Sincere question, here:

Would it be OK/accurate to say that, in the first sentence, "in a bad mood"
is a prepositional phrase functioning adjectivally, where in the second
sentence, "in her car" is more of an adverbial function?

Tell the truth, I'm not sure how to classify "location" as a subject
complement.

My thinking is: how would I explain this to students, who might not have had
the exposure to this grammar list?

-patty

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Adams
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Prepositional Phrases as Subject Complements

How would you categorize the prep phrase, "in a bad mood," in a  
sentence like the following?

Cornelia was in a bad mood.

How about the prep phrase "in her car" in the following sentence?

Deb was in her car.



Peter Adams

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