can adverbs be the object of preposition?

[mawes12]

I've seen adverbs going after a preposition like by now and I want to know if adverbs can go after a preposition.

 

[Rover_KE]

Please reread emsr2d2's rules here and edit your post accordingly.

'Wanna' is not acceptable in this forum, where standard English is obligatory.

 

[mawes12]

lol ok I'm sorry about that.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]lol[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]ok[/STRIKE] OK, I'm sorry about that.

See above. Please don't use things like "lol" on the forum. We encourage all users to use full, standard English words. Note that you can write "OK" (upper case) or "okay" (lower case) but not "ok".

 

[mawes12]

nobody answer my question.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Nobody answered my question.

You'll get faster answers here if you don't say things like "lol" and "wanna" and don't start sentences with small letters. I know your question is serious, but when you use sloppy English, it makes it seem as though you're not taking your studies seriously. We're glad to help improve your English, but only when we know you're trying.

Your example, by now, is an idiom and cannot be translated word-for-word.

Adverbs go with verbs. So an adverb can go after a preposition if there is a verb for the adverb to go with. Example:

- After quickly reading the email, he decided to delete it.

Do you have other examples you're wondering about?

 

[mawes12]

Thanks for replying with the right answer but isn't what you showed modifying a gerund.

 

[SoothingDave]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/now?s=t

"Now" is also a noun, and it is used as a noun to be the object of the preposition in "by now."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/now?s=t

"Now" is also a noun, and it is used as a noun to be the object of the preposition in "by now."

Yes, you're right. I'm just not sure that that would get Mawes far in interpreting "by now." That's all I meant. You're right, it can be translated literally, but it's difficult. By usually means next to, so it can be confusing. So I was suggesting a different way to look at it.

Thanks for clarifying. And keeping me honest!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thanks for replying with the right answer but isn't what you showed modifying a gerund.

No, it would be a gerund in "After quickly emailing the reading...." There, emailing is a verb and reading is a noun. (And quickly is still an adverb.)

 

[mawes12]

I don't get it, isn't that the same thing.

 

[mawes12]

See above. Please don't use things like "lol" on the forum. We encourage all users to use full, standard English words. Note that you can write "OK" (upper case) or "okay" (lower case) but not "ok".

So do I say laughing out loud instead?

 

[Rover_KE]

No. 'Lol' is an example of abbreviations used in texting and chatrooms. It has no place in forums like this which insist on standard English.

If something really makes you laugh out loud, you can say 'That was really funny'/'That made me laugh' etc.