Prototypical prepositions include [p en/to], [p en/into], and [p en/onto]:
- [ex 001 "I ran [p en/to Goal] the store."]
- [ex 002 "The cat jumped [p en/onto Goal] the ledge."]
- [ex 003 "I touched my ear [p en/to Goal] the floor."]
- [ex 004 "She sank [p en/to Goal] her knees."]
- [ex 005 "Add vanilla extract [p en/to Goal] the mix."]
- [ex 006 "Everyone contributed [p en/to Goal] the meeting."]
- [ex 007 "The temperature is rising [p en/to Goal] a high of 40 degrees."]
- [ex 008 "We have access [p en/to Goal] the library’s extensive collections."]
- [ex 009 "She slipped [p en/into Goal] a coma."]
- [ex 010 "The drugs put her [p en/in Goal--Locus] a coma. ([ss Goal--Locus])"]
- **Result** ([Huddleston and Pullum, 2002](/bib/huddleston_and_pullum_2002/), p. 1224):
- [ex 011 "We arrived at the airport only [p en/to Goal] discover that our flight had been canceled."]
- [ex 012 "May you live [p en/to Goal] be 100!"]
For motion events, a [ss Goal] must have been reached if the event has progressed to completion (was not interrupted).
[ss Direction] is used instead for [p en/toward]/[p en/towards] and [p en/for], which mark an intended destination that is not necessarily reached:
- [ex 013 "I headed [p en/to Goal] work. ([ss Goal])"]
- [ex 014 "I headed <u>[p en/towards Direction]</u>/<u>[p en/for Direction]</u>/<u>#to</u> work but never made it there. ([ss Direction])"]
## <i>go to</i>
A conventional way to express one’s status as a student at some school is with the expression <i>go [p en/to] (name or kind of school)</i>.
Construal is used when <i>go [p en/to]</i> indicates student status, rather than (or in addition to) physical attendance:
- [ex 015 "I went [p en/to Org--Goal] (school at<sub>[ss Locus]</sub>) UC Berkeley. ([ss Org--Goal])"]
- [ex 016 "I went [p en/to Goal] UC Berkeley for the football game. ([ss Goal])"]
Going to a business as a customer, going to an attorney as a client, going to a doctor as a patient, etc. can also convey long-term status, but there is considerable gray area between habitual going and being in a professional relationship, so we simply use [ss Goal]:
- [ex 017 "I go [p en/to Goal] Dr. Smith for my allergies. ([ss Goal])"]
## Locative as destination
English regularly allows canonically static locative prepositions to mark goals with motion verbs like <i>put</i>.
We use the [ss Goal--Locus] construal to capture both the static and dynamic aspects of meaning:
- [ss Goal--Locus]:
- [ex 018 "I put the lamp [p en/next_to Goal--Locus] the chair."]
- [ex 019 "I’ll just hop [p en/in Goal--Locus] the shower."]
- [ex 020 "I put my CV [p en/on Goal--Locus] the internet."]
- [ex 021 "The cat jumped [p en/on Goal--Locus] my face."]
- [ex 022 "The box fell [p en/on Goal--Locus] its side."]
- [ex 023 "We arrived [p en/at Goal--Locus] the airport."]
## Application of a substance
- [ex 024 "the paint that was applied [p en/to Goal] the wall ([ss Goal])"]
- [ex 025 "the paint that was sprayed [p en/onto Goal] the wall ([ss Goal])"]
- [ex 026 "the paint that was sprayed [p en/on Goal--Locus] the wall ([ss Goal--Locus])"]
The wall is the endpoint of the paint, hence [ss Goal] is the scene role.
(Though the wall can be said to be affected by the action, we prioritize the motion aspect of the scene in choosing [ss Goal] rather than [ss Theme].)
[ss Goal] is prototypically inanimate, though it can be used to construe animate [ss Participant]s (especially [ss Recipient]).
Contrasts with [ss Source].