A prepositional phrase is very similar to an adverb clause. A prepositional phrase is formed using:
preposition + noun
We can choose to use a prepositional phrase instead of an adverb clause because it's more concise and shorter.
Here are some common prepositions and their uses.
| Purpose | Example Prepositions |
| showing time | after before during |
| giving reasons | because of as a result of |
| showing contrast | despite in spite of |
We can express the same idea using either an adverb clause or a prepositional phrase.
| Adverb Clause | I have to finish my homework before I go to bed. |
| Prepositional Phrase | I have to finish my homework before bed. |
You may notice that the adverb clause contains the subordinator 'before.' Some subordinators are also prepositions, but not all of them are.
Notice that the two sentences say the same thing, but the prepositional phrase is much shorter than the adverb clause. It removes everything except a preposition and a noun.
Here are some more examples of sentences using adverb clauses and prepositional phrases.
People love Brownie because he has such a cute face.
People love Brownie because of his cute face.
I was dozing off while I was in English class.
I was dozing off during English class.
Despite the fact that he was lazy, James never got fired.
Despite his laziness, James never got fired.
Exercise
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