characteristics of the prepositional phrase
TRANSCRIPT
Characteristics of Characteristics of the Prepositional the Prepositional
PhrasePhrase
Prepositional phrases Prepositional phrases are sentence parts are sentence parts
that describe people, that describe people, things, or actions. things, or actions.
Most begin with one of Most begin with one of these prepositionsthese prepositions
inin the beginning, the beginning, beforebefore the fall, the fall, afterafter the creation, the creation, atat the the
game, game, downdown the aisle, the aisle, acrossacross the street, the street,
insideinside the stadium, the stadium, outsideoutside the store, the store,
betweenbetween the posts, the posts,
withinwithin the den, the den, behindbehind the scenes, the scenes,
onon the bridge, the bridge, byby the the sea, sea, underunder the the
boardwalk,boardwalk,
aroundaround the park, the park, downdown the road, the road, intointo the woods, the woods, againstagainst the grain, the grain, nearnear the the field, field, throughthrough the the
woods, woods, toto Grandmother’s Grandmother’s
house,house,
likelike a bird, a bird, exceptexcept the sophomores, the sophomores,
overover the rainbow, the rainbow, upup the creek, the creek, withoutwithout a a paddle, paddle, withwith malice, malice,
towardtoward none, none,
of of the people, the people, byby the the people, people, forfor the the
people.people.
Most prepositions are Most prepositions are easy to identify easy to identify
because they are because they are difficult to define. difficult to define. (Try defining (Try defining of, in, of, in,
off, by, through, off, by, through, betweenbetween, and so on.), and so on.)
Sentences can contain Sentences can contain single or consecutive single or consecutive prepositional phrases prepositional phrases
anywhere in the anywhere in the sentence—as sentence sentence—as sentence openers, subject-verb openers, subject-verb
splits, or sentence splits, or sentence closers.closers.
Single Prepositional Single Prepositional PhrasesPhrases
AtAt the bottom the bottom, he , he looked glumly looked glumly downdown
the tunnelthe tunnel..Stephen King, Stephen King,
“Night Journey”“Night Journey”
LikeLike a lean, gray a lean, gray wolfwolf, he moved , he moved
silently and easily.silently and easily.Lloyd Alexander, Lloyd Alexander,
The Book of ThreeThe Book of Three
Bearded men, Bearded men, inin sad- sad-colored garments and colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned gray, steeple-crowned
hatshats, intermixed with , intermixed with women.women.
Nathaniel Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne, The Scarlet The Scarlet
LetterLetter
Consecutive Consecutive Prepositional Prepositional
PhrasesPhrases
AcrossAcross the street the street fromfrom their house, their house, inin an an
empty lot empty lot betweenbetween two two houseshouses, stood the rock , stood the rock
pile.pile.James Baldwin, James Baldwin,
“Going to Meet the Man”“Going to Meet the Man”
Then they came Then they came upup the streetthe street and and
aroundaround the house the house..Hal Borland, Hal Borland,
When the Legends When the Legends DieDie
UnscramblingUnscrambling
a. across the ripplesa. across the ripplesb. it was morningb. it was morningc. and the new sun c. and the new sun sparkled goldsparkled goldd. of a gentle sead. of a gentle sea
Richard Bach, Richard Bach, Jonathan Jonathan
Livingston SeagullLivingston Seagull
It was morning, and It was morning, and the new sun the new sun sparkled gold sparkled gold
acrossacross the ripples the ripples ofof a gentle sea. a gentle sea.
a. and grabbed a. and grabbed Coffey’s slabCoffey’s slabb. at that momentb. at that momentc. between the barsc. between the barsd. a skinny arm shot d. a skinny arm shot outoute. of a bicepe. of a bicepf. of Wharton’s cellf. of Wharton’s cell
Stephen King,Stephen King, “Night Journey” “Night Journey”
AtAt that moment that moment, a , a skinny arm shot out skinny arm shot out
betweenbetween the bars the bars of of Wharton’s cellWharton’s cell and and grabbed Coffey’s slab grabbed Coffey’s slab
ofof a bicep a bicep..
ImitatingImitating
Model: The aftermath of Model: The aftermath of the shooting was a three-the shooting was a three-
ring circus, ring circus, withwith the the governor in one ring, governor in one ring,
withwith the prison in the prison in anotheranother, and , and withwith poor poor
brain-blasted Percy brain-blasted Percy Wetmore in the third.Wetmore in the third.
a. and a. and inin the main office the main office with stressed-out with stressed-out administrators in high administrators in high demand but low supplydemand but low supplyb. b. inin the guidance the guidance department with countless department with countless schedule changesschedule changesc. was chaosc. was chaosd. d. inin the cafeteria with huge the cafeteria with huge lineslinese. the first day of classese. the first day of classes
The first day of classes was The first day of classes was chaos, chaos, inin the cafeteria the cafeteria with huge lineswith huge lines, , inin the the guidance department guidance department
with countless schedule with countless schedule changeschanges, and , and inin the main the main office with stressed out office with stressed out administrators in high administrators in high
demand but low supply.demand but low supply.
Model:Model:When the Titanic When the Titanic
brushed the iceberg, brushed the iceberg, several tons of ice several tons of ice
crumbled off the berg crumbled off the berg and landed on the and landed on the
starboard well deck, starboard well deck, opposite the foremast.opposite the foremast.
Walter Lord, Walter Lord, A Night to A Night to RememberRemember
Write an imitation of Write an imitation of the model, making all the model, making all of your sentence parts of your sentence parts
like those in the like those in the model.model.