Detached (Loose) Parts of the Sentence

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additional remarks

It is not always easy to discriminate between different parts of the sentence expressed by prepositional phrases.

The following parts of the sentence are apt to be confused: (l) _a prepositional indirect object and an adverbial modifier; (2) an attribute and an adverbial modifier.

1. A prepositional indirect object and an adverbial modifier of place and manner.

Kate removed her eyes from the window and gazed directlyat Papa. (Cronin)

Decimus had been bornin Rome. (Douglas)

In the first example the prepositional phrase at Papa is a preposi­tional indirect object as the noun denotes a living being.

In the second example the prepositional phrase in Rome is an adverbial modifier as the noun denotes an inanimate object and the question is: Where had he been born ?

When the noun in the prepositional phrase denotes an inanimate object, very often two ways of analysis are possible.

His wife was sittingbefore a very little fire. (Galsworthy)

The prepositional phrase before a very littlefire can be treated either as an adverbial modifier or an object.

2. An attribute and an adverbial modifier of place.

I thought you were going to a partyat the club. (Douglas)

The party will take placeat the club.

In the first example at the club is an attribute as it modifies a noun. It answers the question: What party?

In the second sentence the same prepositional phrase modifies a verbal group, consequently it is an adverbial modifier of place.

These examples do not cover all the dubious cases in analysis, they only serve to show that there are many border-line cases.

§ 36. Detached parts of the sentence are those secondary parts which assume a certain grammatical and semantic independence. This phenomenon is due to their loose connection with the words they modify.

Loose connection may be due to the position of these words, the way they are expressed, their meaning, or the speaker's desire to make them prominent. In spoken language detached parts of the sentence are marked by intonation, pauses, and special stress; in written language they are generally separated by commas or dashes. Adverbial modi­fiers, attributes, and prepositional indirect objects may stand in loose connection to the word they modify, i. e. they may be detached (loose) parts of the sentence. The adverbial modifier is more apt to stand in loose connection than any other part of the sentence.

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