Omitting a preposition before measure phrases

Any verb of MOTION, and some from other types such as ATTENTION, can take a peripheral NP that contains a numeral (or a) and a noun that refers to a unit of spatial measure. This NP is normally marked by a preposition (generally, for) but this can be omitted, e.g. He runs (for) three miles before breakfast every day, She carried the parcel (for) twenty five miles, From the top of that mountain you can see ( for) thirty miles on a clear day.

Analogously, an NP referring to temporal measure can occur with a wider range of verbs, including MOTION, REST, AFFECT, CORPOREAL and TALK. The preposition may again be omitted, e.g. I like to run (for) an hour and then walk (for) an hour, She stood (for) twenty minutes in the pouring rain, He whipped the dog (for) two hours yesterday, You’ve been talking (for) twenty minutes without stopping.

In the last subsection we explained how non-measure phrases that lose a preposition move into direct object slot, immediately after the verb. As always, an adverb may not intervene between verb and object—compare He walked (purposefully) over the course (purposefully) with He walked (*purposefully) the course (purposefully).

A prepositionless measure phrase behaves quite differently. It is not in direct object slot and does not have to come immediately after the verb, e.g. She stood in the pouring rain twenty minutes. Even if a prepositionless measure phrase does occur next to the verb, an adverb can still come between them, e.g. She stood (pathetically) twenty minutes in the pouring rain. A non-measure phrase promoted into direct object slot can often be passivized, e.g. That mountain has not yet been climbed, but a prepositionless measure phrase can only very exceptionally become passive subject, e.g. we cannot have *Three miles is run by John before breakfast every day. (It should be noted that the mile, as in The mile was first run in four minutes by Roger Bannister, is effectively functioning here as a non-measure phrase; note that it is ‘the mile’ rather than ‘a mile’).

Although omitting the preposition from a measure phrase does not make it an object NP there is still a semantic effect that bears some relation to the omission of a preposition from a non-measure phrase: attention is directed towards the measure, as a particularly significant aspect of the activity— the length of time or distance will often be significant. Thus, I might offer the accusation You whipped the dog two hours solid (with no preposition, emphasizing the enormity of doing it for so long) and you could reply I only whipped it for about three seconds (including the preposition).

A measure phrase may be used without a preposition when that particular measure carries implications about the completion of the activity. She followed the thief seven miles into the forest might be used when the thief travelled seven miles to his hide-out and she followed him all the way, whereas She followed the thief for seven miles into the forest could be appropriate when he travelled further, but she only followed him for the first seven miles.

There is not always a choice involved. If a distance phrase is included with throw it is normally a significant result of the activity and a preposition is seldom or never included, e.g. He threw the javelin (?for) eight yards. With fall a preposition is likely to be omitted in a sentence that refers to a ‘completed’ event, e.g. She fell (*through) thirty feet to her death. However, a preposition may be included when there is an incompletive overtone, e.g. She fell (through) thirty feet until her fall was arrested by the branches of a tree.

In summary, a non-measure phrase may omit its preposition if the temporal or spatial distance is particularly significant; but this NP does not have to come immediately after the verb, and it does not become a direct object.