Prepositional Phrases

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The most basic prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and its object, which can be a noun, a pronoun, a gerund, or a clause.

at (prep.) school (noun)

with (prep.) us (pronoun)

by (prep.) driving (gerund)

about (prep.) what you said (noun clause)

Apart from a preposition and its object, prepositional phrases can also include modifiers related to either the object or the preposition.

from (prep.) my (modifier) garden (noun)

in (prep.) the old (modifiers) testament (noun)

under (prep.) the old chestnut (modifiers) tree (noun)

by (prep.) working (gerund) hard (modifier)

The main use of a prepositional phrase is that of acting as either an adjective or an adverb.

Adjective or Adverb?

A quick way to assess whether a prepositional phrase is acting as an adjective is by seeing if it answers the question: which one(s)?

The plates in the sink can go in the dishwasher.

Which plates? The ones in the sink.

Who took the dictionary on the top shelf?

Which dictionary? The one on the top shelf.

The team from Russia flew in last night.

Which team? The one from Russia.

If instead you can answer questions about how, when or where, then you know your prepositional phrase is acting as an adverb.

Almost half my plants died from frost bite last winter.

How did the plants die? From frost bite

After work, we all went for a pint!

When did they all go for a pint? After work

Let’s meet up at Susan’s place.

Where are they meeting up? At Susan’s place.