Prepositional Phrases

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun by some other word in a sentence is a preposition Common Prepositions about before during past above behind for through across below from throughout after beneath in to against beside into toward along between near under around beyond of until as by on up at down over with

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases continued… The object of a preposition is the noun or pronoun that follows a preposition The preposition, its object, and any modifiers of the object make up the prepositional phrase prep. obj. I went to the football game. A prepositional phrase can have more than one object; if an object is a pronoun, it must be an object pronoun obj. obj. Tom sat between Cal and Harry. My friend explained the penalty to him and me.

Prepositional Phrases as Adjectives Prepositional phrases that describe nouns and pronouns are called adjective phrases They can answer questions such as what kind? or which one? Everyone in the gym is cheering. The door to the building is locked.

Prepositional Phrases as Adjectives continued… Adjective phrases come after the words they modify ONE-WORD ADJECTIVE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE wild lion lion in the wild neighborhood dogs dogs of the neighborhood

Expanding Sentences with Prepositional Phrases You can use prepositional phrases to answer questions such as where? when? or how? Using prepositional phrases gives your reader more information and makes your writing more interesting Ken played. After school, Ken played on stage for an hour.

Expanding Sentences with Prepositional Phrases continued… You can change the meaning of the original sentence Ken played, by adding different prepositional phrases During the season Ken played on the team at his school. Ken played on the softball team for three years in a row.

Using Prepositions Correctly The prepositions in and into are often used incorrectly When you are in a place, you are already there When you go from the outside to the inside, you go into a place We waited in the dark room. The guide led us into the cave. Never use the preposition of as a helping verb INCORRECT: We could of seen more. CORRECT: We could have seen more.