“Robert has gone to Italy on a special assignment.”
In this sentence, what is the function of "on" ?
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 3
0
It's from the phrasal verb "to go on something".
From Macmillandictionary.com:
'[TRANSITIVE] [go on something] to start doing a particular activity or being in a particular state."
In your example, Robert is going to start dong a particular activity: work on a special assignment in Italy.
The words are omitted but it is understood: Robert has gone to Italy, (to work) on a special assignment . . .
0
Are you asking what grammatical part it plays?
I'm not a grammarian, but I think it's a preposition. It's used in the same way as 'on vacation' or 'on assignment'.
The other way of answering this would simply be that the sentence is meaningless without it!
0
Robert has gone to Italy (because he is working) on a special assignment.
Hope this makes sense.
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