Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Identifying Prepositions

• Prepositional phrases can be identified by identifying the prepositions in the phrases.
• Knowing prepositions by heart or consulting a list of prepositions is an efficient way to identify them.

List of Common Prepositions

• among, during, with, in, until, into, down, within, without, for, on, top, of, off, out, across, amid, around, over, against, into, up

Prepositional Phrase Functions

• Prepositional phrases modify a noun or a verb in a sentence.
• Adjective phrases modify a noun, while adverb phrases modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Adjective Phrase Examples

• "On Mango Street" is an adjective phrase modifying the noun "the house" in the sentence "The House on Mango Street is a book written by Sandra Cisneros."
• "With wood work" is an adjective phrase modifying the noun "the chair" in the sentence "I would like to buy the chair with wood work."
• "By the lake" is an adjective phrase modifying the noun "an apartment" in the sentence "My nephew just moved to an apartment by the lake."

Adverb Phrase Examples

• "With care" is an adverb phrase modifying the verb "handle" in the sentence "If this is a Persian rug, you need to handle it with care."
• "In three months" is an adverb phrase modifying the verb "go" in the sentence "Carol and her family will go oversees in three months."
• "With patience and perseverance" is an adverb phrase modifying the verb "is climbing" in the sentence "She is climbing the stairs with patience and perseverance."

Identifying Prepositional Phrases

• To find prepositional phrases, first find the preposition in a sentence.
• A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and ends with the object of that preposition.

Examples of Prepositional Phrases

• "At our favorite Italian restaurant" is a prepositional phrase in the sentence "Every Thursday, we meet at our favorite Italian restaurant."
• "To him" is a prepositional phrase in the sentence "Every time I listen to him, I regret it."
• "In the purple mug" is a prepositional phrase in the sentence "I will have my coffee in the purple mug."
• "Between the bakery and the butcher shop" is a prepositional phrase in the sentence "The newly built book store is between the bakery and the butcher shop."

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

• Prepositions are words that show the relationship between two words in a sentence.
• Prepositional phrases include the object of the preposition as well as all the words that modify that object.
• A prepositional phrase begins with the preposition and ends with its object.