Prepositions are linking words that tell you the what in a sentence. They usually sit before a noun or pronoun and tell you information about it. The words that come after the preposition are the objects of the preposition.
- The car ran over the dog. ("the dog" is the object of the preposition "over")
- Can you give this letter to him tomorrow? ("him" is the object of the preposition "to")
Noun Clauses as Objects of Prepositions
Noun clauses can also function as objects of prepositions. As objects of prepositions, they usually sit after the preposition in the sentence. Let's take a look at three examples to illustrate this point.
The words in green are not a part of the noun clauses in the following examples.)
Were they treated well for how they behaved?
The noun clause in this example, “how they behaved,” functions as an object of the preposition “for.” The subject and verb combination is “they behaved." Its corresponding subordinator is "how." Notice that the noun clause is dependent on the main clause. Let's take a look at another example:
We aren't allowed to speak about what John said over the dinner table last night.
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