Verbs with an inherent preposition

There are two ways of treating verbs like refer and rely within a grammar of English: either (i) as part of two-word lexemes refer to and rely on, which behave as transitive verbs; or (ii) as intransitive verbs, which must obligatorily be followed by a prepositional NP. Under (ii) they would be treated as similar to verbs like travel and float, which may optionally take prepositional NPs, e.g. refer to Jespersen, travel (to Japan), rely on his sense of propriety, float (on the pool).

There are two difficulties with alternative (ii). One is that an NP which follows refer to or rely on behaves like a transitive object in that it can freely become passive subject, quite unlike an NP which follows travel to or float on. Thus, Jespersen was referred to by everyone attending the symposium, but not *Japan was travelled to by everyone attending the symposium, and John’s sense of propriety can be relied on, but not *That pool has been floated on. The second point to note is that travel, float and other intransitive verbs can be followed by any one of a number of prepositions (e.g. travel to/ towards/ around/in Japan, float in/on/across the pool) whereas refer must take to and rely is confined to on.

We thus opt for (i), treating refer to, rely on, decide on, wish for, approve of and other ‘inherent preposition’ combinations each as a single, transitive verb. These are often semantically and syntactically similar to a simple transitive verb, e.g. approve of and like, wish for and want, decide on and choose, refer to and mention, rely on and trust.

Note that there is one way in which inherent preposition verbs differ from simple verbs. An adverb scarcely ever intervenes between a verb and its direct object, but may come between verb and preposition of an inherent preposition item. One can say He relies on his mother totally or He relies totally on his mother but only He trusts his mother totally, not *He trusts totally his mother. Thus, an inherent preposition verb functions like a transitive verb in most respects, but with regard to adverb placement is more akin to intransitive verb plus prepositional NP.

As already mentioned, some inherent preposition verbs can take a complement clause in object relation; following a general rule of English syntax, the preposition drops before complementizers that, for and to. Compare:

(1) We decided on/chose Spain for a holiday this year

(2) We decided/chose that we would go to Spain

(3) We decided/chose to go to Spain

Many transitive verbs in English may omit the object NP in appropriate circumstances. Not surprisingly, some inherent preposition verbs fall into this category; and when the object NP is omitted the preposition also drops—thus, listen (to), confess (to), approve (of). Note that, as with refer to and rely on, the prepositional choice is fixed, and the object is readily passivizable, e.g. That recording which I handed in with my essay last week hasn’t been listened to yet.

Having suggested that decide on, refer to and similar combinations should be treated as a type of transitive verb, we must now hasten to add that it is not an arbitrary matter that some verbal lexemes consist of just a root, while others involve root plus preposition. The inclusion of a preposition—and which preposition is included—is, without doubt, semantically motivated. Inherent preposition verbs have a meaning which is subtly but significantly different from corresponding simple verbs.

Each preposition in English has a fair semantic range. There is generally a fairly concrete sense—for at this is demonstrated by stay at the seaside— but in addition a set of more abstract senses—as in at a rough estimate, jump at the chance, laugh at John, be dismayed at the news. I plan within the next few years to conduct a full study of the function and meaning of English prepositions, and should then be in a position to explain the semantic rationale for the inclusion of on with rely, of with approve, and so on. Meanwhile, just a few informal remarks can be offered on why certain verbs include a preposition, but related verbs do not.

(i) Wish for and want. With wish the preposition for introduces an object that may not be attainable, e.g. For more than forty years Rudolf Hess wished for his freedom, whereas want most often relates to something that can readily be achieved, e.g. I want my dinner now. (One can say John often wants the unobtainable, and this implies that John is unrealistic, treating the unobtainable as if it were something that he could get.)

(ii) Confess to and admit. One is likely to confess after a lengthy inner struggle (or after extended questioning by the police); the details of the crime may already be known. The verb confess thus focuses on the fact that the subject now says that they did do it, with preposition to marking the event that the confession is orientated towards. With admit the main interest is likely to be on the object constituent (what the subject did), which may be new information. (Admit may, for some speakers, optionally include to before the object; it is likely to include to when the possibility of the subject’s having committed the crime etc. has already been mooted, i.e. in similar circumstances to that in which confess to is used.)

(iii) Refer to and mention. The verb mention has casual overtones—in conversation I might just ‘mention’ Jespersen’s grammar. But in writing a paper I would be likely to ‘refer to’ it; refer to carries a sense of purpose and directionality, which is brought out by the inclusion of to.

(iv) Decide on and choose. The verb choose can be employed where there was little mental effort involved, and it may be used in a way that relates pragmatically to the object role, e.g. ‘I’d have chosen you’, he told her, ‘if it had been up to me’. Decide is likely to refer to an act that involved considerable thought, and focuses on the mental act; the preposition on introduces the object that the decision finally rested on. (Cf. the remarks on the possible omission of for from a Modal (FOR) TO complement clause after choose, but not after decide.)

There is one limited context in which decide can be used without on preceding an object NP. Compare:

(4) The President decided on the order of precedence

(5) The President decided the order of precedence

Sentence (4) could be used when the President sat down, thought out the order of precedence, and announced it (no one else need be involved). But (5) might be used when there was a dispute over the order of precedence and he settled it; this sentence focuses on the matter of the order. (Note that on could not be omitted after decide before other kinds of NPs, referring to things that are not crucially affected by the act of deciding, e.g. not from (1) above or from The Duke decided on Eton for his son’s education.)

(v) Look at and see, listen to and hear. See and hear refer to acts of attention that need not be volitional but must have a positive result; it is in view of this that they are simple transitive verbs, e.g. I saw the car go by. Look and listen refer to the Perceiver directing their attention in a certain way; they may not necessarily achieve a desired goal. These verbs can be used intransitively, e.g. with an adverb (He looked up, She listened carefully); or else an object can be included after a preposition. But why should look take at and listen take to? Well, one directs one’s gaze ‘at’ a thing, and may see nothing else. But our ears pick up every sound around; it is necessary to concentrate one’s mind and direct it towards one particular type of sound. (It is possible to use listen with at, e.g. He listened at the door, when he put his ear against the door, but here at the door is a locative expression, whereas in He looked at the door, the at is part of the verbal expression look at.)

Other inherent preposition verbs are listed under the various semantic types. They include object to (compare with dislike), approve of, and consist in/of.

Overall, it seems that an inherent preposition verb is more likely to imply directed volition than a single word semi-synonym; compare refer to and mention, look at and see, decide on and choose.