By now, you must have been familiar with Simple Prepositions and Complex Prepositions. So, as you know, prepositions act as connectors which link nouns and pronouns to verbs or adjectives in a sentence. Other than this, prepositions can also play the role of information-givers. Such prepositions are called Prepositional Phrases. They show the relationship between various elements within a sentence.
Every prepositional phrase is a group of words comprising a preposition and its object, where the object can be a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause. The prepositional phrase can function as an adjective or adverb.
Examples of Prepositional Phrases
Here is a list of prepositional phrases frequently used in routine sentences.
| Down the tree | Up the hill |
| Around the bush | Into the woods |
| With the box | Near a river |
| Within the book | Through the tunnel |
| In spite of | Instead of |
| Any more | Across the |
| To the fact that | Because of |
Can you think of some sentences which you regularly use in your daily routine? Like before going to school, you would say, “Mom, I am leaving for school.” Here, leaving is the verb, for acts as the preposition and school is the noun. In another instance, when your friend asks you about your pet dog’s whereabouts, you would say, “Oh, it is resting under the table.” In this sentence, resting is the verb, under is the preposition and the table is the noun. These prepositional phrases help you convey information. Let us look at some more examples which you use frequently in your daily conversations or writing.
· Mia swam through the river like a fish.
· The farmhouse is located on the outskirts of the city.
· After many attempts, Anne finally succeeded in plucking the apple.
· My teacher misunderstood me amid the confusion.
· Jean travelled around the world in 80 days.
· Have a glass of water before you start the presentation.
· The kite stuck between a rock and the wall.
· The nightingale sang by the light of the moon.
· According to the news-channel’s weather forecast, it will snow today.
Now there are different prepositional phrases. Some of them change verbs, others modify nouns.
Prepositional phrases modifying Verbs
As you must already know, adverbs modify verbs. So, a prepositional phrase behaves adverbially when modifying a verb. Let us consider some examples to understand how a prepositional phrase modifies a verb.
· You need to go to your left to find the dustbin.
In this sentence, go to left points out the location of the dustbin.
· George sat near the beachside.
Here, near the beachside answers the question– “where did George sit?”
Prepositional phrases modifying Nouns
You must have studied that adjectives modify nouns, pronouns and other adjectives. These are simple yet informative words. Here, prepositional phrases also give additional details about nouns acting as adjectives. But this does not mean the phrase itself is the subject of the sentence. To ease your understanding of this concept, look at the following examples.
· The tools inside the toolbox are mine.
· The notes marked within the first two chapters are important.
· Oliver lived across the street with his brother.
As you can see, the prepositional phrases in the above cited examples are used to present information.
Why are Prepositional Phrases important?
By now you know we cannot say or write sentences without prepositions. Though, prepositions are made up of very small words like if, of, as, on, at, etc., yet they play a very important role in helping us convey information. Learning to create prepositional phrases can improve your language skills significantly.
You have understood the use of Prepositional Phrases and their importance. We have created some fun and simple activities for you to practice prepositional phrases and master them. So, let us quickly have a look at our section of Prepositional Phrases Worksheets and Printables on English Bix.