Basic English Grammar with Exercises

Verb Types

In this structure, presumably the main verb will move to support the light verb and the
right word order will be achieved. It would seem reasonable to assume that the particle
construction with the particle following the object is derived in exactly the same way,
with the preposition heading a PP which has no other content:

(136) vP

DP v'

the cat v VP

e DP V'

the dog V PP

put off

Again the verb will move to the light verb position and the word order is predicted.
The fact that the particle heads a PP accounts for its ability to be modified by an
adverb, as in (133b).
The tricky part is to account for the pre-object particle. If we assume that (136) is
the basic structure of the construction, then we might analyse the pre-object particle
construction as derived by a movement of the preposition head to the verb, so that
when the verb moves to the light verb position, the preposition is taken along with it:

(137) a vP

DP v'

the cat v VP

e DP V'

the dog V PP

V P t 1

put off 1