Prepositional Phrase

What Is a Prepositional Phrase? (with Examples)

A prepositional phrase is a phrase that starts with a preposition and ends with noun (or a pronoun). For example:



It is a little bit more complicated than shown above because the noun can be anything that plays the role of a noun. For example: The words after the preposition (shown in bold above) are known as the object of a preposition. There will often be modifiers in the object of the preposition making it a noun phrase. For example: Here is another example:

Prepositional Phrases Function As Adjectives or Adverbs

Here are some more examples of prepositional phrases. In each example, the prepositional phrase is shaded with the preposition in bold. Be aware that prepositional phrases function as adjectives or adverbs.

Prepositional phrases functioning as adjectives: Prepositional phrases functioning as adverbs:

BE CAREFUL WHEN A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE PRECEDES A VERB

The noun at the end of a prepositional phrase will never be the subject of a verb. For example: .

HOWEVER, A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE CAN INFLUENCE A VERB

The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, and some can be singular or plural. When modified by a prepositional phrase, they copy the number of the noun in the prepositional phrase. For example: .

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See Also

What are prepositions? What is the object of a preposition? What is a pronoun? What is a noun phrase? What is a noun clause? Glossary of grammatical terms