Grammarkup
Prepositions

Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrases is a group of words consisting of a preposition and a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause.

A prepositional phrases is a group of words consisting of a preposition and a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause.

She tried to calm down the baby by singing lullabies

A prepositional phrase always consist of two basic parts at minimum: the preposition and its object.

I think I'll be at home

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that can consist of:

  • a preposition and a noun.

Erick was fired from McDonald's

  • a preposition and a pronoun.

He always leaves little presents for me

  • a preposition and a gerund.

Carol managed to lose some weight thanks to exercising

  • a preposition and a clause

I need to talk to you about stuff we need for our trip

A prepositional phrase can function either as an adjective or an adverb in the sentence. As an adjective, the prepositional phrase answers the question "Which one?".

The boy with red hair was taking photos outside
Which one? The one with red hair

As an adverb, the prepositional phrase answers the questions "How?/When?/Where?".

Gaby when for a run at 5 o'clock
When did she go for a run? At 5 o'clock

Guided Practice

A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition and a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause. Spot these phrases.

  • You can lose some weight by not eating anything but it's a bad idea.
  • I'll be staying at my grandma's place tonight.

As an adverb, the prepositional phrase answers the questions "How?/When?/Where?". Match the sentences and spot these phrases.

QuestionsAnswers
a. How long have you been learning italian?1. Oh thank you! I got them at our local mall
b. When did you wake?2. I've been trying to master it for 10 years.
c. Where did you buy such a pretty pair of boots?3. At 8 o'clock, though it's my day off today.

Short Story using Prepositional Phrases

–Do you have any plans for tonight?

–Yeah, I'm going on a date with David. I think we're going to a bar or something.

–With whom?

–With David, my colleague. He's a really nice guy! He was transferred from another department about a month ago, and we have so much in common!

–Oh, that's amazing! Let's hang out some other time then.

-Sure!

Independent Practice

Choose the correct preposition.

  1. In/On a beautiful Thursday morning I found out that I got expelled from/to university.

  2. My grandma Judy grew up on/in a farm on/in Idaho.

  3. Come over/onto here! Look at that cute puppy!

  4. Could you pass me that book? - Which one? - The one from/with a yellow cover.

  5. My grandparents live in/off a tiny house in/by the lake.

  6. Stop beating above/around the bush! I can't understand anything.

  7. I always see people jogging on/through the park.

  8. There was a huge pile with/of books under/into the desk.

  9. Jenny can't have guests over at her place for/because of the landlord.

  10. Ben got sick due/by eating junk food all the time.

Prepositions of Cause, Purpose, and Reason

Prepositions of cause, purpose, and reason are used to indicate why, what for, or because of what something happens. We usually use these prepositions when we answer the question beginning with "Why?"

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions link two clauses, a main (independent) one and a subordinate (dependent) one.