What is the grammatical role of "for you" in "I am waiting for you"? Is it a direct object, a prepositional phrase or what? Functionally, it seems to be of an object, as "you" in "I love you", but I am not sure how English labels objects of verbs which require a preposition.
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2 Answers
The grammatical role of for you in
- I am waiting for you.
is that it is an optional argument to the verb. It is not an adjunct. It just happens to be a prepositional argument, not a core argument like subjects and objects are.
It’s also an argument here:
- She came looking for you.
- I made a cake for you.
If in #2 for you seems more obviously an argument than it does in #3, remember that #3 is just the dative alternation for the ditransitive two-object version:
- I made you a cake.
you is an object in the prepostional phrase "for you"
wait is an intransitive verb so it can not take an object
we can not say I am waiting you
but await is a transitive verb which takes an object
we can say that I am awaiting you
answered Aug 17, 2019 at 0:32
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I don't see where you’ve answered the question asked. The question isn't about you. It's about the grammatical role played by for you in the provided sentence. Plus as @HotLicks mentioned, “transitivity happens”: You just wait your turn, you! You either wait this one out or else it’s back to waiting tables again, kid.– tchrist ♦Aug 18, 2019 at 3:06
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@tchrist i answered that it was a prepositional phrase.I do not have as much lingjuistic terminology and knowledge as you have Aug 18, 2019 at 3:20
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@tchrist i answered that it was a prepositional phrase.I do not have as much lingjuistic terminology and knowledge as you have Aug 18, 2019 at 3:21