Revision as of 18:41, 20 October 2017

Preposition

Destination marker

If there is one sign that symbolizes the word "to" it is an arrow. ( ⇒ )

• I'm going to the store
• Give it to your brother.
• Happy birthday to you!

• She's going to China. -- Je vais en Chine (f.) // au Japon. (m.)
• Welcome to France. -- Bienvenue en France (f.) // au Japon. (m.)

The most famous line from Shakespeare's Hamlet can also be understood in this light:

• To be or not to be: that is the question?

For Hamlet at this moment of the play, "being" is a still a destination, or an objective that is not fully realized.

Directional marker: towards

• toward, towards = vers, en direction de
  • He was moving towards the door. He obviously wanted to leave.
    
  • It's getting towards sundown. (vers) (very informal register: usually we use "(a)round" or "about")

Combines with "in" and "on"

• into: (inchoative¹ particle: marks a beginning) (marque le point où un "intérieur" commence à être franchi)
  • come into / go into / run into (STH) (car accident) / run into (SO) (croiser QQN)
  • turn into, change into = (se) transformer en
  • change into warmer clothes = aller mettre, aller enfiler
  • look into, delve into = étudier de plus près
  • run into SO = croiser QQN

¹ Cf. Aktionsart

• onto:
  • The destination physically supports (or holds up) the "subject" of the sentence, keeps it from falling.
    • Should we move the computer onto the desk?
    • There's no way you're going to be able to put the iPad onto your unlimited plan with verzion.
• be on to:
  • vient du sens continuatif de on, notion de découverte d'une bonne piste...
    • I think you're on to something here.

Infinitivals

Combines with any number of verbs to introduce a complement or a predicate:

• She wants to [get some new shoes].
• "When purchasing life insurance, there are a few specific questions that you're not going to [want to forget to ask]." §

phonetic reduction

There are two principle verbs where the [t] loses its "obstruent" nature in rapid speech. (It loses it's "T-ness" if you like):

• want to    →    wanna'
• going to    →    gonna'

modality of "to"

Modality#Modality_of_to