Prepositional Phrases

At the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with apreposition and end with its object; the object of a preposition may be

  1. anoun,Ex.: The squirrel is in thetree. In what?
  2. apronoun,Ex.: The squirrel is in it. In what?
  3. agerund (looks like a verb because it ends in –ing, but it is used as a noun),

Ex. :The squirrel hurt himself by running.By what?

  1. or anoun clause (a subject and verb together that are used to answer the question “prepostion+what?”).

After the food arrived, the grumpy drama students brightened noticeably. After what?

*We’ll go over this last one some more in class.

So… Basically, the object must be a noun (or gerund [which acts like a noun] or noun clause [a subject and predicate that act like a noun]) or a pronoun.

You may find the object of a preposition by asking yourself

PREPOSTION+WHAT?=OBJECTor…PREPOSITION+WHOM?=OBJECT

Theobject of the prepositionwill often have one or moremodifiers to describe it.

Examples of prepositional phrases with optional modifiers added to modify the object:

inthe treewith barely anythingby running quicklyafter thecold food arrived late

Here is a list of some common prepositions:

*Please note, however, that these words CANNOT be prepositions if they do not have an object.

Use commas after introductory prepositional phrases.

Examples:Do: During the class, Michael took notes.

Don’t: Michael took notes, during the class. The comma is unnecessary here.

Do: Behind the podium, you will find your lost items.

Don’t: You will find your lost items, behind the podium. The comma is unnecessary here.

Practice: Underline the prepositional phrase. Circle the preposition. On the line following the sentence, write the object of the preposition.

  1. Kevin draws fantastic cartoons in his spare time. ______
  2. I really like those glasses on her. ______
  3. Before I go home, I will need to copy down my homework. ______