I asked my 10th graders what they thought.  Even though they're only sophomores, they do a great job of analyzing grammar and sentence structure.   They said that "about" is acting like an adverb just like "in" is an adverb in "I turned in my paper."  "To study grammar" is then free to be an infinitive phrase acting like the direct object.  They were proud of themselves and insistent that their answer go out to the list!  They want to know whether or not the "experts" agree.
:) Dawn

Craig Hancock wrote:

    My grammar class was improvising prepositional phrases for a few common prepositions, including "about", and a student presented this sentence:  I am about to study grammar.
    I was (and am) fairly sure "about to study grammar" isn't a prepositional phrase, but I was (and am) not sure of how to understand and explain it.  I thought about "about to" as a sort of modal auxiliary, somewhat parallel to "I ought to study grammar" or "I am supposed to study grammar", though I'm not happy with that.  Another possibility is to think of "to study grammar" as an infinitive clause (phrase, if you feel so inclined), with "about" acting somewhat like an adjective would in the same slot.  (Infinitive structure as adjective complement.  "I am ready to study grammar" or "I am happy to study grammar.")  "About" does mean something like "almost" in certain contexts.  ("I'm about crazy over her." Or, in a closer parallel, "I am about to go insane.")
    I told my students I was perplexed on Wednesday, told them my current thinking today, and then said I would be asking other people for help, in part because I want to model what "doing grammar" is about, sometimes feeling perplexed,  sometimes very much a group activity.  Perhaps someone has already wrestled with this and we won't need to invent a crooked wheel.
    Has anyone seen this construct described before? If not, any other suggestions?

Craig
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