wunder beta📘 Prepositional Phrases
Look at the cat. It is sitting on a rug — and those last three words change everything. Without them you only know the animal and the action; with them you know a place, bundled in a prepositional phrase that starts with a word like on, in,
What you’ll learn
- The cat sat. Then it sat somewhereIdentify a preposition, its object, and the full prepositional phrase in a sentence.A prepositional phrase is a team: a relationship word plus the noun or pronoun it lands on, including any describing words in between. On by itself is not a place. On the rug is.
- When, toward, and other hidden jobsRecognize that the same kind of phrase can show place, time, direction, or another relationship.On Monday, into the glass, and about owls are built the same way. The job changes with the question the phrase answers. To arrives at a goal; toward only aims.
- Which book? Where did she run?Tell whether a phrase describes a noun (which one) or an action (how, when, or where), including stacked phrases and the to-plus-verb trap.Ask which one? or how, when, or where? A sentence can chain phrases. When to is followed by a verb, it is not starting a prepositional phrase.
- Make a thin sentence tell moreAdd phrases for detail, keep the subject outside the phrase, and notice phrases on signs.Phrases add when and where without a new verb. The noun inside a phrase cannot be the subject. A four-step hunt finds the box. Signs are already full of them.
Questions this course answers
In the sentence "The cat sat on the red rug," which word is the object of the preposition?
On is the preposition. The object is the noun that finishes the phrase: rug. Red only describes that noun, so it is not the object.
Match each phrase to the job it is doing
The same kind of phrase can tell place, time, direction, or another relationship. The object stays a noun. The job changes with the question you can ask.
Put these steps in the order you should use to find a prepositional phrase
You hunt from the little word to its object, then decide what the finished box is doing. Skipping the last step leaves you with a phrase you can see but cannot use.
Choose the word that starts the prepositional phrase
On starts the phrase on the shelf, which tells which book. Ran is a verb, very is a describing word, and because starts a clause, not this kind of phrase.
In "She ran across the bridge," what does the phrase across the bridge tell you?
Across the bridge answers where? after the verb ran, so it describes the action, not the girl.
In your own words, why is pile the subject in "The pile of leaves was huge," not leaves?
Cross out of leaves and the sentence left standing is The pile was huge. The noun inside the phrase is never the subject.
Grounded in trusted sources
- Purdue OWL, Prepositions for Time, Place, and Introducing Objects, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/prepositions/index.html
- Purdue OWL, Parts of Speech Overview, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/parts_of_speech_overview.html
- Purdue OWL, Prepositions of Direction: To, On(to), In(to), https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/prepositions/to_on_in.html
- Purdue OWL, Commas After Introductions, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/commas/commas_after_introductions.html
- Purdue OWL, Making Subjects and Verbs Agree, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/subject_verb_agreement.html
- Brandeis University Writing Program, Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases, https://www.brandeis.edu/writing-program/resources/faculty/handouts/prepositions.html
- LibreTexts / City College of San Francisco, 12.15 Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases, https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/City_College_of_San_Francisco/Writing_Reading_and_College_Success%3A_A_First-Year_Composition_Course_for_All_Learners_(Kashyap_and_Dyquisto)/12%3A_Grammar/12.15%3A_Prepositions_and_Prepositional_Phrases
- Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Language Grade 4, L.4.1.e Form and use prepositional phrases, https://corestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ELA_Standards1.pdf
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