом деле довольно проста. Рассмотрим следующие предложения:
- Я хочу, чтобы ты сходил в магазин.
- Я хотел бы, чтобы ты поиграл с ребенком.
- Я видел, что он перешел дорогу
В русском языке такие фразы строятся при помощи придаточного предложения. В английском языке такие предложения образуются при помощи специальной конструкции — Complex Object — сложного дополнения.
Сложное дополнение может состоять из прямого дополнения + инфинитив с частицей to или без to / ing-овая форма глагола, что зависит от глагола сказуемого.
Поэтому наши примеры будут выглядеть на английском языке следующим образом:
- I want you to go to the shop
- I would like you to play with the child
- I saw him cross the street
Все эти сложные дополнения переводятся на русский язык придаточными дополнительными предложениями, начинающимися с союзов как, чтобы, что
Конструкция Complex object + инфинитив с частицей to употребляется после глаголов:
- Mother wants me to get good marks at school. – Мама хочет, чтобы я получал хорошие оценки в школе.
- We know him to speak Spanish well. – Мы знаем, что он хорошо говорит по-испански.
- Would you like me to help you with Math? – Ты бы хотел, чтобы я помог тебе с математикой?
- The teacher expected the students to hand in the tests at once. – Учитель ожидал, что ученики сдадут контрольные работы сразу же.
- I’d like you to smile. — Мне бы хотелось, чтобы ты улыбнулась.
- I would prefer you to return home by taxi. It’s late – Я бы предпочел, чтобы ты вернулась домой на такси. Уже поздно.
Примечание: со следующими глаголами также употребляется конструкция ‘object + infinitive’:
advise, allow, beg, cause, command, compel, encourage, expect, forbid, force, get, hate, help, instruct, intend, invite, leave, love, mean, need, oblige, order, permit, prefer, recommend, remind, request, teach, tempt, trouble, want, warn, wish
Complex object + инфинитив без частицы to
Конструкция Complex object + инфинитив без частицы to употребляется после глаголов make – заставлять и let – позволять, разрешать
- Don’t make me drink milk, I hate it! – Не заставляй меня пить молоко, я его ненавижу!
- In my childhood my parents made me learn to play the piano В детстве родители заставляли меня учиться играть на пианино.
- Let the children play in the park, the weather is wonderful. – Разрешите детям поиграть в парке, погода великолепная.
- Don’t let her go there alone, she may get lost. – Не позволяйте ей идти туда одной, она может заблудиться.
Complex object после глаголов восприятия
После глаголов восприятия
употребляется либо инфинитив без частицы to, либо ing-овая форма глагола
Разница между использованием инфинитива (do) и ing-овой формы глагола (doing) в следующем: если объект начал и закончил действие, то есть, действие полностью завершено, то употребляется инфинитив без частицы to (do), если объект был в процессе действия и действие не закончено, то употребляется ing-овая форма (doing)
Сравним два предложения:
- Я видел, как он открыл окно – действие завершено: окно открыто. В русском языке использован глагол совершенного вида: открыл – что сделал? Поэтому на английский это предложение будет переведено при помощи инфинитива без частицы to: I saw him open the window
- Я видел, как он открывал окно – то есть, я видел, как происходил сам процесс: окно открывалось. Здесь использован глагол несовершенного вида: открывал – что делал? Поэтому в английском языке здесь будет использована ing-овая форма глагола: I saw him opening the window.
- We saw her crossing the river – Мы видели, как она переплывает реку.
- I felt somebody touch my shoulder. – Я почувствовал, как кто-то тронул меня за плечо.
- I didn’t notice him put the letter on the table. – Я не заметила, как он положил на стол письмо.
- At the zoo we often watched monkeys playing in their cage. – В зоопарке мы часто наблюдали, как обезьянки играют в своей клетке.
- I often hear him playing the violin in his room. — Я часто слышу, как он играет на скрипке у себя в комнате.
Видеоурок по английскому языку: Complex Object – Сложное дополнение
Сложное дополнение «to have something done»
Конструкция «to have something done» обозначает, что действие, выраженное глаголом сказуемым + причастие прошедшего времени (V3), совершает не само лицо, а кто-то другой по просьбе или приказу действующего лица.
- I want to have my hair cut – Я хочу подстричься (то есть, я не сам себя буду стричь, это будет делать по моей просьбе парикмахер)
- Father had his car repaired yesterday – Папа починил машину (то есть, ему в мастерской починил ее механик)
- You should have this carpet cleaned – Тебе нужно почистить ковер (отдать его в чистку)
- She had her children looked after in the evening when she went out – За ее детьми присматривали вечером, когда она ушла.
- Where do you usually have your dress made? – Где тебе обычно шьют платья?
Предлагаем вам пройти небольшой тест на тему «Сложное дополнение»
Сложное дополнение
1. We looked at the sky and saw ___ in the clouds.
a) the plane disappear
b) the plane to be disappearing
c) the plane to disappear
2. We expect the Chinese delegation ____ tomorrow.
a) leaving
b) to leaving
c) to leave
3. Mr. Smith didn»t want his daughter ____ an actress.
a) become
b) to become
c) becoming
4. We expected ____ in water polo championship.
a) them to take part
b) they to take part
c) them take part
5. Mrs. Edwards usually ___ at home when he feels sick.
a) let her son stay
b) lets her son stay
c) lets het son to stay
6. Betty felt ___ to tremble.
a) her hands begin
b) her hands to begin
c) her hands to beginning
7. Linda is being very rude. I have never heard ___ to her mother like that before.
a) that she talks
b) her talk
c) her to talk
8. I don»t want ___ your grandfather. It’s very impolite of you.
that you disturb
you disturb
you to disturb
9. The children are making too much noise. I»d like ___ quiet.
a) they to be
b) them to be
c) that they be
10. The last drop makes ___.
a) the cup run over
b) the cup running over
c) the cup to run over
A complex preposition consists of two words taken together to perform the office of one connective. — A Practical Grammar of the English Language (1869) by Andrew Burtt
As the quote illustrates, complex prepositions are a REAL THING and have been around since at least 1869. Having said that, they do create a certain amount of confusion and debate, and modern grammar continues to challenge traditional grammar’s concept of all prepositions. In The Cambridge Grammar of English Language (2002), Rodney Huddleston writes, “One of the main respects in which the present grammar departs from traditional grammar is in its conception of prepositions.”
We have two basic groups of complex prepositions:
1. Two-Word Complex Prepositions
2. Three-Word and Four-Word Complex Prepositions
And here is a relatively complete list of both types.
Two-Word Complex Prepositions: 37 Total
1) according to, 2) adjacent to, 3) ahead of, 4) along with, 5) apart from, 6) as for, 7) as of, 
as per, 9) as regards, 10) as to, 11) aside from, 12) away from, 13) because of, 14) but for, 15) close to, 16) contrary to, 17) due to, 18) except for, 19) far from, 20) in between, 21) inside of, 22) instead of, 23) irrespective of, 24) next to, 25) opposite to, 26) out of, 27) outside of, 28) owing to, 29) pertaining to, 30) prior to, 31) pursuant to, 32) regardless of, 33) subsequent to, 34) thanks to, 35) together with, 36) up against, 37) up to.
Three-Word and Four-Word Complex Prepositions: 45 Total
Note: The three-word and four-word prepositions are very similar in structure, except that the four-word prepositions contains an article (the or a).
1) as a result of, 2) at the expense of, 3) by means of, 4) by virtue of, 5) by way of, 6) for the sake of, 7) in accordance with / to, in addition to, 9) in back of, 10) in case of, 11) in charge of, 12) in comparison with / to, 13) in common with, 14) in connection with / to, 15) in contact with, 16) in contrast with / to, 17) in exchange for, 18) in favor of, 19) in front of, 20) in lieu of, 21) in (the) light of, 22) in line with, 23) in need of, 24) in place of, 25) in the process of, 26) in reference to, 27) in regard to, 28) in relation to, 29) in respect to, 30) in return for, 31) in search of, 32) in spite of, 33) in terms of, 34) in view of, 35) on account of, 36) on behalf of, 37) on the matter of, 38) on top of, 39) to the left of, 40) to the right of, 41) to the side of, 42) with reference to, 43) with regard to, 44) with respect to, 45) with the exception of.
Valid Complex Prepositions
I’ve come across a number of lists of complex prepositions that would be a source of great debate for grammarians, and some lists even contain outright errors. Many questionable prepositions look quite similar to the prepositions listed above, but do not parse as complex prepositions, and don’t appear on most authoritative lists of prepositions.
I’ve chosen to omit words that are debatable. I’ve also omitted rarely used and archaic complex prepositions. For this reason, you may be able to find a few more complex prepositions than the 82 I have listed above. Having said that, I have confirmed that at least one authoritative source has listed each of these 82 complex prepositions as being valid. To some extent, complex prepositions are created through idiomatic use, and I didn’t want to include any complex prepositions that might be debatable or that are just plain wrong.
What are Complex Prepositions? Answer: Wolf Packs
Young student writers want to understand how and why groups of words (phrases, clauses, compound words etc.) can act just like one word. The short answer is this: That’s just how language works. A longer answer would involve a study of syntactic slots.
I’ve found one more technique that makes things quite clear for young grammarians: It’s an analogy and a metaphor from the animal kingdom. I call a group of words that functions as a single unit a Wolf Pack. (Note: I never overuse terms like this; this is simply a teaching tool that makes sense to students.) Of course, a teacher can use ants or killer whales or dolphins or lions or birds in flight, but I’ve found that a Wolf Pack is the best metaphor. And if you can find a nice documentary clip of a wolf pack in a chase in the snow, all the better.
All prepositional phrases are Wolf Packs, and prepositional phrase that contain complex prepositions compound the concept.
• Complex Prepositions = Wolf Packs = Function as a single unit, and function as a single part of speech (prepositions).
• Prepositional Phrases = Wolf Packs = Function as a single unit, and function as a single part of speech (primarily adverbs and adjectives).
Debating and Parsing Complex Prepositions
If people wish to debate complex prepositions, it comes down to debating how one should parse a sentence. Parsing involves breaking a sentence into parts based on how the parts connect syntactically. Parsing sentences has a long history in grammar instruction, but plenty of modern research indicates that it’s not an effective use of class time. Having said that, I do recommend becoming familiar with a few different online parsers: e.g., Stanford, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon. Please note, all these online parsers are based on modern linguistics and don’t align perfectly with traditional grammar or with school grammar. Furthermore, different parsers deliver different results. Still, they are extremely interesting and useful tools.
The following parsing example will help you understand what goes on inside a complex preposition. Grammarians do debate and argue about complex prepositions, and parsers do deliver different results. Here are two different parsing results for one very simple sentence.
The sentences is this: Kim rested prior to the meeting. The complex preposition is this: prior to.
| Parsers | Adverb | Prepositional Phrase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Carnegie & Stanford | Kim rested | prior. | |
| 2. Stanford | Kim rested | prior | to the meeting. |
| 3. Carnegie | Kim rested | prior to the meeting. |
Both parsers agree that by itself “prior” is an adverb. However, the parsers disagree on how to treat “prior to.” By studying this one example and the different interpretations, you understand a great deal about complex prepositions. However, you will understand them even better and be able to spot them and analyze them better once you understand the common complex-preposition patterns.
Complex Preposition Patterns
Complex preposition contain multiple words. But what kinds of words? Individually, most of the words function as prepositions, adjectives (including participle adjectives), adverbs, conjunctions, nouns, and articles. These words usually combine according to specific patterns.
Two-Word Complex Preposition Pattern: Total 37
The two-word prepositions are pretty straightforward. You will notice that I provide a frequency count for the second word. Many of the first words can be used as several different parts of speech, so there is no way to come up with an accurate count.
• First Word: The first word is usually an adjective (including participle adjective), adverb, or conjunction.
• Second Word: The second word is usually one of these prepositions: to (16), of (9), from (4), for (3), with (2), misc. (4).
Three-Word and Four-Word Complex Preposition Pattern: Total 45
These complex prepositions create a phrase that can be interpreted as two prepositional phrases in a row. They all contain two prepositions and follow these two patterns:
1. Preposition + Noun + Preposition (Total: 36)
2. Preposition + Article (the, a) + Noun + Preposition (Total: 9)
Each of these 45 complex preposition uses two prepositions, and 94 prepositions are used in total. Surprisingly, only 8 individual prepositions are used: of (28), in (27), to (15), with (10), on (10), by (3), as (1), at (1).
Be sure to read:
1. 82 Color-Coded Complex Prepositions in Prepositional Phrases – Example Sentences with Analysis
2. 74 Color-Coded Prepositional Phrase Example Sentences with Analysis
Normally, sentences in the English language take a simple form. However, there are times it would be a little complex. In these cases, the basic rules for how words appear in a sentence can help you.
Word order typically refers to the way the words in a sentence are arranged. In the English language, the order of words is important if you wish to accurately and effectively communicate your thoughts and ideas.
Although there are some exceptions to these rules, this article aims to outline some basic sentence structures that can be used as templates. Also, the article provides the rules for the ordering of adverbs and adjectives in English sentences.
Basic Sentence Structure and word order rules in English
For English sentences, the simple rule of thumb is that the subject should always come before the verb followed by the object. This rule is usually referred to as the SVO word order, and then most sentences must conform to this. However, it is essential to know that this rule only applies to sentences that have a subject, verb, and object.
For example
Subject + Verb + Object
He loves food
She killed the rat
Sentences are usually made of at least one clause. A clause is a string of words with a subject(noun) and a predicate (verb). A sentence with just one clause is referred to as a simple sentence, while those with more than one clause are referred to as compound sentences, complex sentences, or compound-complex sentences.
The following is an explanation and example of the most commonly used clause patterns in the English language.
Inversion
InversionThe English word order is inverted in questions. The subject changes its place in a question. Also, English questions usually begin with a verb or a helping verb if the verb is complex.
For example
Verb + Subject + object
Can you finish the assignment?
Did you go to work?
Intransitive Verbs
Some sentences use verbs that require no object or nothing else to follow them. These verbs are generally referred to as intransitive verbs. With intransitive verbs, you can form the most basic sentences since all that is required is a subject (made of one noun) and a predicate (made of one verb).
For example
Subject + verb
John eats
Christine fights
Linking Verbs
Linking verbs are verbs that connect a subject to the quality of the subject. Sentences that use linking verbs usually contain a subject, the linking verb and a subject complement or predicate adjective in this order.
For example
Subject + verb + Subject complement/Predicate adjective
The dress was beautiful
Her voice was amazing
Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs are verbs that tell what the subject did to something else. Sentences that use transitive verbs usually contain a subject, the transitive verb, and a direct object, usually in this order.
For example
Subject + Verb + Direct object
The father slapped his son
The teacher questioned his students
Indirect Objects
Sentences with transitive verbs can have a mixture of direct and indirect objects. Indirect objects are usually the receiver of the action or the audience of the direct object.
For example
Subject + Verb + IndirectObject + DirectObject
He gave the man a good job.
The singer gave the crowd a spectacular concert.
The order of direct and indirect objects can also be reversed. However, for the reversal of the order, there needs to be the inclusion of the preposition “to” before the indirect object. The addition of the preposition transforms the indirect object into what is called a prepositional phrase.
For example
Subject + Verb + DirectObject + Preposition + IndirectObject
He gave a lot of money to the man
The singer gave a spectacular concert to the crowd.
Adverbials
Adverbs are phrases or words that modify or qualify a verb, adjective, or other adverbs. They typically provide information on the when, where, how, and why of an action. Adverbs are usually very difficult to place as they can be in different positions in a sentence. Changing the placement of an adverb in a sentence can change the meaning or emphasis of that sentence.
Therefore, adverbials should be placed as close as possible to the things they modify, generally before the verbs.
For example
He hastily went to work.
He hurriedly ate his food.
However, if the verb is transitive, then the adverb should come after the transitive verb.
For example
John sat uncomfortably in the examination exam.
She spoke quietly in the class
The adverb of place is usually placed before the adverb of time
For example
John goes to work every morning
They arrived at school very late
The adverb of time can also be placed at the beginning of a sentence
For example
On Sunday he is traveling home
Every evening James jogs around the block
When there is more than one verb in the sentence, the adverb should be placed after the first verb.
For example
Peter will never forget his first dog
She has always loved eating rice.
Adjectives
Adjectives commonly refer to words that are used to describe someone or something. Adjectives can appear almost anywhere in the sentence.
Adjectives can sometimes appear after the verb to be
For example
He is fat
She is big
Adjectives can also appear before a noun.
For example
A big house
A fat boy
However, some sentences can contain more than one adjective to describe something or someone. These adjectives have an order in which they can appear before a now. The order is
Opinion – size – physical quality – shape – condition – age – color – pattern – origin – material – type – purpose
If more than one adjective is expected to come before a noun in a sentence, then it should follow this order. This order feels intuitive for native English speakers. However, it can be a little difficult to unpack for non-native English speakers.
For example
The ugly old woman is back
The dirty red car parked outside your house
When more than one adjective comes after a verb, it is usually connected by and
For example
The room is dark and cold
Having said that, Susan is tall and big
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