He fought with great bravery.
I can say "with" is showing the relationship between "He" and "bravery", also shows (I think) relationship between "Fought" and "bravery". Am I correct? By me, both is possible?
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The PP "with bravery" is simply a manner adjunct, i.e. a modifier in clause structure. It tells us how he fought.– BillJCommented Jun 24, 2023 at 7:49
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2 Answers
"He fought with great bravery" must mean that 'he' demonstrated bravery while fighting. Whether his bravery was inherent or driven by the situation in which he had to fight is debatable without additional context, but it really is impossible to separate the person from the action in this sentence, so arguably the quality of bravery is linked both to the fight and the person.
For comparison, consider "he fought bravely". Using an adverb shows that the description applies to the action, so this more closely links the action of fighting with the quality of bravery. Still, it is arguable that bravery is a human quality and so it can only really apply to the person. Really, the answer to this really lies in the meaning of the words and the overall meaning of the sentence rather than any 'rules' of grammar related to the sentence structure.
answered Jun 23, 2023 at 15:21
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The PP "with bravery" is simply a manner adjunct, i.e. a modifier in clause structure.– BillJCommented Jun 24, 2023 at 7:48
The prepositional phrase "with bravery" modifies the clause "He fought". It does not modify "he" alone.
That sentence can be rewritten:
He with bravery fought.
With bravery he fought.
The fact "with bravery" can be moved to different places in the sentence indicates that it modifies the whole clause. There's nothing to indicate it modifies "he" alone.