Adjectives typically select a PP as their complement. Although the PP-complement can often either precede or follow the adjective, it is usually assumed that its base position is the one following the adjective, while its preadjectival position is the result of a leftward movement.

There are at least two arguments for the claim that the preadjectival position is derived by movement. The first argument is based on the hypothesis that stranded prepositions must occupy their base position, as embodied in the freezing principle, which states that moved constituents are islands for extraction; cf. Koster (1978: §2.6.4.4), Corver (2006b/2017) and Ruys (2008). The fact that the stranded preposition over must follow the adjectives in the examples in (5) thus shows that the PP originates in postadjectival position.

The second argument is based on the hypothesis that complements are generated closer to the selecting head than modifiers; if the PP were base-generated in preadjectival position, we would incorrectly predict that it should be able to follow modifiers like ergvery. The fact, illustrated in (6), that PP-complements can only precede such modifiers thus shows that the preadjectival placement of PP-complements is the result of leftward movement. This discussion is sufficient for now, but we will see in Section 24.3.1 that there are several complicating factors.

From the examples in (5) and (6) we conclude that PP-complements are base-generated in postadjectival position. This is also supported by the primeless examples in (7); if the PP were base-generated in postadjectival position, we would expect the string A–PP to form a constituent, and the fact that this string can be moved into the sentence-initial position shows that this expectation is indeed borne out; cf. the constituency test. The corresponding examples in the primed examples, where the PPs precede the adjectives, are marked.

That the PPs in (4) are complements of (i.e. selected by) the adjectives is clear from the fact that the latter determine which prepositions must be used: the small sample of adjectives in Table 1 shows that we are dealing with fixed adjective-preposition collocations. Some adjectives can be combined with more than one PP-complement at a time, as in boos op Peter over die opmerkingangry with Peter about that remark; we will return to this in our discussion of (16). Some of the adjectives in Table 1 are preceded by the number sign # for reasons that will become clear shortly.

preposition	example	translation
aan	(on)schuldig aan	(not) guilty of
	gehoorzaam aan	obedient to
in	bedreven in	skilled in
met	blij met	glad with
	(on)gelukkig met	(un)happy with
	#vergelijkbaar met	comparable to
naar	nieuwsgierig naar	curious about
op	boos/kwaad/woedend/woest op	angry with
	jaloers op	jealous of
	trots op	proud of
	verliefd op	in-love with
over	bedroefd/verdrietig over	sad about
	boos/kwaad/woedend/woest over	angry about
	tevreden/voldaan over	satisfied about
	verbaasd over	astonished about
	verontwaardigd over	indignant about
van	#afhankelijk van	dependent on
voor	bang voor	afraid of
	behulpzaam voor	helpful to
	bevreesd voor	fearful of
	#geschikt voor	suitable to/appropriate for
	#gevoelig voor	perceptive to/susceptible to

The actual choice of preposition is largely unpredictable. However, if the adjective is derived from a verb stem, such as verbaasd or afhankelijk, the preposition will often coincide with the preposition used with the verb, as in the examples in (8).

The PP-complements in Table 1 are all optional, but for some adjectives their PP-complement is obligatory. Three cases can be distinguished: (i) the adjective shows an unpredictable shift in meaning when the PP-complement is not present, (ii) the meaning of the adjective remains constant, but the adjective appears in a different syntactic frame when the PP-complement is not present, and (iii) no form exists without a PP-complement. We start with the first group, a sample of which is given in Table 2.

preposition	with preposition		without preposition
example	translation	example	translation
aan	gewoon aan	used to	gewoon	ordinary
met	bekend met	familiar with	bekend	well-known
	onbekend met	not familiar with	onbekend	unknown
	vertrouwd met	familiar with	vertrouwd	common(?)
op	dol/gek op	fond of	dol/gek	mad/crazy
van	gek/verrukt van	fond of	gek/verrukt	mad/delighted
	vol van	full of/occupied with	vol	filled
	kapot van	cut up	kapot	broken
	(on)zeker van	(not) convinced of	(on)zeker	(in)secure
	ziek van	fed up with	ziek	ill/sick
voor	blind/doof voor	not susceptible to	blind/doof	blind/deaf
tot	bereid tot	willing to	bereid	prepared

A notable difference between the two sets of examples in Table 2 is that the logical subjects of adjectives that take a PP-complement are usually human (including companies and institutions such as de belastingdienstthe tax authority) or at least animate, while the logical subjects can also be inanimate when the adjectives do not take a PP-complement. This is shown in (9).

Note that the adjectives in Table 4 below, which also take an obligatory PP-complement, require an animate subject as well. Since the adjectives marked with # in Table 1 can take an inanimate subject regardless of whether the PP-complement is present or not, we might conclude that adjectives taking an obligatory PP-complement are special in that they must denote properties of human (or at least animate) entities.

A sample of adjectives of the second type is given in Table 3. An important difference between the adjectives with and without a PP-complement is that the logical subjects of the former can be singular, whereas the logical subjects of the latter must be plural. This is illustrated in the last column of the table. Apart from the fact that the relation between the entities involved is expressed in an asymmetric way when the PP-complement is present, and in a symmetric way when it is absent, the two cases are more or less synonymous.

preposition	example	illustration
met	bevriend (met) ‘friendly with’	Marie is goed bevriend *(met Peter). Marie is well friendly with Peter ‘Marie is good friends with Peter.’
		Marie en Peter zijn goed bevriend. Marie and Peter are well friendly ‘Marie and Peter are good friends.’
aan	verwant (aan) ‘related to’	De mens is nauw verwant *(aan de chimpansee). The human is closely related to the chimpanzee ‘Man is closely related to the chimpanzee.’
		De mens en de chimpansee zijn nauw verwant. The human and the chimpanzee are closely related

Participial adjectives such as getrouwd (met)married (to) and verloofd (met)engaged (to) may also belong to this class, although the adjective without a PP-complement occasionally occurs with a singular noun phrase, as in (10c); perhaps we can assume that the PP-complement has been left implicit or underspecified in this case.

Finally, Table 4 provides a sample of adjectives with an obligatory PP-complement; these so-called pseudo-participles will be discussed in Section 24.3.1, sub III.

preposition	example	translation
aan	gehecht aan	attached/devoted to
met	ingenomen met	delighted with
om	rouwig om	sorry about
op	gebrand op	keen on
	gespitst op	especially alert to
	gesteld op	keen on
	verkikkerd op	crazy about
tegen	gekant tegen	opposed to
van	afkerig van	(to have) an aversion to

This subsection discusses clausal complements of adjectives introduced by the anticipatory pronominal PP er + PP + it. The clausal complements introduced by the anticipatory PP can be finite or infinitival; the two types will be discussed in separate subsections. We conclude the discussion with a brief remark on voor-PPs licensed by the degree modifiers te, genoeg, and voldoende, e.g. Jan is te oud voor poppenJan is too old for dolls. Section 24.1, sub II

Many adjectives do not readily take a PP-complement. This is illustrated by the two examples in (23), both of which are marked; the number sign indicates that (23b) is acceptable with a temporal reading of the PP voor de training (i.e. “before the training”), which is irrelevant here.

These examples become fully acceptable when the adjectives are modified by degree modifiers like tetoo, genoegenough, voldoendesufficiently, and tamelijk/behoorlijk/nogal, as in (24).

That the modified adjective and the PP in (24) form a constituent is clear from the fact, illustrated by (25), that they can occur in sentence-initial position as a whole; cf. the constituency test.

Examples of this type are discussed in more detail in Section 25.1.3.