What Is a Preposition?
Prepositions are words that come before nouns in order to show time, location, direction, feelings, etc. Here is a list of common prepositions:
- about
- after
- at
- around
- above
- across
- as
- against
- before
- beside
- between
- by
- beyond
- behind
- beneath
- during
- for
- from
- in
- into
- like
- near
- of
- off
- on
- onto
- over
- through
- to
- toward
- under
- up / down
- upon
- with
- without
- within
What is a Prepositional Phrase?
A phrase is a group of words with no subject or main verb. A prepositional phrase is a combination of a preposition and a noun. Here are some examples of prepositional phrases:
- under the tree
- with his family
- down the narrow street
- for two years
- like my country
- in their favorite class
Prepositional phrases add detail to a sentence. They help you explain and describe with specific information. They can be used to express many things:
To show time
- He has lived in Canada for ten years.
To show location
- A big, black dog was sleeping by the door.
To show direction
- The boys walked around the corner and down the street.
To show feeling
- My roommate jumped up in surprise and hugged me.
To explain how
- The thief opened the locked door with a screwdriver.
Why Is This Important?
It is important to remember that no part of a prepositional phrase can be the subject of a sentence. If you can find the prepositional phrases, it will help you find the subject of a sentence.
What is the subject and main verb of the following sentence? How many prepositional phrases are there?
In the forest behind their house, the brothers played hide-and-seek with their friends after school.
(In the forest) (behind their house), the brothers played hide-and-seek (with their friends) (after school).
Word Order
Some sentences have complicated word order. In most sentences, the subject comes before the verb, but not always. We sometimes put the subject after the verb to be more stylish. Find the subject of this sentence:
- At the top of the hill above the village was a beautiful, old church.
In this sentence, the word church is the subject. If you find all the prepositional phrase, you can see the subject and verb more clearly. Remember that a prepositional phrase cannot be the subject of a sentence:
- (At the top) (of the hill) (above the village) was a beautiful, old church.
Here is another example:
- Waiting (for me) (in the classroom) were my parents, my English teacher, and two police officers.
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.