James
"Local" Prepositions A book says that "If the preposition has a purely local meaning, the simple forms without -self are used." Shut the door behind you! (not "yourself"). I have no money with me. (not "myself"). He shut the door behind him. (not "himself"). Would you please tell me why those prepositions are called "local" prepositions?
Feb 2, 2014 8:49 PM
Answers · 8
1
To be honest, I don't know the answer to "why these prepositions are called "local" prepositions," but what I do know is that you cannot not use reflexive pronouns in those sentences because the verb's target is not you, and you are not targeting yourself, therefore you cannot use myself, yourself, etc. You're just the indirect object of the verb, so you use the object pronoun.
February 2, 2014
February 2, 2014
Thank you, Xarmania and Ms. Miller, for your comments. ***** To: Ms. Miller. In my question, I have quoted what one scholarly book says. Here is what another very scholarly book says: We canNOT use reflexive pronouns "after prepositions which express local relations in a literal sense." What does "local relations" mean?
February 3, 2014
Never heard the term 'local' preposition. What book was it in?
February 3, 2014
So many of the books written for English learners present rules never seen by native speakers. Many of these rules make no sense.
February 2, 2014
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