1. Prepositional Phrases

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.