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In the sentence, can ‘as’ be the object of preposition?

I understand what it is to have a blended family. I can empathize with people who've lost loved ones. I think that's part of our experience of learning from as when we overcome things like that.

This was uttered during a monologue in this YouTube video. (You can find her saying this between 2:56 and 3:07).

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The last sentence is ungrammatical: "part of our" and "learning from overcoming things like that" are what should be there. Finally, I don't think the context of the sentence is sufficient to make it meaningful. Things like that? Does "that" refer to the death of a loved one? I think that the style of this sentence is quite cold. Is a "blended family" anything like a "microwaved baby"? – Bill Franke Nov 15 '12 at 9:25
"I think part of our experience comes from learning, by overcoming tragedies like that." (I think that's what you're trying to say.) Anyhow, when writing questions like this, you should also say where you got the sentence from. Did you write it? Find it in a blog? Read it in a book? See it in a scientific or legal journal? Tell the source, as context may well affect the right answer. – J.R. Nov 15 '12 at 9:31
Those sentences are from a YouTube channel (2:56~3:07): youtube.com/watch?v=VaTS-g_Gf4k&feature=g-all-u – Listenever Nov 15 '12 at 9:36
Would you please check it up? – Listenever Nov 15 '12 at 9:36
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(1) Put these clarifications in the question itself, not the comments, so that others who read the question don't have to read through comments to get the full context. (2) This is from a video, where she's not reading from a teleprompter, so you wouldn't expect everything to necessarily be grammatically correct. People misspeak sometimes. (3) I think she says "is", not "as", which makes the sentence much more clear. – J.R. Nov 15 '12 at 9:41
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closed as too localized by J.R., tchrist, StoneyB, MετάEd, Zairja Nov 15 '12 at 17:29

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1 Answer

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As some commenters have noted, the sentence you provide is not grammatically correct. If the sentence you provide is a correct transcription of what the speaker said, then it's an example of the way in which spoken language is often not grammatically correct, because people misspeak, hesitate, start saying one thing but link it to something else, and so on.

In general, as is a conjunction or an adverb, and such words cannot on their own be the objects of a preposition. However, as can introduce clauses that are the object of a preposition:

Collect money from as many people as possible

So, you might find as following a preposition, but it will not stand alone as the object of the preposition. Instead it will be part of a clause, and that clause will be the object of the preposition.

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