Which type of adverbial is “ about this policy”?

Question

“I will think again about this policy.” In my view, “about this policy” is a preposition phrase, functioning as an adverbial. But I don’t know which type of adverbial this phrase is.

Welcome to ELL! To write you a useful answer, it might help if you add some more detail about your difficulty: what resources you've already looked at or what led you to the question. Try reading the message "Details, please" to get some more ideas for how you might clarify your question. — Ben Kovitz, Oct 14 '19 at 05:14

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 14 '19 at 05:14

In this case, about is a preposition:

[Merriam-Webster]
4 a : with regard to : CONCERNING
spoke about his past
4 b : concerned with
4 c : fundamentally concerned with or directed toward … poker is about money.
— David Mamet

In short, the sentence could be rephrased as:

I will think again concerning this policy.

This isn't an adverbial phrase. If it were, it would be explaining how you were you thinking, but it isn't.

What it's doing is describing the object of your thought, which is something different.

It's the same type of sentence as this:

I'm going to jump onto the stool.

In that sentence, onto the stool is not acting adverbially, it's a simple prepositional phrase.

The following would be examples of adverbial phrases:

I will think again with alacrity ^{a preposition at the start of an adverbial phrase}
about this policy ^{a simple prepositional phrase.}

I'm going to jump in a clumsy fashion ^{a preposition at the start of an adverbial phrase}
onto the stool ^{a simple prepositional phrase.}

I'm not sure, but I think the OP is asking a question specifically about CGEL terminology, so an analysis in terms of traditional terminology might not answer it. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't hesitate to give this answer a +1. — Ben Kovitz, Oct 14 '19 at 06:08

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 14 '19 at 09:54

I will think again [about this policy].

You are partly right: syntactically, "about this policy" is a preposition phrase, but it's not an adjunct (your adverbial).

The PP functions as complement of "think", the item that licenses (specifically requires or permits) it.

Which type of adverbial is “ about this policy”?

2 Answers2