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34.1.5.Intransitive adpositions and particles
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Intransitive adpositions allow modification for orientation and distance, as is shown in (82a) and (82b&c), respectively. The modifiers of distance can be amplifiers such as verfar, downtoners like vlak and pal, or nominal measure phrases such as twee metertwo meters.

82
a. dat hij de bal recht/schuin over schoot.
orientation
  that he the ball straight/diagonally over shot
  'that he shot the ball straight/diagonally over the goal.'
b. dat hij de bal ver/pal/vlak over schoot.
distance
  that he the ball far/close/close over shot
  'that he shot the ball far/just over the goal.'
c. dat hij de bal twee meter naast schoot.
distance
  that he the ball two meter next.to shot
  'that he shot the ball two meters wide of the goal.'

Particles of particle verbs can sometimes also be modified. This is illustrated in (83) for the particle verb voor/achter staanto be ahead/down; in (83a) we are dealing with an adjectival modifier, and in (83b) with a nominal measure phrase. Section 32.2.4, sub III, has shown that particles can usually permeate a clause-final verb cluster. However, this is no longer possible when the particle is modified; the singly-primed examples show this for cases where the modifier is pied-piped and the doubly-primed examples show this for cases where the modifier is stranded.

83
a. dat hij bij winst ruim voor zal staan.
  that he with gain amply ahead will stand
  'that he will lead comfortably, if he wins.'
a'. dat hij bij winst zal (*ruim) voor staan.
a''. dat hij bij winst (??ruim) zal voor staan.
b. dat hij bij verlies twee punten achter zal staan.
  that he with loss two points behind will stand
  'that he will be two points behind, if he loses.'
a'. dat hij bij winst zal (*twee punten) achter staan.
a''. dat hij bij winst (??twee punten) zal achter staan.

As usual, the nominal measure phrase can be extracted from the adpositional phrase by wh-movement; in (84a) this is shown for the intransitive adposition naast and in (84b) for the particles voor and achter.

84
a. Hoeveel meter schoot hij de bal naast?
  how.many meters shot he the ball next.to
  'How many meters did he shoot the ball wide (of the goal)?'
b. Hoeveel punten staat hij voor/achter?
  how.many points stands he ahead/behind
  'How many points is he ahead/behind?'
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