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Expressing 'behalf' |
Prepositional phrases may be used to express 'behalf', using the preposition for or complex prepositions such as on behalf of, for the sake of, in favour of:
| His former teacher put in a good word for
my brother. [Who
did my teacher put in a good word for?] My brother phoned the police on behalf of my sister. [On whose behalf did my brother phone the police?] We attended the school concert for the sake of my little sister. [For whose sake did we attend?] |
Circumstance 'behalf' or Participant 'Beneficiary'
The Circumstance 'behalf' may be confused with the Participant 'Beneficiary':
| She made up a story for her brother. [a story to tell her brother
at bedtime] Beneficiary |
This is similar to she made a sandwich for her brother, with its alternative she made her brother a sandwich. In both examples her brother is the Beneficiary, ie a Participant. However, she made up a story for her brother is ambiguous, ie the function of the prepositional phrase may be to express the Circumstance 'behalf':
| She made up a story for her brother. Circumstance [a story to tell to someone else on behalf of her brother] |
The roles of Circumstance and Participant are closely related in the grammar, and the border between them is not always easy to draw. For another example of the ambiguity between Circumstance and Participant, click on the menu on the left: Expressing 'means'
For more information on prepositional phrases expressing Participants, click on the menu on the left:
Groups & phrases: Prepositional phrases: Further reading: Representing a participant
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Alternative terms |
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| PrimeGram | Other grammars |
| adverb group | adverbial phrase |
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