Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

What is a preposition?

• A preposition is a word that shows a relationship between a noun or pronoun and some other word in the sentence.

The girls are playing in the yard.

(in shows the relationship between girls and yard)

Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, its object, and any modifiers of the object.

Object of the preposition

The object of the preposition is the noun or pronoun following the preposition.

Rome is the capital of Italy.

Beware of adverbs

• In order for a word to actually be a preposition, it must have an object.

We walked around the city streets.

• If the preposition-like word does NOT have an object, it’s just an adverb.

We spent the day walking around.

Above

Beside

Around

Before Against

Below

Behind

Beneath

By

InsideNear

On

Over

PastThrough

Under

After

And then there’s some tricky ones…

about as downbetween during exceptalong beyond foramong despite fromin into oflike off outto toward untilup with without

The plane finally landed in Rome.

The plane finally landed in Rome.

I had actually reached the city of my dreams.

I had actually reached the city of my dreams.

I gazed out the window as we taxied closer.

I gazed out the window as we taxied closer

Was that the Coliseum I saw to the right?

Was that the Coliseum I saw to the right?

I imagined Julius Ceasar marching with his troops.

I imagined Julius Ceasar marching with his troops.

During the next few days, I would explore the city.

During the next few days, I would explore the city.

Practice

1. down the river2. into left field3. on the buffalo4. in his laboratory5. from dried animal skins6. from the Persian language7. off the coast, of Florida8. through his magnifying glass9. behind the clouds10. In the morning, outside my window

Writing with Prepositional Phrases

Our hotel is across the river.

Our hotel is behind the clock tower.