Multiple Prepositions in a Row
Two examples of two in a row in the cartoon; second and third panels:
You might know that technically, the word that looks like a preposition is really an adverb when you have a separable verb (such as “put up” and “stress out.”) And these adverbs can go at the end of a sentence, such as “put ’em up” and “Don’t stress me out.”
But what about when you have more than one? The kid’s “up with” feels like an adverb, but the teacher’s “over” feels like a preposition. After all, she could have ended the sentence with “over this.” That gives “over” an object. Maybe we have some flexibility here. The longest series of prepositions I know of is five:
Come on up to over by the picnic table.
Where would you say the adverbs stop and the prepositions begin? Can you come up with a longer series? Feel free to put something in the comments.
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