Talk:preliminary
Latest comment: 3 years ago by Backinstadiums in topic preliminary to
A smallish group of adjectives are idiomatically used in such a manner as almost to fall into the broad class of adverbs. They are therefore called quasi-adverbs, and by some grammarians complex prepositions (because they are invariably followed by a simple preposition). Some of the main quasi-adverbs are according to, contrary to, irrespective of, preliminary to, preparatory to, previous to, prior to, pursuant to, subsequent to. The type is shown in he was rolling up his sleeves preparatory (not preparatorily) to punching the other boy; He did it contrary (not contrarily) to my wishes (note that neither different from nor opposite to can be used in this manner). --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:44, 30 March 2021 (UTC)