What is a Prepositional Phrase?
What is a phrase?
A phrase is a group of words working together in a sentence to perform one function. In the sections on verbs, you may have read about the verb phrase, in which a verb and its helping verb(s) work together to express the action or state of being in the sentence. This is the only type of phrase that contains a verb. None of the other phrases will contain a verb.
Phrases vs. clauses
If the group of words you are analyzing--other than a verb phrase--contains a word working as a verb, you have a clause and not a phrase.
What is a prepositional phrase?
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun.
A prepositional phrase can work as an adjective to describe a noun, in which case it is called an adjectival prepositional phrase. Alternatively, it can work as an adverb to modify a verb, an adjective, or other adverb, in which case it is called an adverbial prepositional phrase.
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between the noun at the end of the phrase and the word it modifies. Prepositions help us see how the object of the preposition relates to another word in the sentence. They do not work alone in the sentence; they need other words to have meaning.
The noun or pronoun at the end of the prepositional phrase is called the object of the preposition.
Common prepositions
There are many prepositions. The following are some of the most common:
in, to, with, by, for, through, after, during, since, while, on, above, around, from, behind, below, under, until, like, near, between, at, of, up, except, over, off, within, without, about
Some of these words can also be used as adverbs and other parts of speech, so be sure to locate the object of the preposition before deciding that the word is part of a phrase.
There are also a few word combinations that serve as prepositions. They are called compound prepositions and are treated as one word in the sentence. They are "because of," "on account of," "according to," "in spite of," "instead of," and "out of."