PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
So, what is it? Watch this video to find out:
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE: A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, a noun or pronoun that serves as the object of the preposition, and, more often than not, an adjective or two that modifies the object. Ernest Hemingway apparently fell in love with the rhythms of his prepositional phrases at the beginning of his short story "Hills Like White Elephants":
The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went on to Madrid.
Prepositional phrases usually tell when or where: "in forty minutes," "in the sun, against the side, etc." Prepositional phrases can perform other functions, however: Except Jo, the children were remarkably like their father.
You may have also learned that ending a sentence with a preposition is a serious breach of grammatical etiquette. However, this is a relatively new grammatical rule and is often broken by writers and teachers alike!
Adopted from: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/phrases.htm#preposition
The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went on to Madrid.
Prepositional phrases usually tell when or where: "in forty minutes," "in the sun, against the side, etc." Prepositional phrases can perform other functions, however: Except Jo, the children were remarkably like their father.
You may have also learned that ending a sentence with a preposition is a serious breach of grammatical etiquette. However, this is a relatively new grammatical rule and is often broken by writers and teachers alike!
Adopted from: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/phrases.htm#preposition
Click here if you are still unsure how to use prepositions in your writing:
http://www.towson.edu/ows/prepositions.htm
http://www.towson.edu/ows/prepositions.htm
Read this review of prepositional phrases and take the quiz at the bottom of the page:
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/prepositions.htm
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/prepositions.htm
And for some fun, try these prepositional phrase inspired crossword puzzles.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1e Form and use prepositional phrases.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1e Form and use prepositional phrases.
