Double prepositions reveal new 'verb+preposition' verbs

'Vocal minorities are listened to by media organisations.'*

To discover new verbs that are composed of verb+preposition, make up a sentence using the verb+preposition in passive voice, and attaching a prepositional phrase (ie, starting with 'to','for','by','from' etc.). Then remove the preposition from the suspected verb and see if the two sentences give different meanings. To further confirm the discovery, a third sentence can be constructed where the prepositional phrase is removed, leaving the original verb+preposition in passive voice.

Example: 'I parked him in.'

Sentence 1: 'His car was parked in by me.'
Sentence 2: 'His car was parked by me.'
Sentence 3: 'His car was parked in the driveway.'

Sentence 1: 'His car is parked in at the shopping centre carpark.'
Sentence 2: 'His car is parked at the shopping centre carpark.'
Sentence 3: 'His car is parked in the shopping centre carpark.'

The appearance of double prepositions indicates that 'to park in (someone or their vehicle)' is verb that is distinct from the verb 'to park' + preposition 'in'.

*Stimulus: "Joe's blog has much more influence than you think", by Bobbie Johnson in London, 19 April, 2006, Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/rise-of-the-blogosphere/2006/04/18/1145344085840.html).

2006-04-19 03:15:00pm (GMT +10) kyy