PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

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PREPOSITIONAL

PHRASES

PREPOSITIONAL

PHRASES

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Let’s Review:

What is a PHRASE?

Let’s Review:

What is a PHRASE?

It is a fragment of a sentence, so it cannot express an idea on its own.

• After midnight

• on the roof

• with a Ukranian bullfighter

A phrase is a group of words that acts as a single part of speech (like an adjective) that does not contain both a subject and a verb. A phrase is a group of words that acts as a single part of speech (like an adjective) that does not contain both a subject and a verb.

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What’s a PHRASE?

Egor's mother was dancing. Egor's mother was dancing.

• After midnight, Egor's mother

was dancing.

• After midnight, Egor's mother

was on the roof dancing.

• After midnight

, Egor's mother was

on the roof

dancing

with a

Ukranian bullfighter

.

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What’s a PHRASE?

Felcity stared. Felcity stared.

• Surprised by the intensity of her disgust, Felicity stared.

• Surprised by the intensity of her

disgust, Felicity stared at the cockroach. • Surprised by the intensity of her

disgust, Felicity stared at the cockroach scurrying across her omelet.

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Prepositions

• Most prepositions

are difficult to

define:

of, in, off,

by, through,

between, etc

.

• Most prepositions

are difficult to

define:

of, in, off,

by, through,

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Most of the

time,

prepositions

indicate

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Prepositional Phrases

• PPs are formed like this:

preposition + optional modifiers +

noun, pronoun, or gerund (running)

• Example: over the rainbow

(over = preposition) + (the = article) + (rainbow = noun)

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Let’s Review the function of

Adjectives and Adverbs

Let’s Review the function of

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives

often answer these questions:

• Which?

The corndog

on the plate

is yours.

• What kind of?

The ice cream

with bits of bacon

is my

favorite.

Adjectives

often answer these questions:

• Which?

The corndog

on the plate

is yours.

• What kind of?

The ice cream

with bits of bacon

is my

favorite.

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Let’s Review the function of

Adjectives and Adverbs

Let’s Review the function of

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adverbs

often answer these questions: • How?

Grab the rope with both hands!

• When?

Before my test, I put on my lucky socks.

• Where?

We tried the new ostrich burgers at P. Terry’s.

Adverbs

often answer these questions: • How?

Grab the rope with both hands!

• When?

Before my test, I put on my lucky socks.

• Where?

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Prepositional Phrases

• In the beginning

• Before the fall

• After the brutal fight

• At school

• Down the aisle

• Across the street

• Inside your ear

• Outside the house

• Between two girls

• By chewing

• Behind the scenes

• On the wooden table

• By the sea

• Under the couch

• In the beginning

• Before the fall

• At school

• Down the aisle

• Across the street

• Inside your ear

• Outside the house

• By chewing

• Behind the scenes

• On the wooden table

• By the sea

• Under the couch

• Around the bend

• Down in the sand trap

• Into the dark woods

• Against the wind

• Near the mouse

• Through the tunnel

• To school

• Like Larry’s uncle

• Except my friend

• Over the rainbow

• Up the rough river

• Without a paddle

• With anger

• Toward the door

• Around the bend

• Down in the sand trap

• Into the dark woods

• Against the wind

• Near the mouse

• Through the tunnel

• To school

• Like Larry’s uncle

• Except my friend

• Over the rainbow

• Up the rough river

• Without a paddle

• With anger

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Notice – prepositional phrases usually

end with a noun or pronoun, which is

the

OBJECT

of the preposition

Notice – prepositional phrases usually

end with a noun or pronoun, which is

the

OBJECT

of the preposition

• Inside your wax-filled ear

• Outside the blue house

• Beside you

• With me

• Inside your wax-filled ear

• Outside the blue house

• Beside you

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A

prepositional phrase

can open a sentence

A

prepositional phrase

can open a sentence

• Without help

,

Janie made

this message for Santa.

• Without help

,

Janie made

this message for Santa.

Notice: the comma

offsets the prepositional phrase

1) Is this prepositional phrase working as an adjective or an adverb?

2) What is the object of the preposition?

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A

prepositional phrase

can close a sentence

A

prepositional phrase

can close a sentence

• We ate corn dogs and

drank root beer floats

after

the baseball game

.

• We ate corn dogs and

drank root beer floats

after

the baseball game

.

Notice NO

comma is

needed

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A

prepositional phrase

can

split the main subject and verb

A

prepositional phrase

can

split the main subject and verb

• All the puppies

, except

the trained ones,

pooped

everywhere!

• All the puppies

, except

the trained ones,

pooped

everywhere!

Notice: commas offset the

prepositional phrase

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A sentence can have consecutive

prepositional phrases

A sentence can have consecutive

prepositional phrases

• We saw this

holiday tree

in

the mall,

on

some

guy’s head.

• We saw this

holiday tree

in

the mall,

on

some

guy’s head.

1

2

1) Are these

prepositional

phrase working as adjectives or

adverbs?

2) What are the objects of the prepositions?

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A sentence can have consecutive

prepositional phrases

A sentence can have consecutive

prepositional phrases

• In grandma’s attic, under the

window, in a cardboard box

between two garbage cans,

we

found these scary Santa Clauses.

• In grandma’s attic, under the

window, in a cardboard box

between two garbage cans,

we

found these scary Santa Clauses.

1 2

3 4

1) Are these prepositional phrases working as

adjectives or adverbs?

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Prepositional phrases can be

used

within

other phrases

Prepositional phrases can be

used

within

other phrases

• My aunt and uncle, the goofballs in this picture, love immature shenanigans.

“the goofballs in this picture” is what type of phrase?

So… “in this picture” is a

prepositional

phrase within an appositive phrase! 1) Is this prepositional phrase

working as an adjective or an adverb?