Question

When the servers arrived, Jack gave them the information on today's specials. He talked enthusiastically about the fresh berries: "They look fantastic! I want to serve them with shortcake."

1. In the above passage, "talked" is an example of a(n):
a)transitive verb and has no direct object
b)transitive verb and has a direct object
c)intransitive verb and has no direct object
d)intransitive verb and has a direct object

My answer is "c". I believe you can say "He talked." and that would be a complete sentence. I also believe that no direct object is present in the sentence. "He" is the subject, "talked" is the verb, but what receives the action?

Second question:

How many prepositional phrases are in the above passage?

I believe there are three:
1)on today's specials
2)about the fresh berries
3)with shortcake

I think these are prepositional phrases because "on", "about" and "with" are prepositions.

But I'm starting to wonder if "When the servers arrived" is also a prepositional phrase. Is "When" a preposition?

Answer 1

Your answers are right.

When is never a preposition. Check a dictionary to find a word's parts of speech.