Timeline for Why would you call "before" a preposition when it precedes a clause?
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| Jun 4, 2014 at 16:35 | comment | added | John Lawler | I don't see much need to distinguish between "preposition" and "subordinating conjunction" if they have the same function, meaning, and form, and their difference depends only on what kind of construction they introduce. Good for an exam question in advanced syntax, maybe, but not really relevant. | |
| Jun 4, 2014 at 15:51 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | @John Lawler: Assuming your 'Right' isn't merely a focusing pragmatic marker, are you (a) saying you're agreeing with all comments in this answer (like ' "Before" in the first example sentence is a subordinating conjunction, not a preposition. It is a subordinating conjunction') rather than with Araucaria's claims (that these are all examples of prepositions); or (b) allowing that both analyses are tenable? Or are you (c) staying above these attempts at analyses as they are inherently unhelpful ...please? (Bet it's (d).) | |
| Jun 4, 2014 at 15:00 | comment | added | John Lawler | Right. Adverbial clauses are simple, once you disentangle the introductory phrases. Mostly those are formulaic, like the ones in this list. But the clauses themselves are always just normal sentences -- occasionally with that required -- and they can go just about anywhere in the sentence parenthetically. Not nearly as troublesome as infinitives or gerunds. | |
| Jun 4, 2014 at 14:47 | history | answered | user77991 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |